Psalm12:5   
I will arise!
            “Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the Lord. “I will protect them from those who malign them.” So, the prayer of v1-4 is answered by a prophetic word from heaven and, as ever, the poor and needy are in the Lord’s heart, it is their plight that prompts His response. Again, this is becoming a familiar pattern in the Psalms, the division between the rich and the poor is plain, those who have wealth, power and prestige are constantly compared with those who have little or nothing and who suffer at the hands of their wealthy oppressors.  The Psalm does not say that wealth and riches are wrong nor is this a mantra for communism! What it questions is the motives that drive the rich and the way in which their power is used. If the poor and needy are cared for and blessed, that is good. If they are plundered and groan in their poverty and deprivation while someone else prospers, that is an abomination in the Lord’s eyes. Why? Because He made mankind equal, because He gave this planet to us all, because He is a God of justice, because everything comes from Him; so for individuals to prosper and not share is for them to defy God, to set themselves up as gods. They are effectively saying, “It does not belong to you, it is mine!”

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