Psalm 72:13
He will take pity on the weak and the needy
and save the needy from death. (NIV)
Today’s Reading: Psalm 72
Psalm 72 speaks of this king being particularly favorable to the weak and needy. I think this is another clue that this psalm is not about Solomon or any other ordinary king of Israel. Most if not all kings and rulers cater to the rich and powerful. These are the people who contribute the most to the country and hold all the cards. If a king has the support of the rich and powerful, their throne is secure.
Jesus was different. Jesus would “deliver the needy” and “the afflicted who have no one to help” (vs 12). Throughout his ministry, Jesus seemed most concerned about the weak and needy people. The gospels recorded a total of 37 miracles performed by Jesus of which most were healing people who were sick and needy. However, John tells us in his gospel, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (John 21:25).
The psalmist says that Jesus will “save the needy from death. He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight” (vs 13-14). Jesus would redeem all of us with his precious blood (1 Peter 1:18-19) but Jesus had a special mission for the weak and needy. Recall that early in his ministry, Jesus went to the synagogue and read a passage from Isaiah and then said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). This was his announcement that he was the Messiah. The Scripture he cited was:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19).
Jesus is saying that you will recognize him as the Messiah by how he treats the weak and needy. He came to proclaim the good news to who? He came to tell the poor that there is good news. He came for the prisoners, the blind and the oppressed. That’s how we know Jesus is the Messiah. Nobody becomes a king to help those people. Only Jesus does that.
I totally understand that passage in Luke is metaphorical in the spiritual sense. It also means that Jesus came for you and me because we were poor in spirit, blind to the truth and prisoners to sin. Which is good news for us in that Jesus didn’t only come for the people who were physically weak and needy. But don’t mistake this passage as only referring to the spiritually needy people. Jesus had a special mission to minister to the outcasts of society.
And if we are to follow Christ then this is our calling as well. Jesus told a parable at the end of his ministry describing how God will separate the people at the end of time like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. The sheep will enter heaven and the goats will be will be thrown into the fire. He will determine who are sheep and who are goats by how they treated the weak and needy.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me’” (Matt 25:34-36).
We are to have a heart for the weak and needy. “But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” (Luke 14:13-14). This is the heart of Jesus and of God the Father – to care for the ones who truly can’t care for themselves.
Christ in the Old Testament 
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