Psalm 41 Part 1: A Heart Full of Mercy

¹Blessed is he who considers the poor;

The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.

As sinful human beings, we naturally gravitate towards a selfish mindset. It is a part of our nature. We care about ourselves, our family, our friends, and perhaps our church. But how often do we care for the poor? Most of us would look at a homeless man on the street and decide that he must have done something wrong to be in the situation. He has to be lazy or taking drugs, or maybe he does not mind homelessness. We can come up with a million reasons and then turn away, never looking back.

And maybe we are right. Maybe he “deserves” to be in that situation. But then, what if God thought like that? What if He said, “She does not want to be saved. She sinned. She deserves to be in that situation.” If God thought as we often do, then none of us would be saved.

Now, I am not saying that we should run around, handing out money to every poor person we see. Considering the poor does not always have to do with money, or food, or a house. It is about sharing the gospel to the person or suggesting a church for the person to go to for help. It is about caring, and it’s about love.

And when considering a “poor” person, don’t limit yourself to those who don’t have a lot of money. Life isn’t about money. Those who are poor include anyone who is not yet saved, and even those who are saved and who are struggling. This world is full of sinful, struggling people. We are all sinful, struggling people. God loved us. How much more should we love others?

² The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive,

And he will be blessed on the earth;
You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies.
³ The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness;
You will sustain him on his sickbed.

God will protect us when we reach out to poor. Yes, we should be careful. And yes, we shouldn’t just randomly go out into the streets of Detroit and start evangelizing, but that doesn’t mean we should be scared. There are safety precautions, but in the end, God is with us. If you feel like God is calling you to speak to a person, even if he doesn’t look like the safest person in the world, what are you to fear? This is God we are talking about. He can fill in valleys and flatten mountains. We have no excuse. We should not be afraid.

⁴ I said, “Lord, be merciful to me;

Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.”
⁵ My enemies speak evil of me:
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
⁶ And if he comes to see me, he speaks lies;
His heart gathers iniquity to itself;
When he goes out, he tells it.

I am not perfect. You are not perfect, and God does not expect us to be perfect. In this portion of the Psalm, David is crying out to the Lord for forgiveness. We have sinned against Him, and that is something that should be remembered when going out into the streets, proclaiming His word, when being a loving friend to a Christian who is struggling, when choosing to spend time in Bible studies instead of hanging out at the mall. We can never truly be fruitful without God first blessing us, and we will never be really asking if our focus is on ourselves. If we think of ourselves to be better than others, who will listen?

Enemies rise up against the faithful Christian, but God does not and will not abandon. He will always be there for His child, protecting him from those who rise up all around, trying to make us trip up. Trying to hurt us and tear us away from the Lord. This is a great blessing and a great encouragement. If the Lord is on our side, who can go against us?