Help and rescue

 Psalm 72 1-7, 10-14 V4 “Help him to defend the poor, to rescue the children of the needy, and to crush their oppressors.”

There are many places in the Old Testament where they show their belief in the King and his son. referring to God and looking to the coming of His Son. We understand more about the character of God and therefore the ideals we should aim for. In this psalm we are reminded to” defend the poor, to rescue the children of the needy and to crush their oppressors. “This is repeated in the second part of the reading “he feels pity for the weak and the needy, and he will rescue them. “

Growing up in the UK we used to visit every now and then my mom’s cousin who was a Methodist minister. He had a wife who talked funny as she was from America, they had no children, and he always succeeded in terrifying us children when we went to visit.  He knew how to crush us so that we would sit quietly for the entire visit. His wife would give us cookies (known to us at the time as biscuits).

The language used in this psalm to defend, to rescue, to crush is strong and bold. Like my mom’s cousin who achieved with a strong word, obedience to his wishes. With the reward of cookies, we learn’t from his bold instructions that there are times when we need to sit and be quiet.

Sometimes our faith today has to be strong and bold so that our attempts to help and rescue are successful.

Prayer: Almighty God guide our paths to help those who are needy. Give us opportunities to boldly stand with the poor and oppressed in our community and give us the strength to continue through these times of change so that we all can prosper and be fruitful. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.