Psalm 138:6

Psalm 138:6

Let’s remind ourselves of these verses in Psalm 113:4-9.

“The Lord is exalted over all the nations, his glory above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look
on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from 

 the ash heap; he seats them with princes, with the princes of his people. He settles the childless woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the Lord.”

It is impossible to overstate the kindness of the Lord and the compassion He shows to the poor and the needy. There is a sense in which He is distant from us in that His throne room in heaven is far beyond the confines of this planet or probably this galaxy! It’s not just time and distance that separates us from Him but also status. An itinerant beggar may dream of a nice walk in the park at Sandringham with King Charles and Camilla, but it isn’t going to happen, there is a great gulf that the poor man cannot bridge. The same could be true for every human being and our relationship with the Lord God but this Psalm, and Psalm 139 that follows, makes it clear that the Lord, although distant, sees the lowly and He sees them with kind eyes. None of us are outside of His gaze and David hints here at the way the Lord perceives status. This world is meant to be a fair place, a place where every human being is treated equally and where righteousness reigns. Instead, there are prejudice, greed, selfishness and social status structures where men and women climb over each other for recognition and power. This does not please the Lord, it is not fair, and it is not the way He intended for human beings to live together. That is why He looks kindly on the lowly and that is why Jesus said so much about giving to the poor. God is compassionate to the poor and lowly, the Gospel is the hope of the poor, it is the poor who are chosen to be rich in faith, it is the poor in our churches whom we are to care for first. This is not a political agenda or to do with social transformation, the world of politics or cultural ideologies bears no comparison with the principles of the Kingdom of Heaven, this is God’s command, for it reflects His heart.Jesus came to the poor and the Gospel is primarily for the poor, this I soften forgotten in our middle-class churches! 

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