King of the Poor: Righteous King

Last Sunday I tried to demonstrate from Scripture that God loves the poor and sent His Son on a mission of mercy, in large part, to the poor. It’s not that God doesn’t show mercy to the wealthy, but that they don’t think they need his mercy. James says that God has chosen the poor to be rich in faith. (James 2:5) The question remains, Why? Why does God care so much for the poor?

This Sunday, I’ll offer one answer: God is righteous and hates oppression. The Scripture we’ll launch from is the story Nathan the prophet told David as it illustrates a righteous reaction to oppression. David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and then had her husband killed as part of his cover up. Nathan confronts him with a fictitious story about a rich man, with many lambs, who took the one and only beloved lamb of a poor man. The rich man served that lamb to his dinner guests with no thought of his oppression. David reacts, declaring the man should pay with his life. Nathan then says, “You are the man.” 

David’s reaction illustrates what every one of us should feel in the face of such unrighteous behavior, but for some reason we overlook such abuses of power almost every day. It also illustrates the righteous anger of God when he looks upon the dealings of men and witnesses our unrighteousness.

So come Sunday and consider with me the righteousness of God!