When I began this blog, my objective was to discipline myself to write everyday. Well, that, obviously hasn't happened! Sorry!! But I'm back and today I want to lift up these verses about "hope." And, follow the link and read the entire Psalm because the context will help you better understand what David is saying...plus...it's a beautiful Psalm and one we really need in today's world. Remember, you can change versions if you prefer version other than the NLT.
Psalm 33: 20-22
We put our hope in the Lord.
He is our help and our shield.
In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord,
for our hope is in you alone. (italics mine)
David uses imagery that he can relate to, but that very imagery is what emboldens us. David is a king...he knows all about sitting on a throne. He looks down on his kingdom, he knows the power that he holds over people, he knows he can destroy but he can also build up. As "king" he's also a warrior, a fighter...that comes with the territory of being a king. It's also part of being human. We may not war and fight against people...but we do know seasons and times of being at "war" against drugs and poverty to name a few. We "fight" against cancer and other diseases, etc.
David is also a musician! He plays the harp and lyre (there is a difference!), he sings! Before David even begins with his war imagery, he begins this Psalm with praise! He blesses us by reminding us of God's creating power! He tell us again and again of how God is God and we are not...not even David, as powerful as he is, is God Almighty!
David, as king, relies on his army and shield to protect him. He trusts his faithful warhorse to bring him victory. As a human being, he understands that he needs these things to do the job God has entrusted him with. David knows he has to step up and do his part in these efforts. But this reliance on his army, shield, and warhorse will only go so far. They are all either mortal, animal or metal. They simply are not God.
The true and ultimate source of "hope" is not human strength and shield.
It comes from putting our hope in the Lord and in Him alone.
When we do that, the rest will follow. In God's own way and in God's on timing...and we will never always understand it...but we are never called to understand God...no...we are called to trust God and to place our hope...no matter how difficult that can be at times...in God and God alone.
The world will try and tell us differently. People will try to implore us to put our hope in our "shields" whatever our "shields" may look like. Shields first and, maybe, God second. But that's the wrong order!
God first, shields later. God's not going anywhere and He's not changing. Our shields will change or leave. But not God.
My hope is in God and He does not let me down!
Amen and Amen!
Attitude of Hope
No matter what we face in life, we have to have hope...hope in God and hope of God, hope that it will get better, hope that there's a new and better day awaiting us, hope for a cure or better treatment options, hope that the tide will turn, and when this life ends we have the hope of Heaven. There's always hope. Have or develop an Attitude of Hope!
August 12, 2017 Psalm 25 (NLT)
Psalm 25: 1-5, 21 (bold italics are mine)
O Lord, I give my life to you.
2 I trust in you, my God!
Do not let me be disgraced,
or let my enemies rejoice in my defeat.
3 No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced,
but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others.
21 May integrity and honesty protect me,
for I put my hope in you.
O Lord, I give my life to you.
2 I trust in you, my God!
Do not let me be disgraced,
or let my enemies rejoice in my defeat.
3 No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced,
but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others.
4 Show me the right path, O Lord;
point out the road for me to follow.
5 Lead me by your truth and teach me,
for you are the God who saves me.
All day long I put my hope in you.
point out the road for me to follow.
5 Lead me by your truth and teach me,
for you are the God who saves me.
All day long I put my hope in you.
21 May integrity and honesty protect me,
for I put my hope in you.
King David, who leads a nation...not to mention an army, trusts and expects God to lead him! All through this entire Psalm, David is relying on God's leadership and not on his own. He tries his best to follow God and not jump ahead of Him. As he moves through his day, deals with issues and complaints, he maintains his hope in God.
Read the entire Psalm. David acknowledges he's a sinner and asks God for forgiveness. He speaks of fearing the Lord and the benefits that come from that. He knows where he has failed in his life and not acted with integrity and honesty...remember...he's human...we all have our "lesser than" moments and seasons. But he has witnessed the restoration and redemption of God. David knows that when he follows God's lead and obeys his teaching, and when he is a person of integrity and acts honestly...that he has put his hope in the right place. In God.
