HOPELESS TIMES 5 | LOVELY HOPE
1. Hopeless Times
a) The times we live in are so troubled. People losing their jobs, the stock market falls, natural catastrophes, and uncertainty in what the future holds. In today’s economy there is little to hope for the future however God is never caught off guard or by surprise. God knows the future. You are not the only one that has felt that there is no hope. Even Bible heroes had their times when they wanted to give up. Job, Moses, Jonah, Jeremiah, even the powerful prophet in the Old Testament, Elijah.
b) Humans have definitions of hope that are different from God’s. We might hope our team wins the game, or we might hope we don’t lose our jobs or our house. But the biblical definition of hope is not a hope-so but a know-so. Our hope in God is surer than the sun rising in the morning.
Psalms 119:74
"Those who fear You will be glad when they see me,
Because I have hoped in Your word."
a) The times we live in are so troubled. People losing their jobs, the stock market falls, natural catastrophes, and uncertainty in what the future holds. In today’s economy there is little to hope for the future however God is never caught off guard or by surprise. God knows the future. You are not the only one that has felt that there is no hope. Even Bible heroes had their times when they wanted to give up. Job, Moses, Jonah, Jeremiah, even the powerful prophet in the Old Testament, Elijah.
b) Humans have definitions of hope that are different from God’s. We might hope our team wins the game, or we might hope we don’t lose our jobs or our house. But the biblical definition of hope is not a hope-so but a know-so. Our hope in God is surer than the sun rising in the morning.
Psalms 119:74
"Those who fear You will be glad when they see me,
Because I have hoped in Your word."
c) Here is real hope. When a person reads the Word of God (Bible) they can know for certain that they have a secure and certain future for God will never allow us to suffer beyond our own capabilities to handle it. There is nothing on this earth more certain than hope in God. He will never leave us nor will He ever forsake us. He is our anchor in the present and for the future.
2. Lovely Hope
Psalms 147:11
The LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.
a) A father or grandfather delights in his children. They come to him for advice. He is always offering them hope that all things will work out for their best despite what today may seem like (Romans 8:28). He delights when they come to him with their troubles. So too does the Lord delight when we put our hope in Him and His unfailing love. He wants us to depend upon Him for everything. He delights to give us the desires of our hearts (Psalms 37:4).
Psalms 147:11
The LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.
a) A father or grandfather delights in his children. They come to him for advice. He is always offering them hope that all things will work out for their best despite what today may seem like (Romans 8:28). He delights when they come to him with their troubles. So too does the Lord delight when we put our hope in Him and His unfailing love. He wants us to depend upon Him for everything. He delights to give us the desires of our hearts (Psalms 37:4).
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