“Father of the fatherless”

“Father of the fatherless”

          The other day we were talking about Psalm 10 and how God sometimes seems to “hide” Himself from our view so that the “eyes of our heart” don't sense His Presence as we usually do. He's “there” but we're not strongly aware of it. He's teaching us to walk by faith and not by feelings.

          That Psalm also has one of my wife's favorite verses, one that she told me about many times. You know that her father died when she was only 11 years old. That was in 1949 and he was 39 years old. Minnie's mother was 31 with 5 children and no insurance and no social security and only a rented house to live in.

        When Minnie, age 11, came home from work at the cafe at 10:00 at night, she would sit by her dad's bed and talk to him for awhile every night. They were very close and he had a strong influence on her life. He often told her that the hardest thing about his illness (cancer) was having to leave his wife alone with 5 children to raise and he couldn't be there to help and provide for them. You can well imagine what an intense pain inwardly this would be for a conscientious man such as he was.

           So he told little Minnie that he found great comfort in three verses in the Psalms that promised God's provision for the “fatherless.” One of those verses is Psalm 10:14, “thou art the helper of the fatherless.” And Psalm 68:5 ESV describes “the helper” actually as the Father of orphans and adds provision for the widows: “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.” The third Psalm is 146:9 NIV “The Lord . . . sustains the fatherless and the widow.”

         Need I tell you that God, in fact, did those things? He provided and sustained and strengthened that little family. The young widow and all the children worked at whatever jobs they could find and God provided in a whole host of ways. Including the men of the town who, with their wives, had several money-raising projects and then with volunteer labor built that little family a simple house for them to live in and own. 

      They “gathered” and worked with and prepared what God had provided, but it was God who made the provision. As in Psalm 104 where God is providing for the animals and birds: ^“These all look to you, to give them their food in due season. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.” 104:27-28 ESV

       Psalm 10 starts with a lament, “Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” But it ends with a praise: “O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will listen carefully, doing justice for the fatherless and the oppressed.” 10:17 ESV & HCSB