Thus saith the Lord; do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor, him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, to the fatherless and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. For if you’ll indeed obey this word, then there shall enter the gates of this house kings, who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots, on horses, they and their servants and their people. But if you’ll not obey these words, I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation.
– Jeremiah 22:3–5
God is serious about his people doing justice and righteousness and delivering people from oppression. God is serious about his people defending the sojourner who’s in a land, a country that is not his or her own. He is serious about defending the fatherless, and providing for the orphan. God is serious about defending and providing for the widow.
Jeremiah 22:3–5 is a challenge to join God’s work in favor of the vulnerable and oppressed.
So how are you and I doing these things? How are we doing justice? Not just getting by in our lives and making sure we are taken care of and we have what we need. How are we working for those who are oppressed around us? And who are the oppressed around you and me and our communities and the world around us? And how are we working for them? Who are the resident aliens? The sojourners?
Who are the people who are not in their home country, who have been displaced from their home country? How are we working for their good? Who are the fatherless around us and how can we work for their good? Who are the widows around us who are in need, to use language from 1 Timothy, who we can help serve and love and provide for?
Jeremiah 22:3–5 calls us to be stewards of justice and righteousness.
The true people of God are not content to leave the oppressed, the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, uncared for, unprovided for. And so we pray, God help us to be faithful to do justice and righteousness. God, we pray that you would help us to faithfully deliver from the hand of the oppressor, him who has been robbed, him who has been wronged. God, we pray that you would help us to work against oppression in any way that we see.
And God, open our eyes to see what you see, and to work on behalf of the oppressed. And God, we pray that you would help us to love the sojourner, the immigrant, the man, woman, or child, who’s been displaced, the refugee. God, please help us to love sojourners like you love them, the fatherless orphans like you love them. God, help us to do the hard work of coming alongside families in need and children in need and laying down our lives and our families to care for them.
Prayer for the Vulnerable and Oppressed
And God, please help us to faithfully defend, protect, and promote the good of widows in need around us. God, help us be faithful to exactly what your Word says here. And not just right around us… But God, as we pray for unreached people each day on this podcast… We pray for sojourners, fatherless, widows… And oppressed men, women, and children who don’t have any access to the good news of your love in Jesus.
God help us to do justice for them, to spread the gospel to them, and to love them as we love ourselves. God, we pray, help us to do justice for the unreached. We pray all this according to your Word in Jeremiah 22:3–5. And we pray, God, don’t let us. Keep us, oh, God, from just praying this and moving on with our lives. Help us to put your Word and this prayer into action according to the leadership of your Spirit. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
