Psalm 41:1 Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.
Would you rather be ninety-five-years old with a vast fortune or be ten-years-old with nothing? To be sure, there is someone, somewhere who would rather spend a million dollars, but I think most people would rather be the ten-year-old with the future and the potential to earn, gain, make decisions, and have a life. What this demonstrates is that there is more than one kind of wealth and more than one kind of poverty.
Here‘s a grandchild who goes to see her grandma who lives in Florida on a gracious villa overlooking the ocean in a beautiful spot, but she has to be on oxygen, she takes a thousand pills at breakfast, and has a number of things that physically limit her. Well, the grandma has money, but the child has health and a future. The grandma would spend vast sums of money to have the health that her granddaughter has. So, there is more than one kind of wealth.
Psalm 41:1 says, “Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in trouble.” This is a psalm of David. He was a wealthy man, a king, yet he asked for God’s help, as wealthy as he was. The point is that wealth is relative. What kind do you want? Do you want money, health, or some other commodity? In any case, there is a mindset that is really important: “Blessed is he that considereth the poor.”
Now, I can’t consider the poverty of others, want to be a help, and be merciful to them if I am always seeing myself in that place of poverty. There are people who make much more money than I do, but they still have needs and weak spots in their life. I can be used by God to help them. The truth is, I’m not fabulously wealthy, but as an American, I am wealthier than the vast majority of people in this world. So, if I’m always smug, thinking I need nothing, that is a bad spot to be in. On the other hand, if I am always feeling sorry for myself and feeling like someone should give me money, time, or something else, then I’m going to lack the mercy I need because I am not giving to others the mercy they need.
You see, the way you receive mercy is to give it. The way to give it is to know that you need it and also know that others need it. Psalm 18:25 says, “With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful.” David is talking to God, “God, you will be merciful as God to those who are merciful to a brother or sister.” I love Proverbs 19:17 where it says, “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD.” Imagine lending to God? How could you ever lend to someone who has everything already? But this is the form that this proverb takes. “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.” You are in a wonderful spot when the person to whom you give cannot repay you. You are in a blessed place when only God can repay what you have given.
In short, if you need mercy, find someone who needs it and give it. You are often in need of mercy yourself and you are never the only person in need. You may be ill, financially poor, or weak, but if you will look for other people to whom you can be a source of mercy, God will see to it that it comes back on you. The way to receive mercy is to give it.