Thursday Devotional - Fear Again?

 Have you ever had a time in life where it felt like you faced one storm or challenge or hardship after another? I can think of several different times. One of those times was when Joe lost his job several different times during the recession.

 

Well, Paul was no stranger to challenge after challenge. Last week, though, everyone on the ship finally listened to Paul! They took his advice this time, ate and were encouraged. Maybe Paul finally breathed a sigh of relief. However, he was about to face another death sentence!

Acts 27:38-44           ³⁸ When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.

³⁹ When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could. ⁴⁰ Cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach. ⁴¹ But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf.

⁴² The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. ⁴³ But the centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. ⁴⁴ The rest were to get there on planks or on other pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land safely.

Safe at last! Paul seemed to have a challenge at every turn. He didn’t worry or give up or blame God. He trusted God’s plans and His Sovereignty, even when it didn’t look like anything good could come of something. God proved trustworthy and accomplished His plans for and through Paul.

We can trust God’s Sovereignty, too. He has plans for each one of us and will accomplish His plans for and through us. I’m nervous about several things right now (mountains of work, kids going back to school, lots of changes to our normal Fall schedule, etc.). It doesn’t help me to stay in a state of fear. I can cast my cares on God. He cared for Paul and He will care for me!

What fear do you need to lay before God?

Alice

Let It Go!

 And forgive us our debts, 

As we forgive our debtors. 

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”  Matthew 6:12, 14-15 (NKJV) 

I was at a Leadership Conference this past week.  It taught me several things such as how to better manage my time and building trust in challenging time.  Later in the conference, I listened to a conversation about forgiveness.  It was very humbling.  Strangely, it was not something I thought that I needed work on.  It’s not that I am prideful when I say such a thing. Instead, it was to note that I have dealt with a lot in my life that I too have struggled to forgive.  At times, it comes up when my daughter does something where I find myself battling to find the ability to trust her.  But I have received many lessons on my forgiving others.  A relative who betrayed a trust, a parent who wrongfully accused me, and a friend who stole from me are all situations where I once failed to forgive.  However, I found the strength later to do so.  Yet, it was when I was wrong and forgiven where forgiveness had its greatest impact on me.  When my wife forgave me for doing something hurtful, it was a reminder of my role as a husband to love, honor, and cherish her.  It showed something I could not learn on my own; how God’s forgiveness is so great.  It was an Elsa moment for me.  I ‘let it go.’ 

Forgiveness is an essential part of spiritual growth.  In the Lord’s prayer, it spoke of forgiving as we are forgiven.  It’s but a small piece of the Lord’s Prayer but note one thing about it.  It is the one part that requires our own action.  We ask for God’s forgiveness, but we are to forgive others.  This is not one of those ‘well it would be nice if’ comments.  It is a clear expectation by God that we too are to forgive.  Not as in the future. But in the now.  We cannot have any expectation of His forgiveness if we ourselves cannot model His example.  I was reminded of the sins of David in 2 Samuel 24 where he asked God for forgiveness because of his wrongdoings to help ease the pain of Israel’s plague.  But God’s forgiveness of him was not taken haphazardly.  It was a precious commodity that had immense value, and as a result, David grew closer to God and God to him.  Jesus understood this in teaching the Lord’s Prayer.  Yes, it covers our sinful nature, which needs forgiveness.  But it’s our awareness of the need for forgiveness and heartfelt regret that makes it so much more valuable, and if we understand that value, how great is it to forgive others. 

Additionally, when we forgive, we also give ourselves permission to let it all go.  All the pain, hurt, and resentment that has taken up space in our minds and hearts become open to things that God wants to place there; love, peace, and joy.  Those two sets of things cannot co-exist in the same space.  As such, if we forgive, we also gain greater room for those things that matter most not only to God but also ourselves. 

God’s love for us is multidimensional.  Peace, joy, and abundance are attributes that are gained from it.  None of this is possible had Jesus not paid the ultimate price for our sins.  Yet by claiming Him as Lord of our lives, we are forgiven.  If we truly understand the weight of this, we should understand the impact of forgiving others.  It can not only bring them to the realization of their err of their ways, but more importantly, it frees us from the bondage of our own suffering and pain.  Let us appreciate both God’s gift of forgiveness as well as the freedom of forgiving.  What pain are you holding in today that needs forgiveness?  Who can you show grace in the spirit of forgiveness?  My prayer is we recognize the strength and power of not only God’s forgiveness but also our own, and simply, let it go!  Amen. 

