God Calls Us to Speak Out

[A version of this article appeared in the February 2025 edition of St. Anthony Messenger and can be found on the Franciscan Media website at ‘Speak Out for Those Who Cannot Speak’.]

Have you ever thought of your voice as a gift from God that allows you to speak out for justice?  Have you ever used your voice to ask your leaders to do the right thing on behalf of the poor and needy?

Proverbs 31:8-9 tells us that God wants us to do exactly that: use our voice to speak out for those who might otherwise not be heard.

I was a bit surprised when I encountered this call to advocacy recently.  I have read through the Bible several times, and I didn’t think I had seen this before.  So I checked the verse in multiple Bible translations, to make sure it wasn’t just a paraphrase.  In almost every translation, the call to speak out is stated clearly.  Here is Proverbs 31:8-9 in three popular Catholic Bibles:

• The New Revised Standard Version, favored by some scholars, reads: “Speak out for those who cannot speak, / for the rights of all the destitute. / Speak out; judge righteously; / defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

• The New American Bible, Revised Edition, published by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, reads: “Open your mouth in behalf of the mute, / and for the rights of the destitute; / Open your mouth, judge justly, / defend the needy and the poor!”

• And the New Catholic Bible, a recent translation that is gaining attention, says: “Speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves, / and defend the rights of the destitute. / Speak out and pronounce righteous judgments; / defend the rights of the wretched and the poor.”

The point is clear in every case.  We are called to be a voice – to speak out for those who have no voice and defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Why does this verse get so little attention?

Many people can quote Proverbs 3:5-6 by heart (“Trust in the Lord with all your heart. . .”), and they use it to encourage themselves and others to live fully for God.

But who quotes Proverbs 31:8-9 by heart, or uses it to guide their lives?

Why does Proverbs 3:5-6 get celebrity attention, while Proverbs 31:8-9 lies in some forgot corner of our faith?

If we are going to take the whole Bible seriously, we can’t leave out verses like this.  Therefore, it is worth exploring why Proverbs 31:8-9 is not a “go-to” verse.

Why do we not use this proverb to encourage ourselves to speak out on behalf of those whose voices are not heard?  Why do we not quote it to each other as a guide for Christian living?

Perhaps this verse gets less attention because putting it into practice might move us outside our comfort zone.  Speaking out for others is not as simple or easy as “trusting” God.  We may feel like we don’t know how to do it.  We may not think this is an important priority among God’s many commands.

Yet we know that God doesn’t ask us to pick and choose from the Bible based on our comfort level.  So let’s look at whether this is one of God’s priorities.

God says this more than once

The author of the Book of Proverbs collected sayings and words of wisdom from a variety of sources and compiled them into the book we know today.  The commandment we are looking at is in a short section near the end of the book where he is quoting some wise teachings that a mother imparted to her son – a king named Lemuel who is unknown to us (Prov. 31:1-2).  In Proverbs 31:8-9, she tells him to speak out for those with no voice and defend the needy.

The books of the prophets also direct God’s people to defend the needy.

Isaiah chides the people of Judah for their sinfulness and tell them to “learn to do good; / seek justice, / rescue the oppressed, / defend the orphan, / plead for the widow” (Isaiah 1:17, NRSV).

In the book of Jeremiah, God speak to the people of Judah about what they are doing wrong.  He says of them: “They know no limits in deeds of wickedness; / they do not judge with justice / the cause of the orphan, to make it prosper, / and they do not defend the rights of the needy.” (Jeremiah 5:28, NRSV).

This means that there are three different books of the Old Testament where God tells His people to speak up for or defend the needy and others who cannot speak for themselves.  Being an advocate is part of obeying the commands of God.

Who needs our voice?

Proverbs 31:8 tells us to speak for those who cannot speak.  In our society, whose voices are not heard?

Too often, the poor, the needy, the homeless, and the destitute are not heard.  Immigrants, refugees, and others treated as aliens are pushed away.  Victims of trafficking and people at risk of being trafficked go unseen.  People with disabilities or physical challenges and those suffering from mental illness are often ignored and left out.  Others are held back by the persistence of discrimination.  In short, there are many people whose voices are not heard.

People whose concerns are ignored or discounted need a voice to defend their rights.  Whose voice do they need?  Ours.

To whom shall we speak?

Proverbs 31:8-9 begins as an instruction to a king, and our world would be a better place if more political leaders and people in authority followed its instruction.  The Bible is full of verses showing God’s particular concern for the poor, the migrant, the defenseless, and the oppressed.  In every age, those with power are called to use their power to defend and help those whose resources are limited.

People in authority need to make sure that the rights of the poor are honored as zealously as the rights of the wealthy.  Our leaders should spend at least as much time speaking out for those whose voice is not heard in the corridors of power as they spend arguing for the things that the wealthy and well-connected say to them.  The needs of the destitute should be as high on their agenda as the needs of the middle class and wealthy.

But the duty to speak does not end with our leaders.  Their obligation to use their power justly does not absolve us of our responsibility to use our voice.

To whom shall we speak?  Our leaders need to hear this message.  Our governmental leaders, our business leaders, our church leaders, and other social influencers need to hear from us that God expects them to speak up for the needy and those whose voices are not heard.

When we speak to our leaders on behalf of the needy and voiceless, we are fulfilling God’s command in Proverbs and the prophetic books of the Old Testament.

How many people of faith spend any significant amount of time doing this?  It doesn’t take long to call or write to a governmental leader, to post a comment on the social media pages of a corporation or social influencer, or to share our concerns with leaders in our churches.

We sometimes speak out on our own behalf regarding legislation or public policies that we think affect us personally.  As followers of Christ, shouldn’t we be at least as willing to do so to defend the needy and provide a voice for those who are not being heard?

How our politics might change if people of faith took this word from God seriously and pressed their leaders to do what God wants them to do: to defend the poor and speak out for those whose voices are being ignored!

When we do this, we are obeying the Word of God, because when we use our voices to speak to our leaders on behalf of the poor and ignored, we are truly being a voice for them.

What shall we say?

Sometimes, we remain silent because we don’t think we know what to say.  It helps to know what the issues and facts are, but you don’t need to be an expert to be helpful.  There are many reputable groups who are already acting as voices for the poor and forgotten.  They can give us the facts, and even the words to say.  And our voices are more likely to be heard when we are working with others.

Many groups that know what is going on have links on their websites where we can find opportunities to speak out.  They can even give us the words to use.  see Groups That Work for Justice for a partial list of groups that work from a perspective that is consistent with Catholic social teaching.

Our voices are a gift from God.  Often, we may think we cannot directly address the struggles of the poor, the voiceless, and others in need.  But we can always use our voices to speak out on their behalf.  When we do that, we are obeying God’s directive in Proverbs 31:8-9.  And our effort might help move our world one step closer to God’s vision of a world where justice prevails.

This week, who can you speak out for?  How can you use your voice to defend the poor and needy, to be a voice for those who have no voice or whose voices are ignored in the halls of power?