Father of the fatherless, and protector of widows, is God in His holy habitation.
– Psalm 68:5
Oh, I love this Psalm. Psalm 68, from the very beginning, is awesome. And I don’t use that word lightly. It’s an awesome depiction of God in all of his glory on the move. That’s how I would describe this whole Psalm. The first verse, God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered. The whole Psalm is a picture of God and all of his glory working and moving on behalf of his people. Verse 19, “Bearing us up amidst the burdens of this life.” Working, defending, protecting, and providing for us. All the way to the very last verse, “Awesome is God from his sanctuary. He’s the one who gives power and strength to his people.” So in that context, we come to verse 5. “God, this awesome God in all of his glory, is Father of the fatherless and protector of widows.”
Psalm 68:5 shows us God is Father to the fatherless and protector of widows.
This is who God is in his holy habitation. He is Father of the fatherless and protector of widows. Is that not beautiful? How God shows his power. His strength, his love, specifically on behalf of children in need. On behalf of orphans and vulnerable children, and on behalf of widows. We see this all over the Bible, over and over and over again.
God makes it clear that he cares for, loves, provides for, protects, defends… Looks after the fatherless and widows. This leads to the question, “Well, how does God do that from his holy habitation?” And God does this through his people. It’s why James 1:27 says, “Religion that God our Father accepts is pure and faultless is this, to look after orphans and widows in their distress.” And that word look after is to take care of, to take responsibility for providing, for caring, for helping orphans and widows.
So as the church, as the people of God, we care for, look after, provide for, protect children in need. Specifically orphans and widows in need. Here’s a whole picture in 1 Timothy 5 about how to do this for widows. God makes clear in his Word that he calls us all as his people to reflect his love for orphans and widows. That doesn’t necessarily mean everyone is supposed to foster or adopt or everyone is supposed to do this or that way of caring for orphans and widows, but together as God’s people, we are all called to be involved in showing orphans and widows his love.
Psalm 68:5 reminds us that God continually works on behalf of his people.
So we pray, oh God, all glory be to your name. Awesome are you in your sanctuary. You give power and strength. You arise and move on behalf of your people and on behalf of children and widows in need. We praise you as the Father of the fatherless and protector of widows. God, we say today, “How do you want us to reflect your love and your care and your vision for orphans and widows in need?”
God, please lead us, guide us, direct us toward however You are calling us to care for them. Lord, if you are leading us to foster children amidst foster crises all over, I know my country and in many other places in the world, if you are leading us to adopt, if you’re leading us to mentor children who are aging out of the foster care system without a family, if you’re calling us to serve in any way, to support children in need or widows in need around us or around the world, God, we say yes. We want to be a reflection of your character.
As we do this, God, as we step into needy situations and into children’s and widows lives who are in need, God, we pray that you would help us to reflect your character, especially when this kind of care becomes hard and trying, and just think about the trauma that is involved with foster care or adoption or the grief and struggles involved with various widows in need.
Prayer for the Zarma People
God, we pray that by your Spirit in us, you will help us to reflect your love as the Father of the fatherless and protector of widows. God, as we pray for unreached people around the world, we know that there are unreached orphans and widows. Lord, as we pray today for the Zarma people of Niger, over 5 million of them, most of whom have never heard the good news of your love in Jesus and some of whom are orphans and widows,
God, we pray specifically for the spread of your grace and your glory in the gospel to orphans and widows who are unreached right now among the Zarma of Niger and many other people groups. God, please show your glory, arise, be on the move for their sake, and use our lives. We pray however you want, as a reflection of Your love for orphans and widows around us and orphans and widows around the world. We pray this in Jesus’ name, according to your Word, according to who you are in Psalm 68:5. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