The Hope in the Gospel

After wrestling to come to terms with how the translators of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek used the Greek word, "hope", I'm now turning to how the early church authors of the Christian Scriptures used it. Right out of the gate, I'm surprised. 

Matthew only uses it once, and that's a quote of Isaiah 42:4, the Greek version. Mark doesn't use it at all, and John uses it once in a scary quote of Jesus in John 5:45. That leaves Luke, who uses it 3 times. So, throughout all four Gospels, hope is used a total of 5 times in three of the four books. And yet, we refer to Christianity as a "religion of hope". How can that be when the accounts of our Founder are so devoid of the word itself?

Of course, this is being written and posted to the internet, and therefore must be true (eye-roll). We already know to be skeptical of anything we read on the internet (or should be by now). Anyone can truly say anything, and be posted right alongside trusted sources of news (like Reuters). 

Having said that, I can (but won't) go into the Greek text I chose for my search. I could put you to sleep (if I haven't already) with the methodology I used to sift through the results. Yawn, "show me the money!" But we want results, we want to see it, not just hear about it. Why is Christianity a religion of hope with so little usage of the word in the accounts of Jesus? Because He demonstrated hope.

Paul use the word extensively. It's crazy how often he uses it. Why so much? Because he is explaining the meaning behind what Jesus did and taught. when we examine what Jesus did and taught, we have hope. It's the natural result. Here's an example that lacks the word, but results in the experience of hope:

Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?" (John 8:2-5 NASB)

The situation is "hopeless" for the woman caught in adultery. And which of us has not been caught in a sin against our Creator? In a very real sense, our experience in this life is as the woman, dragged out in public, humiliated by our crimes against our Savior. So, we begin with hopelessness, and then comes the hope:

They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." (John 8:6-7 NASB)

People speculate about what Jesus wrote in the dirt, but I don't think that's the point. I doubt many in the crowd would have been able to see anything other than that Jesus picks that point in time to doodle in the dust. I think it may have been a more dismissive act than anything else. His response bears this out, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." See, the thing is, it's easy to point fingers and accuse. Our enemy, the devil, is named accuser, that's what "Satan" means. But accusing one another misses the hope which underlies the good news of Jesus.

Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. Straightening up, Jesus said to her, "Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more." (John 8:8-11 NASB)

Jesus simply waits. The lesson sinks in, and the crowd disperses, a crowd which probably included a man straightening his tunic (where was the man caught in the "very act"?). Jesus now turns to the woman, the one without hope. No one is left to accuse? Then neither does He, but He tells her to change her behavior. Jesus calls out the behavior, but refuses to condemn the woman having behaved that way. We're never told what happened to her, legends speculate, but we're never told. What we're left with, as we see ourselves as the woman, is hope. 

In this account, hope provides the room to change, the space to be different, and the motivation to focus on a new devotion, one to our Savior. The scene, the story, is full of hope, but hope is never mentioned. The good news of Jesus is also full of hope, regardless of whether we use the word.

We can read through any, or all, of the Gospels and use hope as the perspective from which we ask questions, and observe the scenes. "How did this event give hope to the people who experienced it?" "How did the audience of the writer gain hope from this account?" "Where is the hope for me in this account?" It's a progression in meaning, depth, and experience of hope. 

So, where do you gain hope from this account of Jesus? 

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation

Trust in God's presence and timing

 “How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?

How long will You hide Your face from me?

How long shall I take counsel in my soul,

having sorrow in my heart daily?

How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

 

“Consider and hear me, O Lord my God;

enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;

lest my enemy say, ‘I have prevailed against him’;

lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.

 

“But I have trusted in Your mercy;

my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.

I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt

bountifully with me.”

     Psalm 13 (NKJV)

In this psalm, David is again crying out to God for deliverance from his enemy, perhaps Saul.  We likely don’t have physical enemies like David did, people who pursue us and try to take our lives. But we do have spiritual enemies (e.g., Ephesians 6:10-12). And our flesh, our old nature and our besetting sins are enemies that war against us as well.

 David’s repeated cry of “how long” expresses his feeling that God had forgotten him. That may be our feeling sometimes too. But we are to live by faith not sight and we trust in God’s provision and presence with us even if we don’t feel it.  David also expresses concern that God wasn’t moving quickly enough against his enemy.  But God’s timing is often different from ours and He accomplishes His plans in His time. During those times of seeming delay in answers to our prayers, God asks us to trust Him. Our faith is strengthened and our character is developed when we wait on Him.

