Proverbs 14:31 He that oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker: but he that honors him has mercy on the poor. Every man acting his part in his social capacity is "a spectacle." Society is an organisation of rational creatures, acting together for some good. Society is a commonwealth of human nature in close connection with God. And so every man becomes his "brother's keeper." I. HUMAN NATURE, AS INVOLVING A CRIME — "OPPRESSING THE POOR." 1. By political injustice. When they have no proper organ for expressing their wants, or have a voice in the representation of their country, or a free agency in all the enactments of their country. 2. By social neglect. When the state, as a body, allows vast masses of accumulating distress and ignorance and misery to grow up around it. 3. By mental debasement. Real, true, solid Christian education consists in three things — in giving the mind great truths, in imparting to the mind great motives, in the bestowment of great principles. II. THE CONSEQUENCE — THE MAKER IS REPROACHED. The poor cannot but think ill of God, when society, which assumes to be His arrangement, presses so heavily upon them. (R. Montgomery, M.A.) Parallel Verses KJV: He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor.WEB: He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for his Maker, but he who is kind to the needy honors him. |
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