Hope in God

Psalm 42v5

5Why are you cast down (Hebrew: bowed down), O my soul?

And why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him (give thanks)

For the help of His countenance or His presence is salvation.

David speaks to his soul (the mind, will and emotions) and asks the question, Why are you cast down, despondent and discouraged?

In the natural, we are faced with circumstances and experiences which cause us to be downcast and despondent.

Things we can't understand, overcome or we don't want to face. At times things become too much for our emotions to deal with.

In times like these, we need hope and to have an earnest expectation. Outside of the Lord there is no one or nothing to give us the hope we so desperately need but in God we have everlasting hope and assurance, that He knows exactly what we need and how much we can bare.

The Hebrew word for disquieted gives the sense of being in a tumult, experiencing a lot of noise and commotion. Basically the mind and emotions are in a frenzy. Anxious instead of being at peace.

Have you ever felt like that, I know I have and obviously David did.

What's the answer and antidote for feeling this why?

Soul hope in God, trust in Jehovah for in Him and Him alone is everlasting strength.

Isaiah 26v3&4

3Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

4Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength

The Hebrew word for hope means to wait, await, to be patient, hope, (cause to, have, make to) hope, be pained, stay, tarry, trust, wait.

As we patiently wait on the Lord and put our trust in Him, He will make a way even when it seems impossible. He will give us the strength and grace to come through and to overcome. See Psalm 27v13&14

David had experienced, the goodness and grace of God enough times, to know that in spite of how he felt, in spite of his soul feeling downcast that he would yet give thanks, he would still praise the Lord because of the "help of His countenance".

The Lord is our Helper and He is our Strength.

He is our Glory and the Lifter of our head. Psalm 3v3

The Hebrew word for help is yeshuah (Strong's h3444).

That's right the name of Jesus in Hebrew and means salvation (Matthew 1v21)

Salvation = deliverance; hence, aid, victory, prosperity, health, help(-ing), salvation, save, saving (health), welfare.

Hope in God for the salvation of His countenance or face.

When the Lord causes His face to shine upon us we experience salvation and deliverance.

Psalm 80v3

3Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

There is much in this world to get despondent about. We all face challenges and things in life, that if we had the choice, we would rather avoid.

But we don't have the choice to avoid much of what we face, however, we do have the choice to hope in the Lord and trust in His saving grace.

His presence is salvation.

As we look to Him, He will cause His face to shine upon us (ie. we will experience His favour) and in doing so, we will know divine deliverance and victory, even though it seems impossible.

Remember what Jesus said to Jairus.

Mark 6v34

Don't be afraid, only believe.

Jairus had just been told that his 12 year old daughter had died. In spite of his best efforts he couldn't get Jesus to his daughter in time to save her.

The woman with the issue of blood had taken up time that his daughter didn't have.

It couldn't have been a much more impossible situation.

All hope was gone.

But Jesus spoke directly into the tumult and frenzied thoughts and emotions that Jairus was experiencing.

Fear not Jairus just trust me!

One word, from the lips of Jesus, into our hearts and minds, changes everything.

The One who spoke the galaxies and worlds into being, is still speaking into our lives today, into our circumstances, into the situations that overwhelm us.

He speaks to the emotional tumult and says, Peace be still.

After stilling the storm in Jairus' mind, by the power of His word, he spoke yet again but this time to his dead daughter.

v41 Talitha Cumi, Damsel I say unto you arise.

The One who spoke to the waves and tumult, with such authority that they had to obey, now spoke to death itself and it too had to obey the power and authority of His word.

v42 Straightway the damsel arose and walked.

Hope in God for we shall yet praise Him, because His favour is salvation.

All things are possible to him that believes.

Amen. Be encouraged.