God deals bountifully with us when we trust in Him.  Even during days of darkness, our hearts rejoice when we remember His salvation. Even when He seems distant, He will comfort us with His grace and mercy. 

                                                          My Hope is Built on Nothing Less

              “My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus’ blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the                      sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace; in every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood, support me in the whelming flood; when all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.”

          Lyrics by Edward Mote (1797-1874)

Thursday Devotional - Finally Listening

Earlier in Acts 27 Paul warned the men NOT to set sail (vs. 9-10). His warning was ignored and they ended up in a terrible storm. In the midst of the storm, God gave him and the people on board a promise that they wouldn’t die (vs. 24). However, the storm went on for 2 weeks!!!

Acts 27:27, 33-37     ²⁷ On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land. 

³³ Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. “For the last fourteen days,” he said, “you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food—you haven’t eaten anything. ³⁴ Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.” ³⁵ After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. ³⁶ They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves. ³⁷ Altogether there were 276 of us on board.

I can’t imagine the fear everyone on the ship was experiencing! Not only were they afraid and hungry, but I would guess they were exhausted, many were sick from all the tossing back and forth, and some were probably injured. At this point, they listened to Paul, ate and were encouraged!

What about you and me? Do we wait to listen to God until we’re in a storm and have no other option? As Kent talked about yesterday, we’re to pay attention to God daily. We need daily time with God to heed His warnings and remember His promises. Then, we can have confidence in Him through whatever storms of life we face!

 Alice

Pay Attention

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.  Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.  Deuteronomy 6:5-9 (NIV) 

I’ve been writing words of the day for me to meditate on.  It gives me some clarity and something to focus on.  Some obvious ones are like love, grace, and faith.  Some not so obvious ones center on gratitude, planning, and honor.  Each one has been helpful.  One that caught me the other day was the word ‘Attention.’  It was not referring to people watching something.  Instead, it was on focusing on what matters and not being distracted.  Like a teacher in a classroom, they notice when the class is not listening to a key lesson.  Then they do something to help reign the class back in.  Maybe it’s a subtle pause or tap of a stick against the board.  “Pay attention,” they say.  That reminds the room that something important is about to be shared.  

This was particularly important to my thinking about God.  I began to check in with myself.  Am I praying enough?  Are my prayers one that truly come from my heart or am I ‘mailing it in?’  Am I seeking the word consistently?  Am I doing what I want or what God wants?  These are important aspects of our relationship with God, and whether it be text messages, a TV show, or even the wrong crowd, we could easily lose sight of Him.  

We must always pay attention to how attune we are to God and His will.  I was reading a devotion where I was led to the book of Deuteronomy.  The sixth chapter talked about Israel’s journey into an unholy land where they could easily be led off the righteous path.  God wanted the leaders to be focused on His instruction such that they and others maintained their devotion to Him.  Imagine the challenge of going somewhere where you knew they did not worship God.  You would carry your bible and read it daily to maintain your focus.  Additionally, you would pray a multitude of times.  These would not only keep your focus on God but also ensure you avoid getting off track.  That type of resilience cannot be strictly mental.  That is why God said, “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.” It is the heart that drives and motivates us in situations where we may find ourselves lacking mentally.  It is ‘the will’ to power past those things that try to distract and divert us from a righteous path.  

Maintaining attention to God is a process.  There are numerous distractions that take us away from what matters to Him.  It could be a game, a show, a phone, and even a problem beyond your control.  But God did not guarantee we would go through life without troubles.  Even Jesus pointed out as much saying, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33b) Knowing this, it should be relatively easy to deal with these things, right?  If so, please tell me the secret because I don’t know at times how to deal with it all!  But I do know God can.  So, let us not lose focus on what matters.  Fix your mind and heart on the one true living God, and reap the benefits of His love, mercy, and grace.  Where is your head at this moment?  How can you build a heart driven to follow Christ?  My prayer is that we not lose sight of God’s purpose for our lives, and when distracted, simply pay attention.  Amen. 

