God's Heart of Compassion [Exodus 22]

²¹"You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.  ²²"You shall not afflict any widow or orphan. ²³"If you afflict him at all, and if he does cry out to Me, I will surely hear his cry; ²⁴and My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.

 ²⁵"If you lend money to My people, to the poor among you, you are not to act as a creditor to him; you shall not charge him interest.

 ²⁶"If you ever take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, you are to return it to him before the sun sets, ²⁷for that is his only covering; it is his cloak for his body. What else shall he sleep in? And it shall come about that when he cries out to Me, I will hear him, for I am gracious.

 ²⁸"You shall not curse God, nor curse a ruler of your people. ²⁹"You shall not delay the offering from your harvest and your vintage The firstborn of your sons you shall give to Me. ³⁰"You shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep It shall be with its mother seven days; on the eighth day you shall give it to Me.

 ³¹"You shall be holy men to Me, therefore you shall not eat any flesh torn to pieces in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs.

In this chapter God continued to give instructions to his people.   Mixed in He also stated things about His character.  And He reminds them that these instructions correlate with His character, His holiness.  ""You shall be holy men to Me."

Lord, we praise You that You are a compassionate God.  You care about Your people's needs.  You have great compassion for the afflicted, the orphans, the widows and the under-privileged and You want Your people to reflect Your heart.