Our Hope in the Lord - Psalm 39:7

Introduction

Good afternoon, my name is Jake Auxier. I have the pleasure of bringing the word of God to you today. Today we are going to look at “Our Hope in the Lord”. What does it mean that we have hope in the Lord? Our main verse today will be Psalm 39:7. We will begin by reading Psalm 39:1-7.

Reading

Psalm 39:1–7 (ESV) I said, “I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle, so long as the wicked are in my presence.” I was mute and silent; I held my peace to no avail, and my distress grew worse. My heart became hot within me. As I mused, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue:

“O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah Surely a man goes about as a shadow! Surely for nothing they are in turmoil; man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!

“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.

David’s Hope

Briefly, we will look to David as an example of hoping in the Lord and waiting on Him. In this psalm, David tries not to sin with his tongue in the presence of his enemies. When he speaks, David asks the Lord to help him to remember how temporary his days on earth are. With this in mind, David then expresses that he will wait on the Lord and that his hope is in the Lord.

Tied to hoping is waiting. David waits on the Lord. We wait on the Lord.

Waiting has the effect of making or causing us to hope.

Psalm 25:1–5 (ESV) “To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me. Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.”

David waits for the Lord to guide him and teach him His ways. In God’s teaching, David has a hope for becoming righteous.

Psalm 62:1–7 (ESV) “For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. How long will all of you attack a man to batter him, like a leaning wall, a tottering fence? They only plan to thrust him down from his high position. They take pleasure in falsehood. They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse. Selah For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.”

David knows that salvation is from the Lord, and he waits on the Lord for it.

So, what does it mean for us, as followers of Jesus Christ, to have hope? What is hope for us?

Hope is the confidence that, by integrating God’s redemptive acts in the past with trusting human responses in the present, we will experience the fullness of God’s goodness both in the present and in the future.

Grounding Our Hope in the Past

We ground our hope in the Lord based upon what He has done.

In the Old Testament, the Israelites grounded their hope based upon what God did in bringing them out of Egypt in the Exodus. They also would look at God’s provision to their ancestors in the wilderness wanderings.

For us today, we ground our hope in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Through Jesus, we have salvation, and in Him is our hope.

Romans 5:1–5 “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Grounding Our Hope in the Future

We also ground our hope in the future: that is, in God’s promises. The Israelites looked to God’s promises in establishing them in the Promised Land. Of course, God’s promises to them with the blessings was conditioned upon their obedience. But, they also looked to future promise of the coming Messiah. Paul talks about this in his defense before King Agrippa:

Acts 26:6–8 “And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O king! Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?”

Paul also is speaking of our own future hope as Christians.

We hope in our resurrection from the dead to everlasting life in the presence of God.

That hope is based upon Jesus’ resurrection. Additionally, we hope in the future return of Jesus which inaugurates our resurrection from the dead. In fact, it is Christ’s resurrection from the dead and the certainty of it that gives us the hope of our own resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15:12–22 “Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.

For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”

This world always reminds us and gives a reason to cling onto the hope we have in the Lord.

Romans 8:22–25 “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”

Grounding of Our Hope in God’s Character

We can also maintain hope in the promises of God because of His character. First, because God does not change.

Malachi 3:6 ““For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.”

James 1:16–18 “Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”

Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

Second, God is love and it is in His Love for us that Jesus was sent and the promises in Him will be fulfilled.

1 John 4:7–10 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

Increasing our Hope

If we find that we are losing hope, what can we do?

We Go To God’s Word

We can go to God’s Word. To maintain and increase or build our hope we have to always be in His word. It is God’s Word that gives us the sure foundation for our hope.

Psalm 130:5–6 “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.”

Psalm 119:49–50 “Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.”

We Come To God in Prayer

When we come in prayer to God, our hope will also increase as God gives us the peace we need in our lives.

1 Peter 3:12 “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.””

Philippians 4:6–7 “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Conclusion

Our hope in the Lord is based upon what He has done. Primarily in His plan of redemption through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We look to him and have hope!

We also await, in hope, for the time when we will be resurrected to live eternally with God, enjoying Him in close fellowship!

We increase our hope by being in God’s Word and by Praying!

Thank you and God Bless You!