by Nan Keltie

Created on: October 17, 2009   Last Updated: October 18, 2009

To have compassion for someone is to feel "sorrow for their sufferings ... accompanied by a desire to help" (Webster). The opposite of showing compassion is to be harsh and unsympathetic when others are suffering. What are some Biblical examples of compassion?

It's been said that there is a right way and a wrong way to help those who suffer. If that's true, how do we know when and how to display true compassion?

Biblical examples of compassion ~

Many times, in the Old Testament, we read of the compassion of God displayed for His people. God is not only a God of righteousness, He is also a God of mercy and kindness. Instead of destroying Adam and Eve when they disobeyed in the Garden of Eden, He made a way for them to be restored to fellowship with Him. When God's people - the Hebrew children - disobeyed and rebelled against His laws, God continued to show mercy.

In Exodus, we also read about others who had compassion. For instance, the daughter of Pharaoh had compassion on baby Moses. Because the Pharaoh had ordered all male Israelite children under two years old be slain, Moses' mother had hidden him in a basket of woven rushes and daubed it with tar to make it water tight. She then placed a ventilated lid on the basket to hide the baby. After placing it the river Nile, she instructed Moses' sister, Miriam, to stand watch.

When the Egyptian princess came to the water to bathe, one of her maidens saw the basket and brought it to her. You may remember that when she opened it, Moses cried. Her heart was stirred with compassion and a desire to help hide the little boy, whom she recognized as a Hebrew child. Do you remember the first thing she did to help? She sent his sister Miriam to find a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby for her. The princess would adopt the child and raise him as her own.

As Moses grew up in the palace, he learned to walk and talk and dress like an Egyptian. However, he knew his people were the Israelites who served the Pharaoh. Moses often saw them beaten and mistreated by their Egyptian masters, and it bothered him a great deal. Later, he stepped in to protect one of the Hebrew slaves and ended up killing the Egyptian who was beating him. To avoid facing punishment or prison, he moved far away to the land of Midian.

Later, Moses was commanded by God to return to Egypt and lead the Israelites out of bondage. Over and over during his journey through the wilderness, Moses showed compassion on the people who followed his leadership. Moses prayed

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