(箴言 19:17)
“憐憫貧窮的，就是借給耶和華．他的善行，耶和華必償還。”
這是一句非常厲害且應許豐富的話語。
首先我們要明白什麼是憐憫。在希伯來文的語境中，憐憫不僅僅是停留在口頭上的同情，覺得對方很可憐、很悲慘，而是必須包含實際的行動。換句話說，當我們看見別人的需要，心中產生了憐憫，就必須付諸具體行動去幫助對方。這裡所說的貧窮，也不單是指物質上的缺乏，它包括了生命中所有的缺乏，比如心靈上的不快樂、憂愁、或者是任何需要被扶持的處境。
當我們看到有需要的朋友，心裡動了慈心並用具體行動去幫助他們時，在神看來，這就等同於把東西借給了耶和華。這位創造天地萬物的主，竟然將自己與那些有需要的人放在同等的位置上。當我們施恩的時候，必須抱持著施恩莫望報的心態，因為對方是完全沒有能力報答我們，但神看見了，祂會主動說由祂來還。
在希伯來人的法律觀念中，欠債是必須償還的，而神在這裡的意思是，祂會把我們對人的幫助當作是祂欠了我們一樣，祂會親自償還，並且會用祂的豐盛來加倍回報我們。這不是說我們要為了得到回報才去幫助人，我們的動機必須純潔，但神確實欣賞這種有具體行動的愛心，因此祂想賜給我們禮物。
(Proverbs 19:17)
“He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.”
This is a very powerful verse filled with abundant promises.
First, we need to understand what compassion means. In the context of the Hebrew language, compassion is not merely staying at the level of verbal sympathy, feeling that someone is pitiful or miserable, but it must include actual action. In other words, when we see the needs of others, and a heart of compassion arises within us, we must put it into concrete action to help that person. The poverty mentioned here does not only refer to the lack of material things; it encompasses all the deficiencies in life, such as unhappiness in the soul, sorrow, or any situation that requires support.
When we see friends in need, feel moved with compassion in our hearts, and help them with concrete actions, in the eyes of God, this is equivalent to lending things to Jehovah. This Lord, who created the heavens, the earth, and all things, unexpectedly places Himself in the same position as those in need. When we show grace, we must hold an attitude of giving grace without expecting anything in return, because the other party is completely unable to repay us. However, God sees it, and He will take the initiative to say that He will repay.
In the legal concepts of the Hebrews, a debt must be repaid, and God’s meaning here is that He will treat our help to others as if He owes us, and He will personally repay it, and will use His abundance to return it to us manifold. This does not mean that we should help others just to get a reward; our motivation must be pure. Yet, God truly appreciates this kind of love accompanied by concrete action, so He wants to give us a gift.
