Where Is Your Hope?

OPENING PRAYER:

Lord, on this your day, I come for rest and refreshment in you. Lift my burden of cares, ambitions, and fears.

READ: PSALM 25

Of David.

1 In you, Lord my God, I put my trust.

2 I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. 3 No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause.

4 Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. 5 Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. 6 Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. 7 Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, Lord, are good.

8 Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. 9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. 10 All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of his covenant. 11 For the sake of your name, Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

12 Who, then, are those who fear the Lord? He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.[b] 13 They will spend their days in prosperity, and their descendants will inherit the land. 14 The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. 15 My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare.

16 Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. 17 Relieve the troubles of my heart and free me from my anguish. 18 Look on my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins. 19 See how numerous are my enemies and how fiercely they hate me!

20 Guard my life and rescue me; do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. 21 May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, Lord,[c] is in you.

22 Deliver Israel, O God, from all their troubles!

Footnotes

[a] Psalm 25:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

[b] Psalm 25:12 Or ways he chooses

[c] Psalm 25:21 Septuagint; Hebrew does not have Lord.

PSALM 25

REFLECT:

What do you fear the most? Is it to do with your health, your finances, your relationships? What would it mean to entrust those fears to God and leave it to him to deal with the matter?

This is one of eight psalms built around the Hebrew alphabet of 22 letters. That’s perhaps why it bounces around a bit in terms of focus. It’s probably done to make it easy to remember and sing along to as we go about our daily routine. There is, however, an underlying fear behind all this: being put to shame (vs 2,3,20).

David is very concerned that his sin and shortcomings should not be exposed, for good reason. He’s done some bad things (vs 7,11) and (more profoundly) his heart needs to be re-oriented away from self and toward God (v 17). He knows that only God himself can work this miracle. That’s why the whole psalm pivots away from David’s failings, toward God’s faithfulness (v 3).

Left to himself, David’s life is hopeless. Left in God’s hands, the story is completely different. This is the basis of hope: it’s not about our faith but about the one in whom we trust. He never does the wrong thing, he is always wise. Most wonderfully, he longs for us to know and love him (v 14). The Bible tells us ‘Do not be afraid’ over 80 times! Fear cripples. Hope liberates (vs 3,5,21).

APPLY:

Reflect on God’s character and love for you. Think again about your fears. Now read verses 20 and 21 out loud. This changes everything!

CLOSING PRAYER:

Lord, you have been so faithful to me in the past. Today my heart is running over with praises to you for hearing and answering my prayers, and seeing me through hard times.

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