"STRENGTHEN THE HAND OF THE POOR AND NEEDY."
By David Paulson, M. D.
WE find in a careful study of Ezek. 16:49 that the iniquity of Sodom was of four kinds: Pride, fulness of bread, abundance of idleness, and neglecting to strengthen the hands of the poor and needy. We will now take up the study of the last-named root of her trouble. In the first chapter of Isaiah, the first fifteen verses, we notice that this wonderful chapter is dealing with the same thought as James 1:27. "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world." The prophet reproves the professed people of God for their neglect of the practical phase of Christianity, and tells them that he has no regard for the forms and ceremonies which they are strictly observing. "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me?" When we have pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness, and are neglecting to help the poor and needy, of what use is it that we say grace at the table, go to meeting on Sabbaths, pay tithe, make offerings to the Lord, and do in a perfunctory way all the other things that Christians are supposed to do? God does not accept such service. He says here that even the solemn meetings are iniquity in His sight; and when we spread forth our hands in prayer, He will hide His eyes from us. For He says, "Your hands are full of blood." How is that? Have we committed the overt act of murder? No, but we have rejected light, neglected opportunities to save souls by giving Christ to them, lived selfish, exclusive lives when we should have been engaged in loving service for God; therefore blood is on our garments. What are we to do? "Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed; judge the fatherless, plead for the widow." And what next? "Come now, and let us reason together," etc. That is, come after you have done the things mentioned in the preceding verses. And when we come in this way, we need not plead with God to forgive us our sins, for it has already been done and we need only to accept the fact. A patient said to me the other day: "I can't pray any harder than that; do you think that God will hear me?" I told the poor man that God was more anxious to hear and answer his prayers than he was to utter them. When the prodigal son was yet a great way off, the father ran to meet him. One of the first things he did was to put the best robe on him; that corresponds, you see, to God's putting the robe of Christ's righteousness upon us. That father did not tell his returned son to take off his rags himself; no, he commanded the servants to do it for him. What loving, gentle care! So when Joshua, the high priest, stood before the Lord with filthy garments, and Satan was bringing accusation against him, the word was: "The Lord rebuke thee, Satan," and commandment was given, "Take away the filthy garments from him," followed by the gracious announcement, "Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee." 1 John 4:17 expresses our position in the world: "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world." We are in the world for the same work that Christ was here. He went about doing good, strengthening the hands of the poor and needy. That is our work. And Christ will impart to us the same love which He has if we will ask Him for it. Job was this sort of a Christian. He tells how he was eyes to the blind, feet to the lame, and always ready to help the poor and fallen. Job was also a man of great wealth, and must have been a busy man; but he took time for just such little things as these. So God could say that he was a perfect man. I learned a beautiful lesson a short time ago from the construction of a large building. There was a time when it seemed to me that the work went very slowly; I wondered why the workmen did not put on the cornice, and put the windows in, and put on more of the finishing touches. I asked the master workman, and he replied, "We are doing more important work on the inside." They were putting up those strong pillars that sustained the building, and doing other things that did not show quite so much on the outside, but were, nevertheless, sometimes exceedingly important. So it is in character building. But if God is at work in our hearts, we can trust Him with the undertaking. If He has begun the good work He is able to complete it. All we need to do is to make sure that we are being built up in Christ and trust Him fully, and He will do the rest. Then let us open our hearts to the poor and needy, and enter more fully into the work of our Master, which was going about doing good. As we do this, our own hearts will be transformed under the mighty hand of God, and we shall be ready for the home above.