The Mandate for Defending the Helpless (10 of 10)

The book of Nehemiah begins with sadness. Nehemiah, Jewish slave in Persian captivity, had just learned about the devastation in his homeland. Nehemiah 1:4 says, “So it was when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.” Nehemiah 's appropriate response to the news of the devastation of his homeland was shock and grief. (Ingraham, et al, 2017).

As I was crying out “where were you God?” The answer that came was, “where were my people?” While the question God asked brought me some peace, it also created a tremendous sense of guilt and an even bigger burden. I felt guilt that I'd treated God as my security guard my whole life, as if I could passively pray and let him do all my dirty work … God is our shield and protector but we are also created in his image. As image bearers, we are charged to mirror Christ and to be the protectors of the innocent ourselves (Hinton, 2021).

Psalm 94: 3-7
O LORD, how long shall the wicked,
how long shall the wicked exult?
They pour out their arrogant words;
all the evildoers boast.
They crush your people, O LORD,
and afflict your heritage.
They kill the widow and the sojourner,
and murder the fatherless;
and they say, “The LORD does not see;
the God of Jacob does not perceive.”
 
 16-19 Who rises up for me against the wicked?
Who stands up for me against evildoers?
If the LORD had not been my help,
my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.
When I thought, “My foot slips,”
your steadfast love, O LORD, held me up.
When the cares of my heart are many,
your consolations cheer my soul.