Power is “the ability to do something or act in a particular way; the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events.”
“Power is America’s last dirty word. People who have it deny it; people who want it do not want to appear to hunger for it; and people who engage in its machinations do so secretly.”
– Rosabaeth Moss Kanter, Harvard Business Review
Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them. And I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive. But better than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 4:1-3
“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority; still more when you superadd the tendency of the certainty of corruption by authority.”
– Lord Acton
“Despotic power is always accompanied by corruption of morality.”
– Lord Acton
“If God is all powerful he cannot be all good and if he is all good he cannot be all powerful.”
– Lex Luthor
Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.
Proverbs 14:31
Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker; he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.
Proverbs 17:5
Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered.
Proverbs 21:13
Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.
Proverbs 24:11
A Psalm of Asaph. God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment: “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.” Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations!
Psalm 82
Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.
Proverbs 31:8-9
The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens; by his knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew. My son, do not lose sight of these— keep sound wisdom and discretion, and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck. Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble. If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes, for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught. Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.
Proverbs 3:19-27
The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
Psalm 9:9
For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
Psalm 9:18
“Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the LORD; “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”
Psalm 12:5
May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor!
Psalm 72:4
The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.
Proverbs 21:1
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Luke 4:18-21
