Psalm 68.5 tells us that He is, “Yah, a father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation.”
It is He who sets the solitary in families.
God is a defender and a covering of the defenceless and He places worth on all life, because it comes from Him, especially those who are dependent on others.
He defends the defenceless, the vulnerable and the weak, He is an antidote to evolutions “survival of the fittest”.
He opposes the worldly mindset and sets the solitary in families, but when this breaks down, He will defend us, we are invited to come under the shadow of His wing.
Quite different to the “one child per family” approach taken in countries like China, which would throw children away as excess and abandon them or worse, this is not God’s way, in fact as the third child, I would never have been born, how about you?
And I for one am glad that there is room for me in God’s family!
One of the first things He does and one of the most beautiful, is to place us in His family, along with our brothers and sisters, that is why church, though hard work at times, is so important to spiritual growth and finding our identity.
We learn so much more from living in relationship with others than we could on our own.
Yes, there is the capacity to get hurt, but also to learn to forgive and grow together, to decide to return to relationship and not turn away from opening yourself to each other.
The day we close off from our spiritual family, is the day we stop growing.
Psalm 68.10 says, “You, oh God, provided from your goodness for the poor.”
And in vs 19 we can say along with the Psalmist, “Blessed be the Lord who daily loads us with benefits.”
We have all benefitted from His goodness!
He does good and not evil.
18 He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing.
God clearly lets us know that He places value on the marginalized and cares about how we treat them.
His eyes run to and fro throughout the earth to observe and help His people, He offers fatherly providence and care when we are in distress and He provides social blessings.
Orphans and widows are admitted into the heavenly family and share all their blessings.
Jeremiah 49.11
Leave your fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; And let your widows trust in Me.”
He wants us to know that whatever our state, we can trust Him.
He is constantly urging us to trust in Him, backing it up with reassurances.
Cast all your care on me, come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.
There is rest in trusting in Him.
The fatherless find mercy.
He takes up the cause of the most humble in society.
Those whom society is most disposed to despise and overlook, He is the defender of the oppressed and downtrodden.
Over the next couple of weeks we will look at His role as the Defender of Widows and the Supporter of the Oppressed.