Put your hope in God - Psalm 42:5

The writer of this psalm was apparently living in exile and longing for a place of corporate worship...he felt cut off from God without it.  He remembers earlier times of joy and thanksgiving in temple worship and needed to remind himself that his hope was in God, not in earthly things.

Don wrote in a letter to the church recently a quote from Tom Bodett who says: "everyone needs three things to be happy:  someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for."  According to Webster's Dictionary hope is "the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out well".  Hebrews 6:19 says hope is the "anchor for the soul (firm and secure)" - that is the hope offered to us by God.

The question is: what is the object of your hope?  Is it the stock market? Is it your family?  Or is it a loving God?  Robert C. Roberts in SPIRITUAL EMOTIONS says:

The Christian...has a hope that may be able to fill her with joy

and thus to fill the gap that is left when she sees through

earthly hopes...hopes which are in competition with her

hope of sharing the glory of God.

 

So as we begin this next week toward our national elections and as we contemplate a busy and commercial holiday season, let us declare with the psalmist to "put your hope in God".

 

For further study:  Job 13:15, Psalm 20:7, Psalm 62:5, Isaiah 40;31, Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 15:13, Col. 1:27, 1 Tim. 6:17, Hebrews 11:1, 1 John 3:3

 

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

 

Love,

Holly