- Maintain the Cause and the Right
Psalm 140:12
I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted,
And the right of the poor.
All people, no matter how healthy and wealthy, are spiritually afflicted and spiritually poor, at some times more so than at other times. Affliction comes upon the mental and emotional state as an attack of Sin and Satan. The cause of the afflicted is the purpose and destiny of people; when their purpose is being thwarted and hindered the Lord Himself intervenes to maintain their cause. If God has a plan for each life He will certainly maintain that cause in spite of all the obstacles in the way. It is encouraging for us to know there is a cause for my living and that the Lord will make sure that my cause will be fulfilled.
The spiritually poor, including all sinners even the morally bankrupt, still have a right to access God and His life and gifts. The devil would lie and tempt us to believe we have no right to life, forgiveness or salvation; he would say that we are not worthy. He is right: I am not worthy, but Christ is worthy for me. Jesus Christ becomes my right, and in this way the Lord maintains my right. Of course, in and by myself I have no right to life and forgiveness because of my sin, but the sinless Christ has taken over the life of this poor sinner and now I have legal right to life and everything good from God.
“I know” this because I have been given faith in the Gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit. This knowledge makes me strong to live well and stand firm in the presence of spiritual affliction and poverty. This is what faith does for those who believe the promises of God. We do not need to try to claim our destiny and demand our right, but we need to let the Lord do it.