Psalms 41:1-3 Blessed is he who considers the poor; The LORD will deliver him in time of trouble. The LORD will preserve him and keep him alive, And he will be blessed on the earth; You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies. The LORD will strengthen him on his bed of illness; You will sustain him on his sickbed.
To have the ear of God and experience His moving in, and upon your life whenever you have a need. What is is that moves God’s heart and brings Him to our aid? David wrote in Psalm 41 that when we take notice of and consider the poor that are amongst us, the heart of God is stirred to bless our life.
Not that we would use our care and concern for those in poverty as a magic formula to gain God’s favor, but that we would also be moved to understand His heart.
He care so very deeply for those who are in desperate straits. He looks upon the plight of the less fortunate and feels great compassion. He longs for someone to have an affinity with Him, for those who live in constant need.
His promise is that if you will consider and do what you can to help the poor, when you are in trouble, He will deliver you. As you live your life and take advantage of those opportunities to do something to lighten the load of the less fortunate, He will extend your life. When your enemies rise up against you, the Lord of hosts will be your defender. And finally, when you lie upon your sickbed and long for healing, that healing will come speedily from the Lord, who also notices you, for noticing the ones He cares about.
A chance meeting with a homeless person at the entrance to the local store. Everyone knows that you don’t give money to a homeless person. Really, and what should you give them? If I give them cash, they will spend it on drugs or alcohol. Perhaps, but just maybe they will take it and use it to stay alive.
What they do with what the Lord leads you to give, is not your responsibility. It is the place of the Lord to hold each one accountable with what He gives them. Your part, my part, is to give whenever the opportunity presents itself. Jesus did not say that we should be concerned with what people do with what we give, we are to just give to those who ask of us.
Matthew 5:42 Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.
Perhaps sometimes we use little excuses for why we can’t give just because deep down in our heart we really don’t want to give. Signs of a deeper problem in us, than the one who comes to us with their request.
My wife and I have a ministry to the people of Bantayan Island. We find that sincere people with a heart for the poor are very hard to find. The work that needs to be done on our tiny island is immense, too great for us alone. Yet those who come alongside to help are sparse and infrequent.
When I see the disheveled souls of so many here in the Philippines, I often shrink back in fear or disgust. That is just how it is when you are a fallen being, living in a fallen world. Yet when I read Psalm 41 this morning, I was moved.
That in my walk with Jesus, the one to whom I call “Lord”, I would have such a heart for the poor as He. I can only pray and make my best effort to change myself and consider the poor more than I do now. More than the blessing of God, more than healing while upon my sickbed, I long to love people the way Jesus loves them.
Rob Robinson