A Sacrifice For Others

You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’  But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also.  If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too.  If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles.  Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow.  Matthew 5:38-42

From many of my devotions, one would be able to gather that I have a decent sense of the civil rights challenges of the 1960s.  This became a topic this week as the last living speaker at the March on Washington from 1963, John Lewis, died over the weekend.  It was of course a somber moment, but also one to pause and reflect on the great contributions he made.  He was only 23 when he made his speech in Washington, which was a pretty good speech.  In fact, it was a great speech for such a young man, but of course, there was another speaker who would steal the show that day.  However, he would be remembered most of all for being beaten by police in a peaceful march in Selma, AL, but taking a beating was but a small piece of the story.  The beating he took was to him a small sacrifice for what he wanted; freedom for the people of his cause. And once that beating was seen across the world, it would become the catalyst that pushed the Civil Rights Bill to be passed later that year.  Would any of us be willing to take a beating for that?  We serve a God who did more than that as Jesus allowed Himself to be placed on the cross for our sins.  You see we gain far more for giving our lives for others than we would for ourselves.

In serving God, we gain far more serving Him than ourselves.  In reading today’s verses, it talked about not taking vengeance out on those who would do us harm.  But as I looked at it today, it occurred to me that this is not necessarily just about our taking vengeance into our own hands. It’s about realizing God’s plan for our lives.  It’s about the gift of grace that only He can give.  These verses don’t explicitly say it, but it is clear what the intent is.  We cannot find fulfillment in vengeance at all. However if we surrender our will to God and are willing to give rather take in those circumstances, we gain God’s favor, and our hearts become filled with His Spirit.  That explains why we feel so much better when we give rather than receive.  Our willingness to sacrifice for the benefit of others takes on a closer walk with God.  It takes our focus away from others (man) and puts it squarely on Him.  That is something we all aspire to do.

Being able to give our lives to God in all things is the true sense of life living for Him.  Jesus also said, “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)  There is a reason the old hymnal goes, “Oh, what a friend we have in Jesus.”  He laid it all down for us.  All we offer in return pales in comparison, and while He certainly did not do it with an expectation of something in return, we owe it to Him to not waste the opportunity given by His willful sacrifice.  That is why I am grateful for the sacrifice of a John Lewis.  It is why we should willing give of ourselves to Christ to help those who so desperately need a savior like ours.  Let us show others the love as Jesus has shown us.  Who can you commit to give more of yourself for Him?  What areas of your life could you give more to help others?  My prayer is that we take from the example of others who came before us and give for others. Amen.

Summing Up Hope

I'm one of those weird people who can watch movies over and over. Each time I catch details I missed before, but the experience can grate on my wife, who is not as excited about a movie she has seen once. Ironically, there are movies she will tolerate seeing again and again. These are typically fun movies where we share laughs, and the lines become "inside jokes" for she and me. Those are probably my favorites, still, I definitely like repeating movies more than she does. So, when I repeat a theme in these blog posts, like "hope" for instance, it's because I actually like this sort of repetition. I realize this isn't everyone's "cup of tea", but I prefer coffee anyway. All that to say, today's devotional is on hope...again. Sorry...sort of.

I used to live in a small town in Nevada where the emotional and spiritual gloom was almost palpable. People visiting would comment on it, even if passing through. It was weird too, because there was no apparent "physical" reason for it. The town was a pleasant place, the people nice, most houses well maintained, and even some "high-end" houses could be found. Yet, you could just feel some sort of oppressing presence. What was not immediately apparent was the underlying drug use, the presence of people practicing witchcraft, and unwillingness of churches to cooperate with each other. There were numerous, but tiny, congregations, none of whom could get traction in the small community.

There was (and may still be) clear demonic oppression going on, but the primary tactic or effect on the town was the absence of hope. The town considered themselves "poor" even though the demographics didn't support such a claim. The town considered themselves "backward" even though they had many amenities and services only found in larger communities. They had their share of hard times, and painful events, yet, each time, the community pulled together, and families supported each other. And still they considered themselves poor and backward. The deception ran deep.

The people of Judah, after the fall of their northern brothers, felt the sting of dropping into obscurity as empires rose around them. They struggled to assert themselves among the powers around them, but they could not compete with the resources of those massive human movements. In the days of David and Solomon, there were no competing empires as such. Egypt was rebuilding after centuries of devastation and the Mesopotamian valley had settled into a peaceable "city-state" confederacy, happy to remain as they were. The rise of Assyria ended that, and started the descent of the peoples in Canaan. Assyria swept away the northern tribes of Israel, and threatened Judah, but they fell just short of Jerusalem. They declined, and the second Babylonian Empire rose up against them. This struggle gave Judah some space to breathe for a few years, but they chaffed at their precarious placement between a rising power of Egypt, and the rising power of Babylon. 

