Immigration 6

Those who are wicked display certain behaviors that define them thusly.  I am wicked if I deny and hide my own sins.  I am wicked if I murder my neighbor or seek to seduce his wife.  I am wicked if am unable to follow the Lord in faith alone or if I turn to idols.  I am wicked if I do not care for the needs of widows and orphans.  And I am wicked if I oppress aliens.

Psalm 94:1-8
O LORD, the God who avenges, O God who avenges, shine forth.


Rise up, O Judge of the earth; pay back to the proud what they deserve.


How long will the wicked, O LORD, how long will the wicked be jubilant?


They pour out arrogant words; all the evildoers are full of boasting.


They crush your people, O LORD; they oppress your inheritance.


They slay the widow and the alien; they murder the fatherless.


They say, "The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob pays no heed."


Take heed, you senseless ones among the people; you fools, when will you become wise?

The wicked are proud, aggressive, violent, and show no apparent concern for those amongst them who are vulnerable.
 
Compare this to what we find in Psalm 146:7-9:
He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free, the LORD gives sight to the blind, the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down, the LORD loves the righteous.
The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

The Lord, in direct contradiction to the ways of the wicked, shows preference for those who are suffering and being mistreated by others.  And He despises the behavior of people that causes such suffering.  He wants us to be about what He is about.
 
The Prophet Malachi records the Lord's words of judgment in this regard (3:5):
"So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me," says the LORD Almighty.


The way we treat others and give them opportunities for life is clearly important to the Lord.  He desires for us to live by His standards, not by our cultural common sense, not by personal deductions informed by ruminations.
 
Anything less is wickedness.