Tag Archives: hope

You Offer Hope

09 Wednesday Dec 2015

Posted by in Mid-Week Medtiation, Psalms

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You listen to the longings of those who suffer. You offer them hope, and you pay attention to their cries for help (Psalm 10:17 CEV).

Yellow Cones 2015-08-26

Photo by David Kitz

Reflection

This week’s I Love the Psalms theme is hope.

There are two words that stand in sharp contrast in today’s passage from the Psalms. The words are suffer and hope. Without hope suffering becomes unbearable. But where there is hope there is endurance. We have hope in our suffering because we have a God who listens to our cries.

Response: LORD God, you understand our suffering because Jesus, your son, suffered greatly. Hear me when I call. Amen.

Your Turn: Has the Lord brought you hope in times of suffering?

You Give Hope to People Everywhere

07 Monday Dec 2015

Posted by in Monday Meditation, Psalms

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Our God, you save us, and your fearsome deeds answer our prayers for justice! You give hope to people everywhere on earth, even those across the sea (Psalm 65:5 CEV).

Syrian Refugees

Syrian Refugees – Alan Parker blogs.canoe.com

Our theme for this week is hope.

Does God give hope only to our kind of people, or is God more generous than that? Today’s psalms meditation makes it clear that God has a bigger view of humanity. He is the giver of hope to people everywhere.

Response: LORD God, we look to you for hope. Help us to be like you, heavenly Father,  giving hope and help to those in need. Amen.

Your Turn: What can you do today to give hope to someone in need today?

 

Hope for the Downcast Soul

03 Tuesday Feb 2015

Posted by in Psalm 42, Psalms

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Reading:                                       Psalm 42

 (Verses 6-11)

My soul is downcast within me;     

therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan,     

the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.

Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls;

all your waves and breakers have swept over me.

By day the LORD directs his love,     

at night his song is with me—a prayer to the God of my life.

I say to God my Rock,     

“Why have you forgotten me?

Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?”

My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me,

saying to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

Why, my soul, are you downcast?     

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him,     

my Savior and my God.  (NIV)

Reflection

Let’s face the truth. We all go through times when we are downcast. A few minutes ago my wife asked me, “Are you grumpy today?”

I was surprised she noticed. I thought I had been hiding my downcast state quite well. After reflecting a moment I answered, “I guess I am.” Then I began to justify my grumpy mood. “It’s cold, windy and snowing. Again! And my face feels numb and puffy from my visit to the dentist.”

Ice Formation-- Ottawa River -- David Kitz

Ice Formation– Ottawa River — David Kitz

What I didn’t say was that I was discouraged about my writing career. My literary agent may drop me as a client. Every news report I read seems to be filled with gloom and dire predictions. I have a backache, probably from shovelling snow. And did I mention that this winter feels interminable? Along with the psalmist, David, I can say, “My soul is downcast within me.”

But David didn’t stay wallowing in his pity party. He rallied through songs of worship and prayer. Hear his words, “By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me—a prayer to the God of my life.”

When I am discouraged—when you are discouraged—we can both do the same. We can turn to the LORD in song. I can pray to the God of my life—the God who knew me in my mother’s womb—the God who left His throne to rescue me. Why should I be downcast when Jesus cast himself down on my behalf?

Response: LORD God, I thank you for Jesus. I am thankful that he willingly laid down his life so that I could be forgiven and experience new life. I put my hope in my Savior and my God. Hallelujah! Amen.

Your Turn: What do you do when times of discouragement come?

It’s All About Hope

26 Monday May 2014

Posted by in Psalm 33, Psalms

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Reading:                                       Psalm 33

(Verses 16-22)

No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength.

A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save.

But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,     

on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,

to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.

We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.

In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.  

May your unfailing love be with us, LORD, even as we put our hope in you. (NIV)

Reflection

This final portion of Psalm 33 is all about hope. Life is all about hope. From the first breath we take until our last gasp, life is all about hope. Life has no meaning or purpose if we lose hope.

The essential question we must ask is where do you place your hope? All too often we place our hope in the things of this world, our resources, our ingenuity and the strength of our flesh. But the psalmist reminds us: No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save.

Time and again throughout history the little guy has won. David defeated Goliath. The Viet Cong ousted the US Army. The Afghan rebels outlasted the armies of the USSR. Victory does not always go to the mighty. So the lament goes up, “How the mighty have fallen! The weapons of war have perished!” (2 Samuel 1:27).

 David & Goliath

Where is your hope? Where have you put your trust? The psalmist reminds us to put our hope in the LORD. Leaders come and go; nations rise and fall. Human abilities wane. “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever” (Isaiah 40:8).

Our hope and our trust must be in God and in His unfailing word.

When calamity strikes, those who maintain hope survive; those who give up hope perish. In stories of extreme survival over and over again this truth is borne out. Hope sustains the human heart when food and water run out. When we put our trust in the LORD, we tap into a limitless supply of hope. Therefore: We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.

Response: This is our prayer. May your unfailing love be with us, LORD, even as we put our hope in you. In Jesus’ name, who defeated death, we pray. Amen.

Your Turn: What are some sources of false hope? Why have you put your hope in God?