“Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;his name is the LORD; exult before him! Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.” (Psalm 68:4-5)
The palmist worships the Lord for riding through the deserts, for being present in the lonely, dry, lifeless places often symbolically associated with not sensing God’s presence and running dry on the river of life that flows from the Lord, who else where promises us rivers in the desert. We are encouraged to exult before him who is there even when we are dry, dead, and barren, lonely and forsaken. In similar images, God is presented as taking up into his personal care those without the nurture and guidance, without the love and protection, of a father and a husband. A greater principle behind his care for widows and orphans is that he defends the defenseless and the destitute of the land from injustice.
This does not relieve the Church one iota. All the more, we are his body, we are called to take care of the widow and the fatherless and love them and care for them as much as we would our own. Does that mean everyone has to adopt a child or a grandma into their family? No, we each have our own call and ministry, but we do need to have listening ears willing to hear his call and open hearts with the courage to say yes to him in regards to whatever ministry and function of his body he does call us to.
Lord, we thank you for your personal care and touch on those who do not have a loving, compassionate father in their lives. We ask you today to show us who the “widows and orphans” are in our communities, those defenseless and destitute (of mind, heart, or pocketbook) and unable to stand up for themselves. Show us in particular those specific people, or areas, in which you have called us to help, and further, how you would have us to do so. Equip us and strengthen and embolden us to step out and allow you to defend them through us in whatever way yo. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.