Thou Art My Hope

Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary gives as the first meaning of hope: Desire with expectation of obtaining what is desired, of belief that it is obtainable. Hope is more than wishful thinking: it is desire with expectation. It is this kind of hope that Paul meant when he ranked it among the tree abiding realities: faith, hope and love. (1 Corinthians 13:15)

O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.
Psalm 31:23-24

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
Psalm 42:11


Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
Psalm 130:7-8

Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God.
Psalm 146:5

The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.
Proverbs 10:28

Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
Jeremiah 17:7

My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains . . . because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers.
Jeremiah 50:6-7

It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.
Lamentations 3:22-26

Hope is a recurring theme in the Epistles. Paul begins his first letter to Timothy with these words: Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope; Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Timothy 1:1-2

. . . the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
Joel 3:14-16

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
Romans 5:1-5

For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:24-25, 28

Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead.
Ephesians 1:15-20

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Titus 2:11-14

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Romans 15:13

There is a special word for parents (and grandparents) in Psalm 78:

I will open my mouth in a parable
I will utter dark sayings of old:
Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.
For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children:
That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:
That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:
Psalm 78:2-7

1 “Let Us Rejoice In His Love” by: C.R. Gibson


. . . let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
1 Thessalonians 5:8

Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17



Prayers:

Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.
Psalm 33:22

in thee, O LORD, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God.
Psalm 38:15

In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion. Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. For thou art my hope, O Lord GOD: thou art my trust from my youth. Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honour all the day. O God, be not far from me: O my God, make haste for my help. But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more. . . O God, who is like unto thee!
Psalm 71: 1, 4, 5, 8, 12, 14, 19

 

Hope Is Just Around the Corner
By Donna Fargo

If fear is faith turned upside down
and hate is love wrong side out.
If sad is happy in reverse
and a blessing is the opposite of a curse...

If apathy was once care that has died
and success is failure’s other side.
If dark is the bottom side of light
and day is the morning side of night...

Maybe we should not despair
when the news seems always bad.
If hope is just around the corner
on the other side of sad.

To find the answers that we need
maybe struggle is the place to start.
To solve the great mysteries of life
it seems we should consult the heart.