Let us encourage the helpless
[Psalm 41]
Although only three days have passed since the beginning of the new year, I am already experiencing the blessing of experiencing God's grace and love. On January 1st, the first day of the year, through family gatherings, I experienced God's love, and through that love, I was made aware of the sins I had not loved (or recognized) in myself. I confessed these sins, was forgiven, and was able to enjoy the joy of freedom. Then, yesterday during the Tuesday morning prayer meeting and today during the Wednesday morning prayer meeting, God spoke to me through Genesis chapters 4-9. Through these passages, God showed me Cain’s inability to deal with sin (Genesis 4), how in an age where sin was prevalent, "Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord" (Genesis 6:8), Noah as a righteous man, perfect in his generation, who walked with God (Genesis 6:9), Noah, after the flood, coming out of the ark and first building an altar to worship God (Genesis 8:20), and finally, how Noah, after drinking wine, became drunk and uncovered himself (Genesis 9:21).
In these contrasting images of Noah, God allowed me to see the contrast between Abel and Cain. After seeing Cain in Noah’s failure to manage his own sin, I especially heard about how people I love and care about, due to the sins of their loved ones, were suffering in the first three days of this new year. In that situation, I began to think about how powerful sin really is. Through the sinful choices of just one person, not only does the individual suffer, but also family members, church members, and many others around them experience great pain, suffering, tears, and distress. Seeing or hearing this made me ask myself: How should I console and help those who are suffering due to the sinful choices of others? I wish to receive guidance from today’s passage, Psalm 41.
In Psalm 41:1, David says, “Blessed is the one who considers the helpless...”. Here, the term "helpless" is translated into English as "the helpless" (those who are unable to help themselves, the powerless). In other scriptures, this Hebrew word is translated as "poor" or "weak." It refers to people in a situation where they are economically impoverished, low in social status, and easily oppressed (John MacArthur). The meaning of “helpless” includes the poor (Exodus 30:15), the sick (Genesis 41:19), and those with weak hearts (1 Thessalonians 5:14). In this passage, it refers to all those suffering under God’s discipline (Park Yun-Seon). The Bible commands us to encourage these helpless people. In other words, the Bible tells us to act with compassion and consideration toward the helpless (Park Yun-Seon).
So, how should we encourage the helpless? First, we need to consider five things that we should not do when dealing with the helpless.
First, we must not look down on or criticize the helpless, thinking that they are suffering from God’s punishment because of their own sins. We should not view them with a critical or judgmental perspective and ignore their pain.
Secondly, we must not curse the needy.
Let’s look at Psalm 41:5: “My enemies speak evil of me, saying, ‘When will he die, and his name perish?’” David’s enemies cursed him when he was in a state of need, and their curse was essentially asking, "When will David die?" In other words, the curse wished for David’s death, wanting him to disappear from the earth. The wicked enemies who look at a believer suffering due to God's loving discipline because of their sins desire their death. A representative example of this is Jesus. The unbelieving Jews, thinking that Jesus was cursed by God while hanging on the cross, longed for his death. That’s why they cried out to Pilate, "Crucify him!" (Luke 23:21).
Third, we must not make evil plans against the needy.
Look at Psalm 41:6: “When they come to see me, they speak falsely; their hearts gather iniquity; when they go out, they tell it.” When David was in suffering, his enemies came to him pretending to love him, flattering him, but in their hearts, they devised wicked plans. These evil plans involved spreading lies and speaking maliciously about David. In front of him, they showed affection, but when they left, they spread lies and slandered him. We should never be like this. We must not visit the needy, pretending to care and flatter them, only to go behind their back and spread lies about them.
Fourth, we must not hate the needy and whisper behind their back, intending to harm them.
Look at Psalm 41:7: “All who hate me whisper together against me; they devise my hurt.” How tempting is this? Someone we didn’t particularly like is now suffering, being disciplined by God for their sins. What a perfect opportunity it seems to gossip about them! Or, if we have been jealous of someone and now they are suffering due to God’s discipline, how easy it might seem to talk about them behind their back. But I believe that such whispering is like killing the needy again. They are already suffering from God's discipline for their sins, and if we gossip about them, we only add to their pain, giving them more suffering. This behavior is of no help at all.
