3 Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
4 Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked. Psalm 82:3-4

Again, it appears Asaph was speaking to judges. They had the authority to give significant support to all of those groups. The wicked – in many cases these people would also be the wealthy in society – preyed on the more vulnerable. They still do. In fact, it’s one of the more central issues in the current run-up to the presidential election.

Wealthy businessmen love cheap manual labor that they can get out of illegal immigrants. The illegal immigrants are completely off the books, which clearly benefits the businessmen. The businessmen exploit the workers with low wages and terrible working conditions because of their immigration status. The businessmen have the power. If the workers went to the authorities, they might be deported and deprived of the opportunity to work and provide for their families back home.

Unfortunately it doesn’t end there. There is another class of people who exploit the weak and the needy as well: vote-hungry politicians. They promise lots of free goodies for the needy – and they deliver on some of the promises. The wealthy politicians keep the needy dependent on the government goodies, while they themselves live in exclusive communities far far away from the needy masses they pretend to help. They are just as shameful as the wealthy businessmen.

It is always a good practice to help those who cannot help themselves. Whether it’s helping out with a fatherless child, visiting the elderly in a nursing home, or dishing out food at a homeless shelter, we are told in numerous places in Scripture to help.

It doesn’t take much effort but it does take initiative to get started.