Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #23 - "Hope in God's Mercy"

In our last study we noted that the Hebrew word "yahal" is translated as "hope" 18 times in the Psalms and that all 18 passages refer to a patient, waiting, hopeful trust either in God Himself, His Word, or His Attributes.  In Psalm 131:3 David cried out, "Let Israel hope in the LORD from henceforth and for ever."  The Bible certainly gives us many reasons to place our hope and trust in the Lord God of Heaven.  He is the God of answered prayer:  "For in thee, O LORD, do I Hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God" (Psalm 38:15).  He is the greatest possession of His people:  "The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him" (Lamentations 3:24).  To whom else may we look for such hope? In whom else may we trust with such confidence? "And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee" (Psalm 39:7).  But of all of God's infinite and infinitely perfect attributes, none call forth hope like His everlasting mercy!  Jeremiah cried out, "This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.  It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not" (Lamentations 3:21,22). This is the attribute of God that more than any other gives us cause for hope!  This is the Hebrew word "hesed" that the translators struggle in vain to reproduce with any single English word.  The King James Version renders it variously as "kindness", "favour", "goodness", "mercy", "lovingkindness", and other similar words.  Other versions translate it with words such as "steadfast love", "loyalty", "lovingkindness", "kindness", "love", or even "unfailing love" trying to capture the fullness of the Hebrew term.  Some have argued that, when used of God, hesed refers specifically to His "covenant loyalty".  Another has remarked that this word is the Old Testament equivalent to the New Testament declaration that "God is Love."  It is clearly the Old Testament equivalent to God's undeserved and unfailing mercy, love, and favor, which in the New Testament is so often termed "grace".  It is because of God's "hesed" - His very Nature to love, to be kind and merciful, to be loyal to His promises and good to His people - that we can place our complete hope and trust in Him!  At least four times in the Psalms we find this yahal "hope" connected with God's hesed "mercy":  Psalm 33:18 - "Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy";  Psalm 33:22 - "Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee";  Psalm 130:7 - "Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him there is plenteous redemption"; and, Psalm 147:11 - "The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy."  Each of these passages deserve a closer look which we will attempt in our next post, but for now we may simply note that our hope in God's mercy is associated with His watchful care, His bountiful redemption, and His loving approval.  We also see that it is a vital part of what it means to "fear the Lord" and that God's mercy is granted to us on the condition of our hope and trust (according as we hope in thee).  May we always know the wonders of God's merciful love freely given to us in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ!  For this alone gives us hope, and in Him alone we may safely trust!

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #22 - Hope Thou in God

We are continuing our look at the Hebrew word "yahal" which indicates a hope characterized by patient waiting and trust.  Last time we acknowledged that this is not typically easy to do, in fact we might confess that it is humanly impossible.  Like all of God's commands, we need the strength that He provides in order to obey them.  And so we left off with Psalm 31:24 - "Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD."  It is not surprising therefore to find that most of the passages using yahal speak of the hope that the believer places in God.  Simply put, God gives us the strength to place our hope (patient trust) in Him.  Quoting again from the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament:  "This yahal 'hope' is not a pacifying wish of the imagination which drowns out troubles, nor is it uncertain ... but rather yahal 'hope' is the solid ground of expectation for the righteous. As such it is directed toward God....In short, that which is hoped for is not some desideratum arising from one's imagination, but in God himself and whatever he should propose to accomplish" (emphasis mine).  This is seen clearly in the use of yahal in the Psalms.  In fact, of the 22 times yahal is translated as "hope" in the KJV, 18 of them are found in the Psalms, and all 18 times refer to hope that is placed in the Lord, His Word, or His Attributes.  First, let us consider the admonitions to place our hope in the Lord Himself.  Three times in almost identical words we find the Psalmist admonishing himself to hope in the Lord:  Psalm 42:5 - "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance."   Psalm 42:11 - "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 43:5 - "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God."  This admonition, "hope thou in God", forms a sort of refrain for these two Psalms.  (Some believe they may have originally formed one Psalm but were later divided into two.)  The Psalmist, in a time of despair and trouble, literally preaches a sermon to his own soul!  This is one example when it is truly okay to talk to one's self.  In fact, as far as we know, only human beings can speak to themselves in this way.  It is an evidence for the very existence of a spirit or soul that is distinct from the mere animal life of a body and brain.  Here the Psalmist commands his own spirit to hope (patiently wait and trust) in God in order to shake himself from the inward misery he was feeling.  His soul was "cast down" (literally "bowed down" as under a heavy load) and "disquieted" (literally "groaning" or "troubled" like the seas in a storm).  Exiled from his homeland, mocked by his enemies, saddened by his past memories of better times, and longing for the Presence of God he once enjoyed, the Psalmist rebukes himself for his lack of trust and resolves within himself to hope in God!  Here we find the Biblical answer to worry.  It has been said that whenever a Christian worries we in reality are expressing doubt either in God's power, wisdom, or goodness.  We are in essence saying that either God doesn't care, doesn't know what is best for us, or is unable or unwilling to do anything about it.  Such an attitude deserves a strong rebuke!  We like the Psalmist must remind ourselves of what we know to be true about our God:  He is always in control!  He is always wise!  He is always good!  "O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee ..." (Psalm 42:6).  "Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy ..." (Psalm 43:4).  Matthew Henry wrote: "A believing confidence in God is a sovereign antidote against prevailing despondency and disquietude of spirit" (emphasis mine).  The lesson these Psalms teach is that in times of deepest sorrow the soul of the believer may turn to God and find hope in Him.  The cure for the Psalmist's sorrow was found in renewing his hope in God and the outcome was twofold:  "... for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance" (Ps.42:5); and, "for I shall yet praise him, who is the help of my countenance, and my God" (Ps. 42:11; 43:5).  Some versions make these two statements identical by a slight adjustment of the Hebrew, but I think the difference is significant.  Not only does the believer find help in the countenance of God (i.e. in the favor of His Presence), but the Lord in turn produces a positive change in our own countenance as well.  The word "countenance" is literally the "face".  The face is the most expressive indication of one's attitude and feelings and is therefore an indication of whether one is sad, angry, joyful, pleased or displeased.  This is why we are to "seek the face of God" in prayer.  We are comforted and strengthened when we sense His loving approval, favor and acceptance in Christ.  Likewise, He brings joy to our face and wipes away our tears as we place our full hope and trust in Him.  Does your face express the joy unspeakable that comes from God's loving kindness in your heart?  If not, rebuke your downcast soul, remember God's goodness, love and wisdom, and hope thou in God!

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #21 - Hope Deferred

In our last post we introduced the Hebrew word "yahal" as expressing an expectant hope, a hope that is characterized by patient waiting and trust.  Before going further into this positive aspect of hope, we must first acknowledge that such patient waiting is not an easy task for most human beings.  By nature we simply do not wait well!  This is true whether we are waiting on some thing or some one.  This may even be true when we are waiting on the Lord!  Our patience grows shorter as our waiting grows longer.  This is why our expectancy must be coupled with trust.  Only then will we patiently wait on the Lord.  Proverbs 13:12 states, "Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life."  Here the word "hope" is a derivative of the word "yahal" - the Hebrew word "tohelet".  Like many of the Proverbs, this verse states what is generally the case for most people.  The longer we have to wait for something the more restless and "heart sick" we become.  A hope deferred is a test of our faith and trust.  The thought expressed by the word "deferred" is that of a long delay, when the object of our hope (expectation) is long in coming.  The Hebrew word means to "draw or stretch" something out, to "prolong" or "extend".  Such a disappointment can cause a person to "loose heart" or even to become despondent or depressed.  Job often expressed his emotional despair in hoping for God to answer his questions or in granting him relief:  "What is my strength, that I should hope? (Hebrew - yahal) ... Is my strength the strength of stones? or is my flesh of brass?"  (Job 6:11).  This was because what he hoped for was long delayed in coming, in fact, the opposite of what he hoped for inexplicably came instead:  "When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited (yahal) for light, there came darkness" (Job 30:26).  Job was right in confessing that such patient waiting was not humanly possible, after all, like Job,  we are not "made of stone" either!  Even Jeremiah came to this difficult admission as he mourned the fall of Jerusalem:  "And I said, My strength and my hope (tohelet) is perished from the LORD" (Lamentations 3:18).  The verses prior to this statement by Jeremiah are strikingly similar to some of the things said centuries earlier by Job.  Both men had their hopes deferred on a scale most of us will never experience, and yet they never lost their hope in God.  They were "heart sick" and expressed "despair" but they never stopped looking to God for deliverance because they never stopped trusting the Lord.  We have considered these two men and their hope in God in previous studies.  They both found out that when we have to wait on God, He will make the wait worthwhile, even though He may make us wait a long time!  The second half of Proverbs 13:12 expresses the reward of patient trust and expectant hope:  "but when the desire (what is longed for, hoped for) cometh (when it finally happens or is fulfilled) it is a tree of life".  Of course this is referring to a lawful and legitimate hope or desire - "The hope (tohelet) of the righteous shall be gladness ..." (Proverbs 10:28); " ... the desire of the righteous shall be granted" (Proverbs 10:24b); "The desire of the righteous is only good ..." (Proverbs 11:23a). Whenever our righteous hopes are fulfilled by God they are like a tree of life to us.  This is a phrase used several times in Proverbs to describe something that is a source of spiritual life, health and blessing.  It is a reminder of the Paradise forfeited by man in the Garden of Eden but restored in some measure to those who are reconciled to God.  A tree of life is a little taste of Paradise here on earth!  Of course we find this same tree of life fully restored to the believer in the Heavenly Jerusalem (Revelation 22:2). But for now we are given "foretastes of glory divine" when we find our hopes fulfilled in God here on earth.  Please take the time to look at the other "trees of life" that God has for His children:  Proverbs 3:18 (wisdom); Proverbs 11:30 (fruit of the righteous); and Proverbs 15:4 (a wholesome tongue).  These should also be compared to the "fountains of life" He gives us:  Proverbs 10:11; 13:14; 14:27: 16:22; but that is another study!  Good things await those who wait on God, especially when our deferred hopes are fulfilled. No wonder the Word of God admonishes us not to grow "weary in well doing", not to "faint", not to "cast away our confidence", etc; for we shall reap in due season, "if we faint not" (Galatians 6:9).  So where does the ability to hope with patient waiting, expectation and trust come from?  How do we find the strength to keep hoping even when our hope is deferred and our heart is despairing?  Psalm 32: provides the answer:  "Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD".  When our hope is placed in God, He will give us the strength of heart to patiently wait on Him, for "They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength..." (Isaiah 40:31).

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #20 - An Expectant Hope

We have now come to a third Hebrew synonym for the Biblical word "hope" - the Hebrew word "yahal" and its derivatives.  This is #3176 in Strong's Concordance and #859 in The Theological Word Book for those who may have these references.  We had mentioned in study #18 posted May 26th that the root of our previous two synonyms (miqweh and tiqwa) had a basic meaning of "waiting" and of "expectation" (Hebrew qawa).  This same root idea of "waiting" is also found in the word "yahal" as its most basic meaning.  For example, in Genesis 8:12 Noah waited (KJV - "stayed") seven days before sending the dove out of the ark for the third time.  Likewise, Saul waited (KJV - "tarried") seven days for Samuel the prophet to come to Gilgal (I Samuel 13:8).  Job's friend Elihu waited in silence until Job's other friends had finished their speeches before he began to talk (Job 32:11,16).  This same concept of "waiting" is also found in passages in which men "expectantly wait" upon God to answer their prayers or to bring them deliverance:  Psalm 69:3 - "I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God."  Micah 7:7 - "Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me."

Thus the distinctive meaning of "yahal" is that of an expectant hope - a hope that is expressed in patient waiting and trust.  The Theological Word Book of the Old Testament makes several good statements in emphasizing this aspect of the word "yahal":  "However, yahal is used of 'expectation, hope' which for the believer is closely linked with 'faith, trust' and results in 'patient waiting'...This yahal 'hope' is not a pacifying wish of the imagination which drowns out troubles, nor it is uncertain ... but rather yahal 'hope' is the solid ground of expectation for the righteous." (Emphasis mine).  This becomes abundantly clear in passages in which "yahal" is translated by the English word "trust": Job 13:15 - "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him ..."  (Some modern versions give an exact opposite translation to this passage as though Job had lost all patience with God). Isaiah 51:5 - "My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait (Heb.qawa) upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust (yahal)." These passages and others like them make it plain that as believers wait upon the Lord we must do so in patience, in expectation, and in faith!  In our next several studies we will look at some of the passages in which the Hebrew word "yahal" is translated as "hope" and will try to categorize them into some of the various objects in which the believer is to place his "expectant hope".

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #19 - A Divine Hope

We are continuing to look at the second of the Hebrew synonyms for "hope" used in the Old Testament Scriptures - the Hebrew word "miqweh".  Last time we proposed the idea that this particular word is used in contexts of a collective hope, such as when a group of people (such as the nation of Israel) collectively put their hope in something or someone or when it is stated that there is hope for such a group or nation.  We believe that God offers and provides hope for both individuals and for nations.  This is clearly expressed by Jeremiah's use of the word "miqweh" as a divine title for Jehovah God who is the Hope of His people:

"O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble..." (Jeremiah 14:8).  Jeremiah was interceding for his nation as they were facing the impending judgments of God.  First would come a great drought, then invading armies, and ultimately the fall of Jerusalem and the captivity of the people.  The sins of the nation were many, and punishment was well deserved, yet Jeremiah cried out to God to deliver them, not because they were deserving, but on the basis of God's own name:  "O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee" (Jer. 14:7).  The nation's only hope was in the name of the LORD, that is, in His nature to forgive and to be a savior unto His people.  That is why Jeremiah calls upon Him as the Hope of Israel and the Savior thereof!  Their only hope collectively was for God to save them for the honor of His own name.  In chapter 17 the prophet Jeremiah once again makes reference to the Divine Hope of the nation, using this divine title once again for God:  "O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed ... because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters" (Jeremiah 17:13).  Once again we note the association of this title with the name of God and His nature to provide life and healing to those who receive Him as the Only Source of Spiritual Life.  Even the enemies of Israel could see that the LORD was the exclusive hope of His people.  Jeremiah prophesied that the nation of Babylon would justify their conquering of Judah by saying: "We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers" (Jeremiah 50:7).  This would be quite a statement coming from the adversaries of Judah!  But they knew that Israel had collectively trusted in Jehovah God historically, but that they now had collectively forsaken Him!  Even they associated the name of Jehovah with hope and with justice (or righteousness).  God's people had strayed from God as their only Hope and as their only Safe Habitation:  "My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace" (Jer. 50:6).  Likewise, they had forsaken the LORD as the only Fountain from which they could have received spiritual life and health:  "For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water" (Jer. 2:13).  This they had done by turning away from the LORD as their only Hope and in His place they had turned to idols that could never provide them any hope, life or salvation.  Once they had collectively excluded their Exclusive Hope, all collective hope was now excluded!  It was now collectively too late for the nation to be delivered!  And so Jeremiah's intercessions on behalf of the nation were rejected!  The Lord's answer to his prayer in chapter 14 was this:  "Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.  Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.   When they fast, I will not hear their cry...I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence" (Jer. 14:10-12).  The shame that Jeremiah predicted in chapter 17 that would come to all who forsake the Divine Hope would indeed come upon Judah.  It was too late collectively for the nation to return to the Fountain of living waters, but that Fountain was still flowing for the individual:  "Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise" (Jer. 17:14).  And so the cry of Jeremiah must be our cry today.  We must walk with God personally and receive His offer of salvation individually despite our nation's rejection of Him and His Son collectively.  At what point does the collective hope of a nation cease to exist?  Whenever that nation collectively forsakes the God of the Bible:  "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD" (Psalm 33:12); but "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God" (Psalm 9:17).  At some point known only to God the hope of a nation is forfeited, and then even the prayers of the righteous will not prevail with God to deliver that nation from judgment (Jeremiah 15:1).  May the Lord bring our nation to repentance and revival before it is forever too late!