HOPE DELIVERS

By Tammy Phillips
September 24, 2020

You are my Hope, O Lord GOD; You are my trust from my youth. (Psalm 71:5NKJV)

When life seems hopeless and we cannot see a way out or how life will improve, we need hope.

When we cannot see to other side of the storm because the skies are gray, the storm is rolling and the rain is pounding us, we need hope.

When we think this world cannot sink into the deep any further, we need hope.

We need a lifeline and not an empty wish that things will get better.

We have misused the word hope. We say things like, “Hope you feel better…hope to see you soon…I hope so…” The English language has watered down the original meaning of hope to the point that it means no more than a wish, but that is not God’s definition. In the Old Testament I found six different Hebrew words for hope, betach, yacal, mibtâch, tôwcheleth, sabar, and tiqvâh. Most of them mean expectation, to wait of look for eagerly! Other meanings of hope are trust, confidence, and refuge.

I discovered my favorite Hebrew word for hope is tiqvâh. It is used in Psalms 71:5, when David declares, “You are my hope, O Lord God.” David was not just saying, “hope in the Lord” like he had said multiple times in Psalms. He was emphatically stating that God is our hope. The word tiqvâh adds another level of meaning. It does not only mean expectation, or something longed for; it means a rope or cord as an attachment. It is the same word used in Joshua 2:18, when Joshua’s two spies told Rahab to tie the scarlet cord to the window. The cord was a sign to spare her family when Joshua took Jericho. The cord of hope was her family’s lifeline. God is our hope. God is our cord. He is our lifeline. He saves and delivers us now and for eternity.

Hope is not a wish. Hope is the joyful, bold, confident expectation of good.

HOPE DELIVERS:

Rest (Psalm 16:9)
Gladness (Proverbs 10:28 NKJV)
Blessing (Jeremiah 17:7)
Happiness (Psalm 146:5)
Confidence and Refuge (Proverbs 14:26)
Strengthening of the heart (Psalm 31:24)
Future and children coming back home (Jeremiah 31:17
Salvation (Romans 8:24)
Heart rejoiced (Acts 2:26)
Glad tongue (Acts 2:26)
Rest for the flesh (Acts 2:26)
Hope does not disappoint. (Romans 5:5)

David also said in Psalms 71:5, “You are my trust…” The word trust here also means hope, confidence, refuge, security. David’s heart expounded In Psalms 71:5 could read: “God, You are my Hope, Lifeline, Refuge, Security. You are my Trust, my Safe Place, my Confidence and Confidant. You are everything!”

I enCOURAGE to hope again! Hope in our God of “nothing is impossible!” Hope for wholeness. Hope for healing. Hope for healing of mind, body, heart and this land. Expect it! God is not only our Hope. He is our Savior in all. He is the Great Physician. He can do anything and is willing. We just have to trust Him and expect it from Him. He is Hope that delivers.

“But I will hope continually, And will praise You yet more and more.” (Psalm 71: 14 NKJV)