Often we place our hope in the latest meds, in doctors, in money and possessions, in family. We can place our hope in so many things. And while we do have to hope that meds will work and our drs will be right and we'll be able to cover our bills and our family will always be happy and healthy...our ultimate and main source of hope must be in God.
The meds may not work. The drs may get it wrong (they're a blessing, to be sure, but they're human). We may lose our money and possessions through a variety of ways. Family can let us down or die out. Our lives will hit bumps. They may hit a ditch. There will be the occasional stormy sea. There won't always be rainbow after rainbow. There will be rain. While life is good and a blessing, it's not absolutely perfect all the time. It's just not. That's the way of the world.
So we get to David's insistence on putting his hope on God. That never let him down.
No matter what happens. In the great, good, bad, and awful...
Maintain an attitude of hope.
God hasn't gone anywhere...don't lose hope! Amen and Amen!
August 11, 2017
Psalm 10: 1, 17-18 (NLT)
1: O Lord, why do you stand so far away?
Why do you hide when I am in trouble?
17-18: Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless.
Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them.
You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed,
so mere people can no longer terrify them.
This sounds very familiar when compared to my last post, but there's a HUGE, really big difference. Did you catch it? My last post began with absolute, complete praise to the Lord. Now, however, David is crying out to God.
David is human. One thing I love about the Psalms is his total honesty. When his heart is full of praise, it shows in his writing. When he has questions, doubts, anger, hurt, etc, he lets is all out. He hides nothing from the Lord. And why should he? Why should we? God knows our hearts. He knows.
And He doesn't condemn us, just like He doesn't condemn David here. Whatever is happening in David's life at this point, he feels like God isn't there for him. Like God is far away. Like the Lord is hiding from him. David feels like he's in a divine game of hide and seek and he's on the losing end.
And we all, being the humans that we are, have all felt that way before. Maybe you're feeling that way right now. You feel like God hasn't forgotten all about you. You may be a sparrow but His Eye is definitely not on YOU!
Oh, I've been there. I remember the hymns and songs that carry me through. In all honesty, when I feel far from God, I sing the songs of my faith and they speak to my soul and soothe me. I feel God through music even when that's the only way I feel His Presence.
God hasn't forgotten you in those dark places. He cannot "forget" us. That's not His nature. We will never understand His ways and thoughts...not on this side anyway. He makes that clear in His Word. But we're not called to understand them. We're called to trust them.
When you feel forgotten, remember God's at work even when you don't see it. He hasn't forgotten you or thrown you away. No! He is working His mysterious ways in your life and is actually holding you in the palm of His hand and under His Eagle's Wing. That's the HOPE and that's the promise.
Read the entire Psalm. David lists all that's bothering him at this time and when he gets to the end...well...he's relying on God to know the hopes of the helpless and to hear their cries and comfort them. David comes back to God.
Hear David's heart, hear his hope...even when life feels hopeless and you feel helpless. Rely on God to carry you through it all. Have HOPE!
Be blessed with an attitude of hope. And share it with others. So many are feeling hopeless right now. Maybe you aren't, but you've probably been there, and if you've never, ever felt hopeless...well...hold on...you just might feel that way one day and you'll understand. Even people with great faith, like me, can feel hopeless and helpless from time to time.
Hope. Live it. Share it. Amen and Amen!
1: O Lord, why do you stand so far away?
Why do you hide when I am in trouble?
17-18: Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless.
Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them.
You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed,
so mere people can no longer terrify them.
This sounds very familiar when compared to my last post, but there's a HUGE, really big difference. Did you catch it? My last post began with absolute, complete praise to the Lord. Now, however, David is crying out to God.
David is human. One thing I love about the Psalms is his total honesty. When his heart is full of praise, it shows in his writing. When he has questions, doubts, anger, hurt, etc, he lets is all out. He hides nothing from the Lord. And why should he? Why should we? God knows our hearts. He knows.
