“We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield” (Psalm 33:20).
What are you putting your hope in? Maybe it’s in your strength, health and ability to work and keep going, even through tough times. It could be in your intelligence, mental abilities, skills or talents. It could be in your bank balance, share portfolio and pension plan. Maybe it’s in your spouse and family and the loved ones around you. Or perhaps it’s in the fact that you live in a relatively stable, prosperous and fair country.
They say that if you want to know what your idol is — where you are looking for security and what you’re putting your hope and trust in — imagine each of these things mentioned above being taken away from you. And then note how you feel and respond to that prospect!
The psalmist tells Israel that it’s a waste of time to put their hope in the great strength of their army. Israel’s great hope is not their king or their military might — Israel’s hope is their God, the Lord! How blessed they are that he chose them as his people! “The eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those who hope in his unfailing love.” The Lord God looks from the transcendence of heaven and sees us all, knows our very hearts — and sees where each of us puts our hope. And for those who put their hope in him — well, they will experience his love, help and deliverance.
This isn’t wishful thinking or poetic hyperbole. We who know the Lord have already seen his deliverance: we have received his love and help in the person of Jesus, the Son. He has rescued us from the mire of sin and set our feet upon the rock of his faithfulness; he has brought us wholeness and peace instead of our brokenness and misery.
The unfailing love of God is with us — Immanuel, no less. So why would you put your hope for your life, for your future, anywhere else?
Prayer
Lord, I thank You for being my “shield and strength”! Keep my hope in Your love as I share it to everyone around me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Stay encouraged!
Pastor Mike
