Hope !
You are my hope, O Lord God; You are my trust from my youth.
Psalm 71:5
The ancient road from Jerusalem to Jericho is a narrow, treacherous path along a deep gorge in the Judean wilderness. Its name is Wadi Kelt, but it is known as the valley of the shadow, for this is the location that inspired David’s 23rd Psalm. The place itself, I am told, offers little reason to compose such a hopeful poem. The landscape is bleak, barren, and perilously steep. It is a good place for thieves, but not for anyone else.
When David wrote, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil” (v.4), he was in a place where evil was an ever-present reality. Yet he refused to give in to fear. He was not expressing hope that God would abolish evil so that he could pass through safely; he was saying that the presence of God gave him the confidence to pass through difficult places without fear of being deserted by Him. In another psalm, David said that the Lord was his hope (Ps 71:5).
Many claim to have hope, but only those whose hope is Christ can claim it with certainty. Hope comes not from strength, intelligence, or favourable circumstances, but from the Lord. As Maker of heaven and earth, He alone has the right to promise hope and the power to keep the promise.
Hope for the Christian is a certainty—because its basis is Christ.
Read
Psalm 23.
Prayer
My Heaven Father, You remind us over and over in your Word that you are always with us. You tell us not to fear, and you draw us close into your Presence. You are the only place we can find true refuge in the storms of life. Amen.
Amen