And He doesn't condemn us, just like He doesn't condemn David here. Whatever is happening in David's life at this point, he feels like God isn't there for him. Like God is far away. Like the Lord is hiding from him. David feels like he's in a divine game of hide and seek and he's on the losing end.
And we all, being the humans that we are, have all felt that way before. Maybe you're feeling that way right now. You feel like God hasn't forgotten all about you. You may be a sparrow but His Eye is definitely not on YOU!
Oh, I've been there. I remember the hymns and songs that carry me through. In all honesty, when I feel far from God, I sing the songs of my faith and they speak to my soul and soothe me. I feel God through music even when that's the only way I feel His Presence.
God hasn't forgotten you in those dark places. He cannot "forget" us. That's not His nature. We will never understand His ways and thoughts...not on this side anyway. He makes that clear in His Word. But we're not called to understand them. We're called to trust them.
When you feel forgotten, remember God's at work even when you don't see it. He hasn't forgotten you or thrown you away. No! He is working His mysterious ways in your life and is actually holding you in the palm of His hand and under His Eagle's Wing. That's the HOPE and that's the promise.
Read the entire Psalm. David lists all that's bothering him at this time and when he gets to the end...well...he's relying on God to know the hopes of the helpless and to hear their cries and comfort them. David comes back to God.
Hear David's heart, hear his hope...even when life feels hopeless and you feel helpless. Rely on God to carry you through it all. Have HOPE!
Be blessed with an attitude of hope. And share it with others. So many are feeling hopeless right now. Maybe you aren't, but you've probably been there, and if you've never, ever felt hopeless...well...hold on...you just might feel that way one day and you'll understand. Even people with great faith, like me, can feel hopeless and helpless from time to time.
Hope. Live it. Share it. Amen and Amen!
Start of This New Blog: What It's All About
This the start of a new blog for me. I wrote a blog: Attitude of Gratitude, and I've written a few other blogs. This one actually started on Facebook yesterday (Aug. 10, 2017) and after posting it, I got to thinking that not all my family and friends are on FB! So, I'm going to use both platforms, blogging and FB. My first post will be what I wrote on FB yesterday...copy/pasted. Since these particular posts are dated, you'll see yesterday's date on this first post. I'll be writing today's post in a little while. That's why there will be two posts today. I will try to write a post each day. The first post will explain why I'm writing a new blog. Now...
Piggy
backing on yesterday's post about an "attitude of hope," starting
today, I'm going to write about just that: Attitude of Hope. I'm going
to try to do this daily.
The Psalms helped me so much when I began my melajourney, so I'll begin with verses that draw on hope. I use the New Living Translation (NLT). Feel free to go to biblegateway.com and use your translation of choice and language. These posts will be dedicated to the loving memory of melahomey Jason Farley, the son of my friend Brenda Farley.
Attitude of Hope, Aug. 10, 2017
Psalm 9: 1-2, 18
1. I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done.
2. I will be filled with joy because of you.
I will sing praises to your name, O Most High.
18. But the needy will not be ignored forever;
the hopes of the poor will not always be crushed.
Notice how King David begins this Psalm. He's not using the word "hope" yet, but "hope" overflows in the praise and the "joy" in this psalm is palpable. Praise, tell, filled, sing. David will praise the Lord...no matter what is going on in his life and kingdom. He's going to TELL about these things, too, and they are marvelous. He's not going to keep these things quiet...he's going to let other people know how he sees God working...he's going to give HOPE (though that's not spoken...it is obvious though). He'll be joyful. He doesn't say he'll be "happy" about everything, he says he'll be filled with JOY because of God. And he's going to sing about it! David gets loud and vocal! His hope and joy and praise...his gratitude...overflows and spills out to all around him and resonates through time and blessed us today!
Read the whole Psalm. David is very aware of how the world events swirl around him. He's KING! He's involved! He knows the evils, trials, issues, enemies that face his people. He sees the poor and needy. He's got a lot to deal with and David does his best to lead.
