Care For the Needy

God takes His place in the divine assembly; He judges among the Gods;
'How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?
Provide justice to the needy and the fatherless; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute.
Rescue the poor and needy; save them from the power of the wicked.' psalm 82:1-4

Having a good commentary helps me understand the context of this scripture.

The world blames God for the disasters, their misery and failure. Yet here we see God actually judging those who have been given authority to care for the needy and destitute.

Last night I went to see a play called The Flood. It had three prominent actresses in it. The story was woven around a family destroyed by a fathers sexual abuse of his eldest daughter. It graphically portrayed the emotional desolation and state of lostness caused by the father's abuse and the mother's failure to acknowledge his sin. The language was awful but I know that such a family would think it normal.

I came away shocked and woke at 4:30 emotionally impacted by what I saw.

I have known women who were abused by their fathers, one had three children to her father and eventually escaped with her children as she feared for her own daughters. The worst of this situation was that the father portrayed himself as a godly man. I want to rip his arms off.

Recently I had a conversation with an aboriginal woman who left her husband because he was abusing their daughter, this woman was herself abused as a child.

Fathers are supposed to be leaders who care for the little ones in their care. It makes me angry to see such behavior.

Even more so is our heavenly Father angered and grieved for the little ones.

What this whole experience made me realize was that I, as a member of my community did not want to entertain such behavior and because acknowledging it devastates me I was disinclined give it the time of day. How does this attitude hurt the abused!

I have a responsibility to face the devastation, let it touch me and cause me to act. I cannot ignore this or I am no better than the abuser.