Throughout the bible, God consistently tells us to protect the most vulnerable population. That population can be divided into four groups.
- Foreigners
- Poor and oppressed
- Widows
- Fatherless
Let’s look at scripture where we see God as their protector, a command to defend and a warning against mistreatment to show how important this population is.
God is their protector
Psalm 68:5 says this about God, “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.”
Command to defend
In Isaiah 1:17, God commands this: “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.”
Warning against mistreatment
Exodus 22:22-24 warns this: “Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused…”
In honor of Father’s Day, let’s be thankful in knowing that God is serious about being a father. The psalmist describes God as “a father to the fatherless.” God’s identification as a father is more than a title, it’s a revelation of his character and comes with great responsibility. We saw in the scriptures above that fatherhood protects, provides and loves. In presenting Himself this way, God elevates the role of fatherhood to a place of great honor.
Today and each Father’s Day, we honor fathers because God honors fatherhood.
Prayer
To the Father who sits high and looks low, we ask you to refresh all earthly fathers today. Put into their hearts your kingdom plan of what fatherhood is. Take them to the higher heights of honor as they choose You as their role model. I ask that you remove the need of perfection and replace it with willingness, let them love and not dominate and lead and not trail behind. Open the eyes, hearts and minds of all fathers to know the needs of their household, provide correction motivated by love, consider what legacy he wants to leave for the generations and most importantly align to Your truth. Your word says that if honor is owed, to give it. Help each of us to honor the bestowed role and authority behind fathers and with that honor let righteousness shine through each of them.
Amen.
See you next week!
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