God cares about the
abused and the oppressed. He loves the mistreated, but He abhors our
affliction. He gathers our tears in His bottle and records them in His journal (Psalm
56:8). He promises not to hide His face
from us when we cry out to Him, and He champions our cause (Psalm
22:24, 140:12). He redeems the soul of
the afflicted from deceit and violence, and our blood is precious in His sight (Psalm
72:14).
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 promises to lift up the
distressed above those who try to hurt them and to deliver them from violent
people (Psalm 18:48; Psalm 27:5-6).
Even verbal abuse is
dealt with when God inspires Solomon to write, “violence covers the mouth of
the wicked” (Proverbs 10:6,11).
Jesus equates anger without a cause as murder, and He speaks out against verbal
abuse (Matthew 5:21-22). He 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 (2 Samuel
22:28).
God gives us hope and a
secure future (Jeremiah 29:11).
Our weeping may endure for the night, but God gives us joy in the morning (Psalm
30:5). Because we know the name of the
Lord, we put our trust in Him. He will never forsake those who seek Him. We end
up singing praises to His name for what He does for us and we tell everyone who
will listen about what God did for us (Psalm 9:9-11).
Prayer:
Father God, even if we
walk through the shadow of death, we have nothing to fear. You are with us and
You give us support and protection, as well as correction if we are causing our
own misfortune (Psalm 23:4). Even
though the righteous may suffer many afflictions, You deliver us out of them
all (Psalm 34:19). You order our
steps, and even if we fall, we are never completely cast down, because You hold
us up with Your hand (Ps 37:23-24).
Remind us to bear one another burdens (Galatians 6:2) and to encourage each other in our times of
distress (Hebrews 12:12).
Thought for the Day:
Jesus is our rock, fortress and
deliverer in whom we can take refuge. He is our shield and the horn of our
salvation, our stronghold. - Psalm 18:2
