- Lift up the needy
Psalm 113:7, 8
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust,
And lifteth the needy out of the dunghill;
That he may set him with princes,
Even with the princes of his people.
God promises to raise up the poor and lift up the needy. He regards the poor and needy by seeing them as princes; according to the way God sees people He regards everyone as princely. All sinners are poor and needy, spiritually bankrupt, empty of value, worthless and helpless. We are beggars, we have nothing, and worse, we are nothing; in this world we live in the dust of death and the dunghill of sin.
But what does God see? God sees princes, men and women enjoying the comfort and wealth of the palace; God sees people with worth and value far beyond their own imagination; God sees privileged men and women who are given the riches of the kingdom. God sees us in our lowly estate and lifts us up to a higher place; God sees the filthy pigsty of our sins and brings us into a fresh and clean mansion.
Not only does Jesus look at us differently than we see others and ourselves, he even seeks us out and looks for us in our misery. Jesus searches out the poor, the widows, the orphans, the lepers, the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the crippled, the blind, the demonized, the lepers, the oppressed and the helpless. Thank God for His Mercy which looks upon us with love and sees miserable sinners as forgiven saints.
By sight we are poor and needy; by faith we are rich and full. When one really sees himself as God sees him he sees two unseen realities: 1) I am much, much more evil and dark than I think I am; 2) I am elevated to a far higher plane of princely worth and am much, much more righteous than I can even imagine. The Word of God reveals the person as he really is. Listen to the Gospel.