The Lord has a question for each of us in Psalm 82: “How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked?” (verse 2). To help us examine ourselves, he continues by stating whom we should be defending and how to defend them: “Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked” (verses 3,4). The prophet Micah records a similar injunction from God: “What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).

Toward the end of his ministry, Jesus was asked, “Which commandment is the greatest?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:37-39).

God is clear. We are to love our neighbor, defend the weak, uphold the cause of the poor.

Following Christ means following into the work of his kingdom. This work is to love God and to love other people, especially the vulnerable. We may protest inwardly about defending those whose decisions we don’t agree with, but we don’t choose based on our own criteria. We don’t get to pick the weak and the vulnerable; rather, we love others as we have been loved. 

Lord Jesus, help us love others well!