Helping the Poor

The Lord likes to help those who help the weak.  Remember the poor and needy.

January 28, 2019

"Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble."

Psalm 41:1

Being children of Adam, how easy it is to slip into a self-centered way of thinking, especially when we have needs of our own.  It is really easy to think only of ourselves and neglect to consider others in need.  It’s easy to feel our own pain and to think that somehow, we are unique and no one else has it nearly as badly as we do.  Jesus calls us to a life of compassion for others, for feeling their pain and helping them, while enduring our own.  David had that kind of spirit about him when he wrote this forty-first psalm.  The person who helps the poor is blessed.  This first verse gives us much to think about.

“Blessed is he that considereth the poor:”
Thinking on this phrase I wonder, “who are the poor,” and what does it mean to “consider” them?

“The poor” in this verse is “feeble” and “helpless.”  They are poor in “person,” the world sees them as not worth much—worthless.  They are poor in “position,” the lowly of the world.  And they are poor in “possessions,” for they have very little of this world’s goods.  These are not the lazy people of the world, but the genuinely needy by poverty or disease.  The poor need the help of others.

To “consider the poor” is not the idea of casually walking down the street and accidentally finding a poor person on the street, and giving them a couple of dollars.  That is showing mercy, and it is a good thing to do, but it’s not “considering the poor.”  When a person seeks out the poor to help them by looking at their condition and then helping them.  This person cares for the poor, this is “considering the poor.”  As Barnes notes, “Here it means to attend to; to show an interest in; to care for.”1

“The LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.”
Even though others may not know what we do to help people, the LORD knows, and He remembers.  It is interesting that the LORD helps those who help others, including supporting the poor.

“He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again,” (Proverbs 19:17).

This principle of the LORD helping those who have helped others can be seen as David wrote it in Psalm 18:24-27.  In our verse for today, the LORD helps the helpers in times of trouble.  In verse 2 the LORD protects those who need protection.  And in verse 3, the LORD heals those who are sick.  Simply put, He is interested in those who help others.

It is a comfort to remember that the LORD remembers what you do for others.

 

 

 

1.  Albert Barnes, Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, the electronic version in eSword.