The Messiah for the Miserable

He will respond to the prayer of the destitute;  he will not despise their plea.                                                                       (Psalm 102:17)

Will God regard me when I am in desperate need, when I come to Him with nothing but misery and want?  Our view of God is everything. How do we see God?  What do we think about when we think about Him? The Bible has been given to us, via divine inspiration, that we might discover Him in Truth and think rightly about Him. In it we discover a Messiah for the Miserable, a God who responds to the destitute … those having nothing to offer Him but need.

What kind of a God is this? The gods of myths and fables, the false gods of man’s imagination disregard the miserable.  They look for the mighty, for those who can contribute to them.  But when Jesus was asked by Cousin John - who seemed to be having a crisis of faith - for proof that He indeed was the Messiah of God, Jesus pointed to His “church” as irrefutable evidence that He was indeed God’s Anointed One.  And what a church it was! “… he replied to the messengers, ‘Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.” (Luke 7:22)

Some church! Blind, lame, leprous, deaf, and dead! Destitute and miserable everyone! Jesus did not pander to the wealthy, those who had something for Him.  See Him call Bartimaeus to Himself in answer to his cry for mercy (Mark 10:46). Watch Him respond to the desperate plea of the Canaanite woman for her daughter (Matthew 15:22). Marvel at His mercy to hear the plea of the Roman official for his dying child (John 4:46). Look at Him deliver the demonized boy in response to the heart cry of his helpless, half-believing father (Mark 9:24).

God is who He shows Himself to be in Jesus. And in Jesus we see a God who hears the prayers of the destitute and the desperate.  He does not, with an annoyed humph, despise their plea. Do you see this?  Let Jesus shape your theology of God and discover a God who will hear you in your destitution and desperation and will welcome your plea. He is the Messiah for the Miserable, for the destitute who have nothing to offer but need. He is a ready Help for you.

The woman came and knelt before him. ‘Lord, help me!’ she said. Matthew 15:25