11152025 Gentle Words

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of our gentle God. There are lots of things we need to know about God, and there are lots of different kinds of words that we need to hear from God. Sometimes what we need to know and hear is His gentleness.

This week I started reading again through the Psalms – my old and dear friends. As I did so, I almost immediately started to notice verses that spoke of the gentleness and tenderness of God. Maybe in future weeks I will share some more of these and maybe even organize them, but today I thought I would share the verse that was the first one to really jump out at me and impress me with God’s gentleness.

“For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him” (Psalm 12:5).

I think that God’s gentleness is nowhere more evident than by those who are needy. This verse speaks of the poor and the needy, but there is more than just their condition. There is also their awareness of their condition; their needy condition is oppressive and burdensome. We see here that the poor are oppressed and that the needy are sighing.

Can you picture these poor people? It’s like you can see that life is not going well for them and perhaps has not been going well for them for some time now. The difficulty is just squeezing the life and hope out of them. They hardly feel that they can survive anymore. They have no strength or will to go on. The only thing left to them is simply to let ooze out of them what fills their spirit, and it is an oppressed sigh. Like their spirit is groaning.

This is not merely the setting where God’s gentleness is most evident, but it is also the setting where His gentleness is most needed. These oppressed, sighing people desperately need the gentle hand of God to touch them. They need His gentle voice to speak to them.

God does that. While this verse does not explicitly say so, it is evident that God cannot respond with gentleness without first noticing the pitiful condition of the sufferers. God sees them. That is important for these people to know.

Beyond seeing them, God understands. He realizes that the situation is difficult. He doesn’t gloss over it or expect them to “man up” and just deal with it. God knows the sorrows of our souls better than we know them ourselves. When our spirits sigh, He knows just how to translate that sighing.

After God sees and understands, He cares. Their pain and struggle matter to Him. He is not detached and aloof. He is not seeing yet unconcerned.

After God sees and understands and cares, He acts. He intervenes. In this verse, God purposes to rise up and take action. He determines to do something. There is deliberate action that requires movement on His part.

After God sees and understands and cares and acts, He delivers. God’s action is not an empty pat on the back. He picks that person up and sets him in a safe place where the oppressor can no longer aggravate him. He provides the relief that the soul has so desperately craved.

God’s answers are not always immediate. That is evident even within this verse. God did not deliver this person at the first moment of difficulty. The trial went on long enough that the person was sorely oppressed and left sighing. The point is not that God immediately delivers us from everything hard, but that He always sees us and always cares and that He always moves in at the right time. Often that is just when we feel like we cannot take any more.

If you are in (or approaching) such a situation, I pray that you will take heart from this verse. God sees you. God hears your sigh. God understands your pain and emptiness. God cares for you. God will sustain you, and when the time is right, He will step in and rescue you. Take comfort in the tender heart of God and in His gentle nature toward His dear children who are in agony. Maybe soon, He will arise and set you in safety. Pray for that, with confidence in His gentle care. Hope in Him.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA