To Find Hope
Going on in Psalm 119, we get to verse 43, where the Psalmist says this: “Never take your word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws.”
Note, first of all, that he wants to have God’s Word in his mouth all the time. He wants to be speaking God’s Word all day long. This is something to consider – ancient Jews would speak God’s Word out loud as they spent time meditating and praying, and as they walked along in their day to day lives, God’s Word was ever on their lips. Maybe this should be our practice too – maybe each day we should choose a verse and keep on repeating it to ourselves wherever we go, whenever we have a spare moment. This will surely be a powerful habit! Particularly in moments when we begin to doubt, or worry, or get tempted: the Word of God on our lips will give us much power to overcome these things.
Finding Hope: The Distinction Between the Bible and God
And the writer says that he has put his hope in God’s laws. Now, I want us to be clear that it is not the Bible in itself that is our hope. It is the message that the Bible portrays, that is our hope. Some people accuse evangelical Christians of bibliolatry – which is worshipping the Bible. I want us to remember that it is not the Bible itself that saves us – it is the truth contained within the Bible that saves us. The Bible is not God, but the Bible does point us to God.
And so when the writer talks about hoping in God’s laws, it is a hope in God as revealed in His Word.
Is your hope in God? There’s another Psalm – Psalm 42 – which says “why so downcast, oh my soul? Put your hope in God.” I think many of us try and find hope in other things – politicians, leaders, our own abilities, and soon we find that the only hope that remains constant is our hope in God.
Hope in God: A Source of Joy and Strength
Richard Baxter was a Puritan pastor in the 1600s. One biographer of his said this of him: “The hope of heaven brought him joy, and joy brought him strength, and so, like John Calvin before him and George Whitefield after him, and, it would seem, like the apostle Paul himself … he was astoundingly enabled to labor on, accomplishing more than would ever have seemed possible in a single lifetime.”
How profound! It was Baxter’s hope in God’s promise of everlasting life that brought him joy and strength to go on.
Where is your hope today? May it be that like the Psalmist, and like Richard Baxter, you and I keep God’s Word in our mouths and in our hearts all day long, so that our hope remains in Him, and our joy and strength increase because of it.
