The solitary are set in families

Psalm 68 (Amplified)

⁵ A father of the fatherless and a judge and protector of the widows is God in His holy habitation.

⁶ God places the solitary in families and gives the desolate a home in which to dwell; He leads the prisoners out to prosperity; but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.

I’ve rattled these verses off several times with out really thinking them through.  Tonight when my son-in-law hugged me and told me he loved me, I thought about the fact that we loved him before he became our son-in-law, but we had no special relationship to him except through God and Christ.  Now we know him much more and a special love has grown.  Suddenly I found myself quoting from Psalm 68 and then saying “God set you in a family –our family.”  And he set Amanda in a family ours yes, but his as well.  Both families are enriched because of God’s act of setting these two in our families.  They were solitary adults, but now they are in families with a home and prosperity: no longer bound; no longer alone.

Then my mind went on a little further.  Not all solitary adults are set into marriages as couples.  Yet we learn to love and provide and look out for those in that solitary state.  In the smaller circle of our fellowship, we have several solitary people: some older and some younger.  Our ‘family’ would not be complete without even one of them.  They need us; we need them.

They could hold themselves in a prison of rejection and distance, but they would be poorer for it, yet when they cooperate with God’s design, they are freed from the pain of isolation and the loneliness it creates.  We bring ourselves to that union, they bring themselves to it and together we are all blessed and enriched.

What an excellent plan it is.

And in my thinking, I entered another room and saw that in order for us to be set free, we must admit we are prisoners. 

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Not only does our confession allow for freedom to be given, but it brings prosperity: the wealth of God’s kingdom.