Read Psalm 41:1-4. 1Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him; 2the Lord protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; you do not give him up to the will of his enemies. 3The Lord sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health. 4As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against you!”
Here again it is David’s sin that is making him sick. And, as we’ve seen in previous psalms, not only sick but also oppressed by enemies and, in general, poor (weak, troubled). His humble confession (I have sinned against you) is empowered by his confident faith in the Lord’s covenant graciousness. David knows that the Lord is at work in his life protecting him, sustaining him, restoring him, but he wants others to join in with the Lord’s work in his life. Therefore, blessed is the one who considers the poor.
One thousand years later Jesus said it this way – Blessed are the merciful for they will obtain mercy. Jesus knew what David knew (what we all need to know), that every one of us will be in constant need of mercy, and in Christ we have obtained it. God’s covenant grace has made its way into every Christian’s heart, making it possible for us to consider the poor regardless of the causes of their situation, whether sin or oppression or both.
Has consider the poor been part of Christ in you? Are you experiencing blessed are the merciful? Have you been delivered, protected, kept alive, sustained, and restored by your union with Christ? If so, then to live is Christ has made you an agent of this same mercy amongst the poor, the weak, the sick, the oppressed, the sinful that you rub shoulders with every week.
Prayer. Jesus, you have been merciful to me. May I be merciful to others in their times of greatest need. Amen.
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