Psalms 146:5-9 -- On the Champion of the Oppressed

"Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God:
Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:
Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth the prisoners:
The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind: the Lord raiseth them that are bowed down: the Lord loveth the righteous:
The Lord preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down."
Psalms 146:5-9


I like the idea here that the Lord is the champion of the oppressed, hungry, imprisoned, blind, burdened, stranger, fatherless/orphan, widow, and the righteous. Sometimes I think that we misinterpret what God is about and what he stands for, and see him as upholding a small, elite group of the "chosen" ... and God does have chosen people sure, but they aren't chosen arbitrarily, nor are they more valuable as people than other people. They are chosen because they are *good* and because they accept God as their Lord. All of us can be chosen by God if we in turn choose God. We are all invited in.

Additionally, God takes his care of everyone seriously, telling all of us that how we treat others affects him personally (Matthew 25:40, 45). Today, let's remember that whatever we do to others, we are effectively doing to God, and let's reach out and treat people better, finding ways to lift and love rather than choosing judgement or condemnation. God will indeed turn the way of the wicked upside down... but that is to help them find/us a way back to him as well. Let's treat even our enemies well, as we have been asked (Luke 6:27, 35; Matthew 5:44). :)