Poor

POOR. This Word is often taken for a Man that is humble, afflicted, and mean in his own Eyes, and in the Eyes of God. Humilem & pauperem justificate, & factus est Dominus refugium pauperi, & oculi ejus in pauperem respiciunt, &c. In these Passages and others of the like Importance, the Word Poor is not taken for a Man that is destitute of the good Things of the Earth, but for a Man that is sensible of his Misery and Indigence, and applies for Succour to the Mercy of God. In this Sense the greatest and richest Men of the World are the poorest in the Eyes of God.

In Exodus, chap. xxiii. 3. Moses forbids the Judges To countenance a poor Man in Levit. xix. 15.his Cause: Or, as he says elsewhere, Thou shalt not respect the Person of the Poor, nor honour the Person of the Mighty; but in Righteousness shalt thou judge thy Neighbour. In a Word, judge without respect of Persons, have only Truth and Justice before your Eyes, consider that you stand in the Place of God upon the Earth.

Psal. lxxii. 2, 4. Isai. xi. 4. Matt. xi. 5.One of the Characters of the Messiah was to judge the Poor, and to preach the Gospel to them. Jesus Christ chose to himself Disciples that were poor, and the greatest Part of the first Believers were really poor Men, as we may see by St. Paul, and others in Ecclesiastical History.

Prov. xxii. 2. Prov. xxix. 13.Solomon says, The Rich and Poor meet together; that they are like each other in one thing, that is, that God created them both, and that both Riches and Poverty are of his bestowing. He says elsewhere, The Poor and Deceitful Man meet together, or the Debtor and Creditor. That is to say, that they belong to God, and that each are in the Hands of his Providence. That the Rich should not be exalted, nor the Poor be discouraged; they are both equal in the Eyes of God.

Jerem. ii. 34.Jeremiah says, speaking to Jerusalem, In thy Skirts is found the Blood of the Souls of the poor Innocents. In alis tuis inventus est sanguis animarum pauperum & innocentum. The Word Ala in this Passage is taken for the Skirts of a Garment. Sanguis animarum, is as much as to say, the Blood of a Person put to death.

Amos iii. 6. viii. 6.Amos reproaches the Israelites with having sold the Poor for a contemptible Price, and for Shoes and Sandals. Probably he aims at the Rich, who thus sold their poor Debtors for Things of no Value.

James ii. 1.St. James seems to carry the Obligation, of not respecting Persons, so far as to give no Mark of Distinction to Persons in Power, or raised to Dignity, in the publick Assemblies of Religion. These are his Words; My Brethren, have not the Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory, with respect of Persons. For if there come unto your Assembly, a Man with a Gold Ring, in goodly Apparel, and there come in also a poor Man in vile Rayment; and ye have Respect to him that weareth the gay Cloathing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good Place, and say to the Poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my Footstool: Are ye not then partial in your selves, and are become Judges of evil Thoughts? But all this ought to be understood rather of an inward Preference, and of the Sentiments of the Heart, than of external¹ Marks of Respect. It is never allow’d a Christian to prefer a rich Man before a poor one, only because he is rich, and to think better of him, to judge him more worthy of Esteem and Consideration, rather than he that has not the same Advantages of the Goods of Fortune.

Job xxxvi. 8.In Scripture, the Poor in general are often put for the meaner People, and for such Inhabitants of the Country as are in the lowest Condition of Life, without considering whether they have Accommodations suitable to their State.

Poverty, in the Old Testament, was consider’d by the carnal Jews as a great Evil, and a Punishment from God. Job speaks of it as of a Prison, and a State of Bondage. Si fuerint in catenis & in vinculis paupertatis. And Isaiah speaks of it as of a Furnace or Isai. xlviii. 10.Crucible, wherein Metals are purified. Ecce excoxi te, sed non quasi argentum; elegi te in camino paupertatis. God try’d Job and Tobit by Poverty; they belong’d to the New Covenant; they knew the Value of Suffering, of Humiliation, of Indigence. They knew how to make a right use of them, and to apply them to their own Advantage. They were already poor in Spirit, in the Disposition of their Hearts, before God made them to feel the Effects of an actual Poverty. See POVERTY.

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