And as he leads, he gives hope. He, like all of us, lives in a fallen, imperfect world. He can't do everything that needs doing...but he CAN hold out hope to the people he leads. Taken in context, David is speaking to the financially poor. Those living a subsistence existence.
But there are other kinds of "need" We all stand in need of something. And one thing we all stand in need of is "hope."
David has witnessed, time and time again, that God has risen up and the hopes of the poor were NOT crushed, and he knows that the hopes they feel are being crushed NOW will, one day, be hopes fulfilled. Maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow...but the day is coming that. So, for now, we sing and pray with David in Psalm 9: 19-20
19. Arise, O Lord!
Do not let mere mortals defy you!
Judge the nations!
20. Make them tremble in fear, O Lord.
Let the nations know they are merely human.
I reside in Cancerworld; MelaLand to be exact. I have witnessed hopes fulfilled and I know there are hopes that will be fulfilled in the future. Cancers WILL be a thing of the past. One day. Not today. That is the hope. And we work towards and pray for that day. Cancer isn't our only enemy...remember, all enemies aren't people. Our enemies come at us in a variety of ways.
Maintain an attitude of hope. Live an attitude of hope. And as you do, be filled with hope and rock your world! HOPE changes things! Blessings. Amen and Amen.
The Psalms helped me so much when I began my melajourney, so I'll begin with verses that draw on hope. I use the New Living Translation (NLT). Feel free to go to biblegateway.com and use your translation of choice and language. These posts will be dedicated to the loving memory of melahomey Jason Farley, the son of my friend Brenda Farley.
Attitude of Hope, Aug. 10, 2017
Psalm 9: 1-2, 18
1. I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done.
2. I will be filled with joy because of you.
I will sing praises to your name, O Most High.
18. But the needy will not be ignored forever;
the hopes of the poor will not always be crushed.
Notice how King David begins this Psalm. He's not using the word "hope" yet, but "hope" overflows in the praise and the "joy" in this psalm is palpable. Praise, tell, filled, sing. David will praise the Lord...no matter what is going on in his life and kingdom. He's going to TELL about these things, too, and they are marvelous. He's not going to keep these things quiet...he's going to let other people know how he sees God working...he's going to give HOPE (though that's not spoken...it is obvious though). He'll be joyful. He doesn't say he'll be "happy" about everything, he says he'll be filled with JOY because of God. And he's going to sing about it! David gets loud and vocal! His hope and joy and praise...his gratitude...overflows and spills out to all around him and resonates through time and blessed us today!
Read the whole Psalm. David is very aware of how the world events swirl around him. He's KING! He's involved! He knows the evils, trials, issues, enemies that face his people. He sees the poor and needy. He's got a lot to deal with and David does his best to lead.
And as he leads, he gives hope. He, like all of us, lives in a fallen, imperfect world. He can't do everything that needs doing...but he CAN hold out hope to the people he leads. Taken in context, David is speaking to the financially poor. Those living a subsistence existence.
But there are other kinds of "need" We all stand in need of something. And one thing we all stand in need of is "hope."
David has witnessed, time and time again, that God has risen up and the hopes of the poor were NOT crushed, and he knows that the hopes they feel are being crushed NOW will, one day, be hopes fulfilled. Maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow...but the day is coming that. So, for now, we sing and pray with David in Psalm 9: 19-20
19. Arise, O Lord!
Do not let mere mortals defy you!
Judge the nations!
20. Make them tremble in fear, O Lord.
Let the nations know they are merely human.
I reside in Cancerworld; MelaLand to be exact. I have witnessed hopes fulfilled and I know there are hopes that will be fulfilled in the future. Cancers WILL be a thing of the past. One day. Not today. That is the hope. And we work towards and pray for that day. Cancer isn't our only enemy...remember, all enemies aren't people. Our enemies come at us in a variety of ways.
Maintain an attitude of hope. Live an attitude of hope. And as you do, be filled with hope and rock your world! HOPE changes things! Blessings. Amen and Amen.
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