As we move through the Psalms we come to 9 and 10, which have something in common. Psalm 9 starts out talking about the wicked. For example,

You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their name forever and ever. (Psalm 9.5, NKJV)

What did these nations do to be called “wicked.” I was surprised:

The wicked shall be turned into hell, And all the nations that forget God. For the needy shall not always be forgotten; The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever. (Psalm 9.17, 18, NKJV)

The wicked forget God, AND they oppress the poor. This theme is carried into Psalm 10:

The wicked in his pride persecutes the poor; Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised…He sits in the lurking places of the villages; In the secret places he murders the innocent; His eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless. He lies in wait secretly, as a lion in his den; He lies in wait to catch the poor; He catches the poor when he draws him into his net. (Psalm 10.2, 8, 9, NKJV)

Most of the psalm is a prayer, and the psalm ends with this promise:

The LORD is King forever and ever; The nations have perished out of His land. LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear, To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, That the man of the earth may oppress no more. (Psalm 10.16 – 18, NKJV)

God has a heart for the poor. Do I?

When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 19.9, 10, NKJV)

For the poor will never cease from the land; therefore I command you, saying, “You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy, in your land.” (Deuteronomy 15.11, NKJV)

And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”

Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4.17 – 21, NKJV)