Hope: Expression of Certainty

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An old friend went home to be with the Lord over the weekend. Bob was delivered from cancer, Parkinson’s, and all the beating and battering of life that remind us that, though this world will one day be restored to the pristine beauty and perfection of creation before the fall, it is now only our temporary home.

As I read Psalm 33 this morning the last few verses would describe Bob’s hope, and mine. He has now seen the realization of this hope as he stands in the presence of Jesus, whom he loved greatly and served faithfully. For those of us who remain the promise lacks its crowning moment, but it is nonetheless a promise that can be trusted even while we wait to see it completely fulfilled.

“…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 rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you” (Psalm 33:18-22).

I spoke to a friend yesterday who is suffering from such extreme anxiety that she can hardly leave her home. A young couple is struggling with a child who has not left the hospital since he was born—and just about every remedy for his condition has failed. Another friend just lost his mother. He hasn’t spoken to her for ten years and now it is too late.

If ever they needed to claim the promise: to trust the Lord, to believe in His love, to embrace the hope that He offers, it is now. For me, with lesser ills to face, it’s still something to embrace today. In embracing its truth the beginning of Psalm 33 is possible:

“Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him…shout for joy. For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does” (33:1, 3b, 4).