Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.
The verse commands judges who serve under God to defend the poor and fatherless, to do justice to the afflicted and needy, and to rescue and protect them from the wicked. It makes fair and compassionate judgment a duty owed to every member of the human family under a just God. True submission to God moves all people to defend those who are poor, fatherless, motherless, afflicted, widowed or needy, to do them justice and to relieve their need.
It also calls for defending the widow and the fatherless, treating the poor with kindness, helping the needy, and guarding the interests of others so that no unjust advantage is taken of them. It shows that God wants honest lawyers and physicians who make Him their standard, do no injustice to any person, and share in the work of redemption. Every person called to the law is to act as God's honest lawyer by doing justice and judgment, relieving the distress of the oppressed and lifting up the helpless, because God wants justice done in this world.
It means that merchants as God's agents trading with His goods are to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, and be the poor person's friend. It means that no one can be fit for the heavenly kingdom unless he obeys God's law in all his administration. It requires showing the compassion and sympathy of Christ from person to person, with tenderness for those belonging to Him instead of coldness and indifference toward human wants, woes, distress and suffering.
It means watching over souls purchased by His blood, watching for opportunities to do them good, easing their sufferings, abounding in the work of the Lord with hands and heart and whole being devoted, and showing discerning compassion that saves souls. Neglect of this duty comes from losing first love, and God will let heavy judgment fall on those without Christ's tenderness, take into His own hand the case of His suffering people whose cries ascend to heaven, and surely avenge them. Keeping this duty requires keeping the heart with all diligence under constant watchfulness, ever looking to Jesus as the pattern, sitting at His feet to learn, praying much in earnest, and watching against the stealthy enemy, old habits, natural inclinations, and selfish self-centered thoughts and plans by forcing them back, since even one remaining fiber of the root of selfishness will spring up when least expected and defile many.
The verse commands judges who serve under God to defend the poor and fatherless, to do justice to the afflicted and needy, and to rescue and protect them from the wicked. It makes fair and compassionate judgment a duty owed to every member of the human family under a just God. True submission to God moves all people to defend those who are poor, fatherless, motherless, afflicted, widowed or needy, to do them justice and to relieve their need.
It also calls for defending the widow and the fatherless, treating the poor with kindness, helping the needy, and guarding the interests of others so that no unjust advantage is taken of them. It shows that God wants honest lawyers and physicians who make Him their standard, do no injustice to any person, and share in the work of redemption. Every person called to the law is to act as God's honest lawyer by doing justice and judgment, relieving the distress of the oppressed and lifting up the helpless, because God wants justice done in this world.
It means that merchants as God's agents trading with His goods are to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, and be the poor person's friend. It means that no one can be fit for the heavenly kingdom unless he obeys God's law in all his administration. It requires showing the compassion and sympathy of Christ from person to person, with tenderness for those belonging to Him instead of coldness and indifference toward human wants, woes, distress and suffering.
It means watching over souls purchased by His blood, watching for opportunities to do them good, easing their sufferings, abounding in the work of the Lord with hands and heart and whole being devoted, and showing discerning compassion that saves souls. Neglect of this duty comes from losing first love, and God will let heavy judgment fall on those without Christ's tenderness, take into His own hand the case of His suffering people whose cries ascend to heaven, and surely avenge them. Keeping this duty requires keeping the heart with all diligence under constant watchfulness, ever looking to Jesus as the pattern, sitting at His feet to learn, praying much in earnest, and watching against the stealthy enemy, old habits, natural inclinations, and selfish self-centered thoughts and plans by forcing them back, since even one remaining fiber of the root of selfishness will spring up when least expected and defile many.