Listen to today’s devo!

He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. (Ps. 113:7)

Western society values self-determination, individual accomplishment, and personal success over everything else. We praise and admire those who build multimillion-dollar businesses from their basements or garages (although we usually fail to notice how much help those “self-made” individuals received in the beginning).

Too often, the church’s attitude mimics that of culture. We value the successful businessman over the blue-collar worker or the wealthy homeowner over the family that scrapes together enough each month to pay the rent. These attitudes come from our culture rather than Christianity. They are found in our bestsellers, not in the Bible.

Psalm 113 is a hymn of praise. It asks, “Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth” (vv. 5–6). The implied answer is that there is no one anywhere like the Lord. But what makes the Lord truly different—what makes the Lord praiseworthy, according to the psalmist—is that God attends to the poor and the needy. He values them equally with the “princes of the people.”

The church that reflects God’s glory is the one that refuses to value people according to the world’s standards. It’s a church that takes care of the poor, that welcomes them as joyfully as the rich, and that supports policies that bring an end to oppression.

Adopt God’s view of the poor as valuable in their own right.

Kevin R. Scott is a pastor, author of ReCreatable: How God Heals the Brokenness of Life, and editor for Wesleyan Publishing House. He lives with his family in middle Tennessee.

© 2022 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.