The Poor and Needy

I was reading Ps. 72 last night in preparation for a class I'm teaching on the Kingdom of God. What a wonderful joy there is to know Christ is Lord over all things and He has given us a part in His kingdom. When we get that perspective, all the circumstances and situations of this life that weigh us down seem to fade away. I am convinced there is a resting place for us there where we can have that perspective all the time and truly go through life with a kingdom perspective. Personally I have not been able to stay in that place for very long. It seems the business and pressures of life have a way of pulling me back into a mental rut of just enduring and holding on till the end. We will suffer and have difficulty and persecution in this life. Jesus promised us that would come. We often think of persecution as religious persecution for our beliefs, but more often, its when we are treated unfairly by others or when bad things happen to ourselves or others we love.

The good news is that we have a hope in Jesus Christ. We know He will rescue us and extend us His mercy and grace. He will deliver the needy when they cry for help. As I read these verses, I asked the Lord who the poor and needy were mentioned in vs. 12 and 13? He said "You are". I realized we are all nothing without Christ. We have all been abandoned by our own sin nature and left for dead. We are all in desperate need of Christ to lift us up and save us everyday. We have no strength or hope in our self. All we can do is call out to him and wait for His compassion and His mercy to come. Be encouraged though that He will come just as He has promised He would.

Psalm 72:11-14 "And let all kings bow down before him, All nations serve him. For he will deliver the needy when he cries for help, The afflicted also, and him who has no helper. He will have compassion on the poor and needy, And the lives of the needy he will save. He will rescue their life from oppression and violence, And their blood will be precious in his sight"

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