Day 198 – May 17, 2024: Psalms 106-111

There is a somewhat secondary theme in a few of these psalms that we read which lift up certainly one of the primary themes of Jesus. We see a consistent recognition that there is a preference for the poor on behalf of God. Those who are poor, those who are marginalized, those who are outcast, those who are on the fringes of society are loved and evern favored by the Lord. But when we look at our own lives and certainly at the way in which society is constructed, there is almost a sense that the poor are poor because of their own doing. As a result we cast even more shame upon that status as opposed to being aware of how God favores the poor and looks out for them and wants them to come out of their poverty.

If we were but able to see poverty as not a result of ignorance or unwillingness to work but rather as a state that often our policies and our attitudes create, then we would probably have a different perspective of the poor, and it would be one that would be more generous and giving and loving than what we currently have.