Skip to main content

Hope Overcomes Despair

Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God (Psalms 42:11 NAS95).

There are seasons in life that prove most difficult. Sometimes you can lose hope if you only look through mortal eyes. However, it is important to remember, while your flesh is mortal, your soul is eternal. The psalmist teaches you and me a very good lesson here. His focus does not remain on his bad circumstances, but on His God.

Instead of wallowing in his anguish, he turns his eyes upward. It is best not to decry “Oh this is the worst day of my life!” Do as the palmist and remember your blessed position in Christ.

Very often, the trials you and I face are there to improve our relationship with God. James says this very thing. Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:2-4 NAS95).

The psalmist, like James, knows he can praise God in every situation because God loves him. The foundations for this are many, but His love for us is overarching. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:10 NAS95).

This fact allowed Paul to say, For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18 NAS95). We will yet praise Him!

The hope of the righteous is gladness (Proverbs 10:28a NAS95). God sees you in your distress, and if you have hope in Him, you will not be disappointed. Sing praise to the LORD, you His godly ones, And give thanks to His holy name. For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning (Psalms 30:4-5 NAS95).

Download PDF






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Believing in Jesus Christ

If you ask people, “Do you believe there is a God?” most would say yes. Of course this statement must be qualified. A person saying “I believe in God” does not necessarily mean that person is resting their eternal soul on the one true God described in the Bible. Still, it remains that most people acknowledge the existence of a god of some form. Why? The answer is simple. God has made Himself known to all men. This is an inescapable reality. Notice how clear the Bible is on this point. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Kingdom Living

As believers we have been made citizens of the kingdom of God. We used to be  children of the world. We were depraved, unable to seek God. However, God chose us to be His children. We were made citizen of His kingdom through that redemptive process called salvation. Jesus Instructs the Disciples How to Live in His Kingdom? He does this in Matthew 5 during His Sermon on the Mount. In that sermon He makes a number of statements commonly called the beatitudes. He says a lot more than what we will look at today, but today we will focus on eight beatitudes. 1. Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit Those who are poor in spirit have a right assessment of their spiritual condition. They realize they have no righteousness in themselves. They have come to understand the truth that the only righteousness one may obtain comes by faith in the only righteous person who ever lived--Jesus Christ the Righteous. Those who are righteous have heard the Gospel, repented of their sins, and have believed in Jes...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ask God To Examine Your Heart

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way (Psalms 139:23-24 NAS95). How willing are you to have God search your heart? Of course God knows all of your thoughts, emotions and motives without your permission. You can’t shut God out as He knows all things. However, the question is are you willing to let God expose your inner thoughts? We love ourselves and hate to have our egos damaged. We don’t like to see the evil intentions of our heart exposed to the light of truth. However, there is nothing more important than looking into the perfect law of liberty to see who we really are (James 1:25) One mark of an unbeliever is an unwillingness to acknowledge God in their mind (Romans 1:28). It is a gracious act of the Holy Spirit to reveal sin to you. We are commanded not to be conformed to this world. The means to that end is the transformation of your mind (Romans 12:2). Exposure to G...
Post a Comment
Read more