Help of the helpless

The LORD sets prisoners free
and gives sight to the blind.
He lifts those who have fallen;
he loves his righteous people.
He protects the strangers who live in our land;
he helps widows and orphans,
but takes the wicked to their ruin.
(verses 7b-9)

Read Psalm 146

The Lord God is the only lasting place of hope and help for victims. No-one else can relieve your suffering as he can. Jesus himself is the doorway to this hope and help.

God hears your silent cry as someone who is oppressed and abused. He will carry out justice in his time. He knows the pain of hunger. He offers you the eternal food of salvation. He takes the shackles of sin that imprison you and breaks them to pieces. He opens your eyes of faith to see him, to hear his word as truth. He reaches down to where you wallow in the depths of depression and humiliation and lifts you up high. He enables you to love others. He befriends and walks with the strangers and the lonely. His love and mercy extend to all who have lost so much through the death of a spouse or child or sibling. He offers you the hope of eternal life. Jesus is the help of the helpless.

Praise be to you, O Lord, my God! Be my help, my hope and my strength, now and forever. Amen.

by Simon Cooper, in ‘Renewed Hope for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2000)

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