The Healing Journey

February 1, 2026

“Fundamentally, God is the kind of God who keeps a careful eye on the widow. He is profoundly concerned for her, together with the stranger and the fatherless. He is righteous and protects them … The incarnate Son of God is like him. He cared for his widowed mother.”
— Austin Walker

Throughout history, the Jewish faith has taught the importance of caring for orphans and widows because they were among the most helpless in the ancient world. In the Old Testament, there are moral admonitions from the prophets and in the Psalms and wisdom books.

The prophet Isaiah said, “Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.”

Psalm 68 says, “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.”

In the Book of Job, you will find: “Because I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to help him. The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.”

God tells the prophet Jeremiah: “Leave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive; and let your widows trust in me.”

Psalm 146 says, “The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.”

The Book of Exodus makes the law clear: You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. The prophet Zechariah said: “Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” And there are many more examples to show women and children who grieve have a special place in God’s heart.

Today, the needs of the widow, the orphan and the widower are not very different from ancient times, and the will of God is clear: Help them any way possible and treat them with compassion because they are dear to the Lord.

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