“Rescue the weak and the needy;
    deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” — Psalm 82:4

Sometimes in reading the psalms, we stumble on how a particular verse is written and wonder what the psalm writer had in mind. For example, why, in verse 4 of Psalm 82, does the author tell us to deliver the poor from “the hands of the wicked”? After all, didn’t the psalmist already tell us to “Rescue the weak and the needy” in the first half of the verse?

Over the centuries countless answers have been offered to questions like this. In this case, one particularly poignant resolution is as follows: as praiseworthy as it may be to help those in need, many times this help can be offered without much risk. After all, while volunteering with a charity may take time and effort, there is little chance that person will suffer actual harm through such volunteer efforts.

Sometimes, however, helping the weak involves standing up to the wicked. For instance, when a child helps his fellow student with his homework, that’s one thing. But it’s another matter entirely for a child – seeing a new student in school being victimized by a bully – to stand up for what’s right. While both of these forms of assistance to the needy are admirable, standing up to a bully takes a special form of courage.

The psalmist is trying to tell us, then, that this act of deliverance “out of the hands of the wicked” is especially worthy in the eyes of God.

Indeed, helping others while they are being bullied by the wicked is not limited to interpersonal relationships. Think of tiny Israel – a country so small that it’s barely noticeable on a map. This little country is surrounded on all sides by hostile nations, some of whom would like to see Israel destroyed and its inhabitants swept into the sea.

In a situation like this, those who render aid to Israel are not simply fulfilling the Scriptural instruction to “rescue the weak and needy,” but also the Bible’s exhortation to “deliver them out of the hands of the wicked.”

As we look to our own communities and neighbourhoods, we would do well to remember the psalmist’s lesson:  there is a special value not just in helping the less fortunate, but in protecting them from those who would victimize or take advantage of them.