A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"
Study #13 - Hope in God's Compassions
We are continuing to look at the subject of the hope of Israel's restoration. We have considered the fact that the promise of Israel's future restoration is two-fold: Their return to their own land, and their return to the Lord. This was clearly portrayed in God's promises to Israel in the 31st chapter of Jeremiah which centered around the provisions of the new covenant (see last study). The conditions of the new covenant include contrition for sin and conversion to Christ. Our present study will consider the matter of Israel's contrition as portrayed by Jeremiah in Lamentations chapter three. Jeremiah, the human author of the book of Lamentations, has rightly been called "the weeping prophet". As the prophet of the Lord, Jeremiah was inspired to write the sad account of Jerusalem's fall to the nation of Babylon and to represent the fallen nation of Israel in its mourning over Jerusalem's destruction and their own captivity. In Lamentations 3:18-29 we find Jeremiah using the word "hope" five times. Actually, he uses four different Hebrew words for hope in these twelve verses. Only the last mention of "hope" found in verse 29 is the particular Hebrew word (tiqwa) that we have been studying thus far. While we want to reserve the distinctive meanings of these various other Hebrew words for "hope" for later studies, we feel that it will be profitable to our present study to at least list these five references with some brief comments:
vs. 18 - "And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD:" - The word for "hope" here is that of expectation. Jeremiah represents the nation in their feelings of hopelessness as they thought upon their afflictions: "Remembering mine affliction and my misery ..." (vs.19). Their expectations of deliverance from the Lord had not occurred - instead the Lord had allowed them to suffer affliction and captivity! This was a part of God's chastening of the nation to bring them to contrition and humility: "My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me" (vs.20).
vs. 21 - "This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope." - Now the Hebrew word used in this verse and in the next comes from the root meaning "to wait" or "to trust". The focus of Jeremiah's thoughts has now shifted away from "remembering mine affliction and my misery" to "recalling to mind" something far better: "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" (vs.22,23). Thoughts of God's mercy, compassion and faithfulness brought Jeremiah from a crisis of hopelessness to a confession of hopefulness! The fact that God had never completely destroyed the nation of Israel is a proof of his perpetual mercy. And His perpetual mercy is the basis for the prophet's patient trust (and our's).
vs.24 - "The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him." - The hope of God's mercies is founded upon more than His past dealings with the nation, it is founded upon the very nature of God's Person. God not only has compassion, He is compassionate, merciful and faithful! "The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him" (vs.25).
vs.26 - "It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD." - Here now is a third Hebrew word for "hope" but it also is thought to come from the same root as the word in the previous two references. It too is rooted in the idea of "waiting" or "trusting". It is a patient hope that is expressed by waiting quietly, that is, without complaint or anxiety. The object of hope is not only in the Lord's past mercies and in the Lord's Person, but now also in the Lord's promise of salvation. But how is this to be realized? The nation must "bear their yoke" of chastisement in silent submission recognizing that it was the LORD who had placed it upon them (vs.27,28).
vs.29 - "He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope." - Israel's hope is conditioned upon her contrition for sin. (In particular their sin of rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ as their Messiah). Here is our word "tiqwa" - a strong or confident hope. The image of contrition here is quite strong. C.F.Keil comments as follows: "The expression is derived from the Oriental custom of throwing oneself in the most reverential manner on the ground, and involves the idea of humble silence, because the mouth, placed in the dust, cannot speak". This is true contrition that clings to the hope that God will be merciful to the sinner who turns to Him in faith humbly seeking His forgiveness through Christ: "Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD. Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens" (Lam. 3:39-41). Any man or nation who truly does this may confidently trust that God will abundantly pardon (Is. 55:6,7).
vs. 18 - "And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD:" - The word for "hope" here is that of expectation. Jeremiah represents the nation in their feelings of hopelessness as they thought upon their afflictions: "Remembering mine affliction and my misery ..." (vs.19). Their expectations of deliverance from the Lord had not occurred - instead the Lord had allowed them to suffer affliction and captivity! This was a part of God's chastening of the nation to bring them to contrition and humility: "My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me" (vs.20).
vs. 21 - "This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope." - Now the Hebrew word used in this verse and in the next comes from the root meaning "to wait" or "to trust". The focus of Jeremiah's thoughts has now shifted away from "remembering mine affliction and my misery" to "recalling to mind" something far better: "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" (vs.22,23). Thoughts of God's mercy, compassion and faithfulness brought Jeremiah from a crisis of hopelessness to a confession of hopefulness! The fact that God had never completely destroyed the nation of Israel is a proof of his perpetual mercy. And His perpetual mercy is the basis for the prophet's patient trust (and our's).
vs.24 - "The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him." - The hope of God's mercies is founded upon more than His past dealings with the nation, it is founded upon the very nature of God's Person. God not only has compassion, He is compassionate, merciful and faithful! "The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him" (vs.25).
vs.26 - "It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD." - Here now is a third Hebrew word for "hope" but it also is thought to come from the same root as the word in the previous two references. It too is rooted in the idea of "waiting" or "trusting". It is a patient hope that is expressed by waiting quietly, that is, without complaint or anxiety. The object of hope is not only in the Lord's past mercies and in the Lord's Person, but now also in the Lord's promise of salvation. But how is this to be realized? The nation must "bear their yoke" of chastisement in silent submission recognizing that it was the LORD who had placed it upon them (vs.27,28).
vs.29 - "He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope." - Israel's hope is conditioned upon her contrition for sin. (In particular their sin of rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ as their Messiah). Here is our word "tiqwa" - a strong or confident hope. The image of contrition here is quite strong. C.F.Keil comments as follows: "The expression is derived from the Oriental custom of throwing oneself in the most reverential manner on the ground, and involves the idea of humble silence, because the mouth, placed in the dust, cannot speak". This is true contrition that clings to the hope that God will be merciful to the sinner who turns to Him in faith humbly seeking His forgiveness through Christ: "Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD. Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens" (Lam. 3:39-41). Any man or nation who truly does this may confidently trust that God will abundantly pardon (Is. 55:6,7).
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