Prayer for the oppressed

by James A. Thome

They are innocent men. By no hideous crime against humanity have they forfeited their place in the brotherhood. For no violation of law have they been consigned to bondage. Against them, rather, has all law been violated, and every dictate of humanity outraged. Guilty only of a colored skin, and of inevitable ignorance, they have been doomed to abject servitude. From birth they have been made property. In their infancy they knew no mother, but merely a nurse; in their childhood they had no home; in their maturity they have no companions, and no children, but merely offspring, like the brutes. Yet, they are innocent men. Sinners indeed they are before a holy God, as are all mankind; but they are innocent of crime. They are oppressed without cause. What should hinder the prayers of the righteous in their behalf?

Many of them are the children of God, by regeneration. These are our brethren in the Lord, one with us in Christian bonds, “fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.” They cry day and night unto God, and their cry enters into his ear. Our blessed Saviour would have us pray for and sympathize with these his little ones, as we love him. He is very pitiful towards them, and very jealous toward those who slight them. Realize that they are their Lord’s, that they are not their own, that they can not be the property of their owners, that they are bought with a price. Regard the enslaved saints as the Lord’s freemen; that their Master hath need of them; that they are forbidden to call any man master, on earth, for one is their Master, even Christ. Can it be the will of Jesus that his own redeemed saints should be held and treated as beasts? Will he not be grieved if his followers who are free, pray not for the freedom of these their brethren in bonds? When Peter was put in prison in Jerusalem, “prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him,” and it wrought his deliverance. Let prayer be now made without ceasing by the church, for the liberation of all enslaved saints, and enlargement shall surely come. The living God waits to be importuned by the church for its own members. He waits to hear the cry of distress from Zion, suffering with her suffering children.

The unconverted slaves are hopeful subjects of renewing grace compared with the same number of any class of men. No persons on earth are more susceptible to gospel influences than the negroes. What the missionary has labored almost in vain to effect among the Indians, among the Jews, among the Catholic immigrants in this country, would, we are confident, be done with large success among the slaves of the South, if they were emancipated. Strike off the shackles, and this Ethiopia would stretch forth her hands unto God.

The oppressed are a great multitude. Three millions of souls are crushed and brutalized by slavery. Three millions of souls are robbed of every human right, and subjected to every abuse and cruelty that the caprice, lust, or cupidity of the slaveholder may dictate. The master is wholly irresponsible. The slave plantation is a petty, absolute despotism. From thousands of fields the blood of the oppressed crieth to God for vengeance. Millions of groaning, sighing wretches are appealing to Heaven for mercy. With these groans of the enslaved will mingle the prayers of the righteous in their behalf; and no doubt the Lord will hear.

The oppressed are to be regarded as having wants while in their bondage which God only can supply; but it must be borne in mind that the their great want is freedom. Let this be sought instantly, importunately. Beware of praying for them as slaves, as if their condition were unchangeable; this were a grievous insult to God and to humanity. Pray for the oppressed—that they may go free. Pray for the oppressors—that they may break every yoke. Pray for the missionary and the colporter—that they “may open their mouths boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel; that therein they may speak boldly, as they ought to speak.” We may be sure that God will not suffer the oppressors long to stand between his salvation and the souls of the oppressed. We may plant our feet on this firm assurance when we pray,—“The Lord will open a highway for his word.” If he sends his messengers to the south to preach salvation, he will stand by them and will give their word success, though their blood flow to seal their ministry.

Let it not be, O brethren, that our prayer for the oppressed shall be less fervent because they are not of our own color; lest it should appear that we have “the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.” Were this so, how could the Spirit of prayer dwell at all in our hearts? It were a crying wrong if prejudice should restrain prayer for the enslaved. He who has no pity for the bleeding bondman because he is an African, is not like the good Samaritan, is not like Christ, who died for all men, is not like God, with whom is no respect of persons.

And let not our prayers be hindered by fears of what may come after emancipation. The faith that is adequate to prayer is also able to commit the results of God’s action to his management. It is to be feared that some have become discouraged by the growth and ascendency of the slave power, and have no faith that prayer for the oppressed will avail. Their trust is in political action, or in the judgments of a just God, and the vengeance of the oppressed. Be not, beloved, drawn into this attitude of unbelief and “fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation.” “Be not afraid; ONLY BELIEVE.”

What shall be the bearing of the late revival upon slavery? It is a signal fact that each great awakening in this country, including that of 1797, has been marked by the arousing of God’s people to the sin of oppression.

We have already spoken of the influence of the outpouring of God’s Spirit in 1830-33, as giving rise to the great modern movement in opposition to slavery. Simultaneously with this, a strong dislike of it on moral grounds was seizing many minds at the South. Various demonstrations of this were made by religious bodies; and in some of the slave States emancipation was seriously meditated and openly proposed. The writer of this tract, a native of the South and a member of a slaveholding family, religiously trained to regard slavery as scriptural, and expecting to be, after the manner of his father, a church member and a slaveholder for life, was hopefully numbered among the subjects of the revival of 1830. He consecrated himself to the work of the ministry. The spirit of prayer was given him, with yearnings to be holy and to be useful. His eyes were then opened to the moral condition of the slaves. He saw those of his own household, though his father was a ruling elder in the Presbyterian church, living without God, without religious instruction, without moral restraint; he saw the young slaves, the fruit of promiscuous concubinage, the playmates of his childhood, and scarcely of a darker hue, (though happily claiming no blood relationship, as those of some Southern families do,) growing up in ignorance and vice. Deeply moved, he cried unto the Lord that he would save their souls. He daily prayed for those miserable creatures; he nightly bathed his pillow with tears of pity and distress. But he found no relief; he saw no ray of hope. He dreamed not then that slavery itself was wrong, and that its abolition was the only remedy for the ills of the oppressed. He knew not that many others were moved as he was, and that it was the Lord who was thus stirring the first impulses of a mighty movement for the redemption of the enslaved. Just then, a tract, or pamphlet, sent by some unknown hand from the East, was taken from the post-office. It was on the safety of immediate emancipation. The very subject riveted attention by its novelty and boldness. The tract was read in secret, and read again, and soberly pondered. Light broke in; new thoughts, new feelings, new hopes were inspired. In less than one year, (1833,) the writer was a member of Lane Theological Seminary, and an avowed convert to the new doctrine.

These were some of the fruits of the revival a quarter of a century ago. They have lasted till now. Opposition to chattel oppression in this country is in great measure due to that gracious work, and to the spirit of prayer which has sustained and sanctified it. Surely we can not doubt that God is in this movement. Another mighty revival has been enjoyed by our American Zion—the most powerful, perhaps, of the series. It has been specially characterized by the spirit of prayer, which has been poured out in large measure, and has wrought astonishing results.