Finally, fifth, we must not betray or oppose the needy.
Look at Psalm 41:9: “Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.” The phrase “lifted up his heel” refers to the action of kicking, which indicates an act of betrayal. This refers to an ungrateful and wicked act (Park Yun-Seon). A classic example of this is Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus.
So, how should we encourage the needy? Today, I want to draw three lessons from the passage.
First, we must show compassion to the needy.
Look at the first part of verse 4 and the first part of verse 10 in Psalm 41: "I said, 'Lord, have mercy on me...'" and "But you, Lord, have mercy on me...". The believer who has experienced God's loving discipline due to their own sin, upon seeing another believer suffer God's loving discipline because of their sin, feels compassion and mercy for them. Having personally suffered due to their own sin, they can empathize with and have compassion for others' pain and suffering. In the passage today, David, the psalmist, recognizes his own sin before the Lord and asks for God's mercy, pleading that God would heal his soul (verse 4). Will God turn away from such a person? What parent would turn away from a child who acknowledges their sin and repents? We must embrace the needy with the love of the Lord.
Second, we must trust the needy.
How is this possible? We can trust the needy because we trust in God. In verse 9 of this passage, we see that David was even betrayed by a close friend whom he trusted. How painful this must have been! In some sense, David could be said to have betrayed God through his own sin. Likewise, when we sin, we betray God's trust. How often have we failed to trust in God and betrayed Him? However, our God is faithful—when we repent and return to Him, He accepts us and trusts us once again. How is this possible? Because He has washed our sins away through the precious blood of His only Son, Jesus. As we trust in God, we must trust each other as well.
Third, we must lift up the needy.
Look at verse 10 of Psalm 41: "But you, Lord, have mercy on me and raise me up...". The loving discipline that the Lord gives us is not intended to simply destroy us. Through His loving discipline, God thoroughly breaks the parts of us that need to be broken, and His ultimate goal is to raise us up. This is the reason we can look to God's mercy. The Lord has promised to build His church (Matthew 16:18), and as He builds it, we must join in the work of building His church. Therefore, the lesson we must learn from today’s passage is that, strengthened by God’s mercy, we must encourage and raise up our needy brothers and sisters. To do so, we must not only trust them but also make sure our words and actions become a source of comfort and strength for them. When we go to a member who is suffering from God's loving discipline, we must refrain from giving them further harsh words or actions.
What blessings does the one who encourages the needy receive?
First, the blessing of being rescued.
Look at the second part of verse 1 in Psalm 41: "...the Lord will deliver him in the day of trouble." God is the one who rescues those who encourage the needy in the day of calamity. The one who rescues the needy will be rescued by God. As we encourage the needy, we will experience the grace of God’s salvation.
Second, the blessing that God bestows on those who counsel the needy is the "blessing of protection".
Look at the first part of Psalm 41:2: “The Lord will protect him and preserve his life...”. The Bible tells us that God protects and preserves the life of those who counsel the needy. In other words, God protects the needy.
Third, the blessing that God bestows on those who counsel the needy is "to be blessed in this world".
Look at the middle part of Psalm 41:2: “… He will be blessed in the land...”. This means that God will repay those who counsel the needy with blessings in this life.
Lastly, the blessing that God bestows on those who counsel the needy is "the grace of healing".
Look at Psalm 41:3: “The Lord will sustain him on his sickbed and restore him from his bed of illness.” The God of healing restores the health of those who counsel the needy when they are sick, healing them completely.
When we are unable to govern our sins and, as a result, sin against God, causing suffering and discipline through God's punishment, we should have compassion on the needy. We should trust God and trust them, lifting them up. We must never curse them, plan evil, slander, or gossip about them, as that would be another sin that further harms them. We must never betray or oppose them, giving them despair and frustration, preventing them from rising again. To do this, we must look to Jesus, who was truly the most needy. Although He had no sin, the Son of God, Jesus, suffered all the consequences of God's discipline because of our sins. When we think of Jesus, His love, grace, and mercy allow us, too, to counsel the needy with a heart full of love. By doing so, we will receive the blessings of salvation, protection, healing, and God's grace, being blessed even in this world.
With gratitude for the Lord’s grace in counseling the needy,
Pastor James Kim
(Praying that we may love and counsel the needy with the love of the Lord)