Proverbs 17:5,  Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker: and he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished.

Billy was just a little guy and the bigger kids liked to have him around to pick on and to make fun of.

Oh, how they liked to laugh at him, how they liked to imitate his slow speech and how they liked to push him down.

But Billy's big brother Jim loved Billy and made sure that Billy was protected from the bullies of the neighborhood.

Jim made sure that it was known by the bullies that if they did anything bad to Billy, he considered that they did the bad thing to him.

In other words he made sure that they understood that he was the one they would have to deal with.

You hurt or touch Billy, Jim said, and you hurt and touch me, he's my brother!

Billy was easy to take advantage of but in the end Jim wanted them to remember that it was Jim they would have to deal with.

You see Jim was the equalizer in this situation.

Billy was little but Jim was big and his size, offset any deficiency that Billy had.

God is like that. He made that clear in the case of little ones.

Jesus Christ warned that whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

The poor are special to God as well as the little ones.

They are special and he intends to be the equalizer to the bullies of the poor.

This is what our proverb says:  Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker:

Put in today's vernacular He says:  You mess with the poor and you mess with me!

Doesn't he also say in Proverbs 14:31,  He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: