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).