Do Not Rob The Poor

It is Tuesday 15th September 2020, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for the day.

If we go to the Book of Proverbs, Chapter 22 and verse 22 - a good memory verse!

The Lord says:

“Do not rob the poor because he is poor,
Nor oppress the afflicted at the gate;
(The gate means the business place)
For the Lord will plead their cause,
And plunder the soul of those who plunder them.”

Do not rob the poor because they are poor.

We need to exercise mercy, patience and justice and my dear friend, we need to remember where we have come from.

Wasn’t there a time when you had nothing and if God had not stepped in the gap, you would have gone down.

We need to remember that.

If you oppress the poor, you will find out that you are actually standing against God.

Don’t walk on the poor simply because they are poor, or try to crush them because they are weak.

God will come to their defense.

Remember, it is no disgrace to be a poor person.

A lazy person, yes, but not a poor person.

Do not despise that tramp sitting on the side of the road because you don’t know where he has come from.

Many a time, he might be an honorable man who has come against hard times, been through personal tragedy and has not been able to face up to it.

Exercise grace. Always remember that The Lord is the Champion of the poor and He will punish those who hurt them.

You know, I remember like it was yesterday, my young sons were just starting to take over the farm.

I was preaching full-time, although I was still running the farm, and I was down in a place called Kloof, in Durban.

I was about to go out and to preach to a group of men, a large group of men at a businessman’s breakfast, and I was just about to stand on the platform when a man came in and said, “There is an urgent phone call for you.”

i went out and I answered the phone.

It was my eldest son and he said, “Dad, we have got all the staff, (We had a large staff in those days. We were doing seed maize.) and they are standing outside the local store.
They are wanting to go in and purchase their groceries, and the owner of the store has said that the cheque that we issued, has bounced. There is no money left in the bank, and they are standing outside.”

This is me, now, going on the platform to preach the Good News to the businessmen! God has got such a sense of humor, hasn’t He?

Well, I had to phone the bank manager myself, didn’t I?

And I will never forget it as long as I live.

I said to the man, “Please, please, give us some grace. We will sort it out but don’t let these people go away with no money or food.”

And he was so kind. He exercised his authority and he said, “Go ahead, Angus.” And we were able to pay every single one of the staff.

And then I got on the platform and you can imagine the sermon I preached that day.

I want to say to you today, give grace and give mercy to the poor, and help them and God will honor you!