July-24-0475-The blessedness of considering the weak
475_The blessedness of considering the weak Psalm 41 Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him; 2 the Lord protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; you do not give him up to the will of his enemies. 3 The Lord sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health. 4 As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against you!” 5 My enemies say of me in malice, “When will he die, and his name perish?” 6 And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words, while his heart gathers iniquity; when he goes out, he tells it abroad. 7 All who hate me whisper together about me; they imagine the worst for me. 8 They say, “A deadly thing is poured out on him; he will not rise again from where he lies.” 9 Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me. 10 But you, O Lord, be gracious to me, and raise me up, that I may repay them! 11 By this I know that you delight in me: my enemy will not shout in triumph over me. 12 But you have upheld me because of my integrity, and set me in your presence forever. 13 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen. A few years ago, during a particularly harsh winter in Chicago, a commuter named John was walking to his train station early in the morning. As he passed under an overpass, he saw a homeless man shivering on a bench, clearly struggling in the bitter cold. Most people passed by—some perhaps unsure of what to do, others avoiding eye contact out of discomfort or fear. But John paused. He took off his own gloves, then his coat, and handed them to the man. He missed his train that day, arriving late to work and receiving a reprimand from his manager. But he never regretted the decision. Later, when telling the story, he said, “It was the first time I really saw someone. And when I did, it changed me.” That moment of pausing to see someone in need—to consider the weak—is exactly what Psalm 41 calls “blessed.” The psalm doesn’t open with a call to worship or a cry for help, but with a beautiful truth that is often lost in our fast-paced world: “Blessed is the one who considers the poor. In the day of trouble, the Lord delivers him.” To “consider” the poor doesn’t simply mean to notice them or even just to help financially—it means to think about their needs, to engage our hearts and minds in compassion. This thread runs throughout Scripture, from the Law of Mt. Sinai to the Lord’s ministry. God repeatedly emphasizes His concern for the vulnerable. In ancient Israel, the law required landowners to leave the grain at the edges of their fields unharvested so that the