God cares about the abused and the oppressed. He does not
look down upon the mistreated, but He abhors their affliction. He gathers their
tears in His bottle and records them in His journal (Psalm
56:8). He promises not to hide His face from them when they cry out to Him,
and He champions their cause (Psalm 22:24, 140:12). He redeems the soul of
the afflicted from deceit and violence. Their blood is precious in His sight (Psalm
72:14). God promises to lift up the distressed above those who
try to hurt them and to deliver them from violent people (Psalm
18:48).
The Lord hates those who love violence and promises to
punish them (Psalm 11:5; Zephaniah 1:9). He is wearied by the
violence in homes and those who make excuses for divorcing their mate, whom
they should be protecting (Malachi 2:16). God even despises verbal abuse,
and proved it when He inspired Solomon to write, “violence covers the mouth of
the wicked” (Proverbs 10:6,11). Jesus equates anger without a
cause to murder, and He also speaks out against verbal abuse (Matthew
5:21-22).
There is comfort in belonging to Christ, comfort in His
love and fellowship with His Spirit. His comfort makes us tenderhearted,
compassionate, single-minded and in one accord with other Believers (Philippians
2:1-2). God gives them hope and a secure future (Jeremiah
29:11). God tells the church to bear one another burdens and to
comfort each other (Galatians 6:2). God makes things right and
provides the afflicted with a refuge from oppression and trouble (Psalm
9:9; 103:6). He brings down the haughty, evil person and saves the
afflicted from their troubles (2 Samuel 22:28).
Prayer:
Father God, You comfort the downcast in our affliction (2
Corinthians 1:4, 7:6). You call each of us to encourage one another and
to bear one another’s burdens (2 Corinthians 7:7). By doing this, we actually fulfill Your law (Galatians
6:2). You call the strong to overlook the failings of the weak, and not to
hold it against them (Romans 15:1). We love our neighbor with the
same intensity that we love our self (Galatians 5:14).
Thought for the Day:
We encourage each other in our times of
distress. - Hebrews 12:12