This is the historical context of the prophets of Judah and Jerusalem, Jeremiah, Micah, Nahum, and Habakkuk.  From these prophets, especially Jeremiah, we learn about the people of Judah, not just their leaders. It was the people who "hedged their bets" by worshiping other gods, not just Yahweh. It was actually shocking for me to find the following passage in Jeremiah:

Then all the men who were aware that their wives were burning sacrifices to other gods, along with all the women who were standing by, as a large assembly, including all the people who were living in Pathros in the land of Egypt, responded to Jeremiah, saying, “As for the message that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we are not going to listen to you! But rather we will certainly carry out every word that has proceeded from our mouths, by burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, just as we ourselves, our forefathers, our kings and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then we had plenty of food and were well off and saw no misfortune. But since we stopped burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have met our end by the sword and by famine.” “And,” said the women, “when we were burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and were pouring out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands that we made for her sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?” (Jeremiah 44:15-19 NASB)

The situation was after the deportations from Judah to Babylon, and the people had still rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, then "escaped" to Egypt. Jeremiah had constantly told them how Yahweh wanted them to respond in these situations, and they had consistently disobeyed Yahweh. Now they were in Egypt, and continuing in their disobedience. But look at how they viewed their circumstances. They were so deceived, they thought their blessings had come from their sinful worship of other gods. Not only had they lost hope in Yahweh, they felt deceived and betrayed by Him. 

It may be difficult to imagine a group of people, chosen by their Creator, so twisted in their thinking and faith. And yet, each of us can probably name a person we know, whether friend or acquaintance, who has left faith in Jesus for some other spiritual or worldly pursuit. The experience of such people can erode our own faith, eat away at our hope, and leave us wondering how such things can happen. How can people get so lost? And how do you respond to them when their thinking is so far gone?

Jeremiah doesn't have great news for the people of Judah living in Egypt. In the verses following the passage above, buried in the declaration of their destruction, is verse 28:

Those who escape the sword will return out of the land of Egypt to the land of Judah few in number. Then all the remnant of Judah who have gone to the land of Egypt to reside there will know whose word will stand, Mine or theirs. Jeremiah 44:28 (NASB, emphasis mine)

This may not sound hopeful, but their Creator and Judge, also becomes their Savior, as He provides for a remnant, even among those in rebellion against Him. As Jesus put it, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it." (Matthew 7:13-14 NASB) Our walk with our Savior is not a popularity contest played out here, but often the opposite. Our hope is in what we find through the gate, and our pain is the multitude ignoring the small gate for the widely popular gate to destruction. Hope and pain are not mutually exclusive, but sadly, often go hand in hand. Still, the faithfulness of our Savior will lead us to the fulfillment of our hope, the sight of His face, and place of eternal worship in His presence. We may not always be happy about our circumstances, but we have joy, we have peace, and we have hope. 

When godliness ceases

“Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases!

For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.

They speak idly everyone with his neighbor;

with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

“May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, and

the tongue that speaks proud things, who have said,

‘With our tongue we will prevail; our lips are our own;

who is lord over us?’

“’For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of

the needy. Now I will arise,’ says the Lord; ‘I will

set him in the safety for which he yearns.’

“The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver

tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

You shall keep them, O Lord, You shall preserve

them from this generation forever.

“The wicked prowl on every side, when vileness

is exalted among the sons of men.’”

     Psalm 12 (NKJV)

This psalm starts out with a simple cry, “Help, Lord"! That has been my prayer many times when a situation seems overwhelming and I hardly know where to begin or what to say.  Here, the psalmist decries the corrupt times he was living in and the godless people all around him.  This may seem to describe our day as well and indeed, Jesus even asks whether He will find faith on the earth when He comes again (Luke 18:8).  

The problem is not only lack of faith but serious matters of the heart. We can be self-centered, focusing on our own interests. We like to think we’re self-sufficient and independent, going our own way without consideration of God and others.  Our words often reveal that we are prideful, flatterers, deceitful and double-minded. By contrast, God’s words are true, pure and holy. The Bible has been thoroughly tested and purified as silver in a furnace. The Bible has been preserved throughout the ages, despite persecution, hostile criticism and attempts to manipulate and change it. God's word is eternal and it will stand forever.

The degeneracy of souls is tragically seen at the end of this psalm.   Wickedness abounds and vileness is exalted, just as the Bible predicts (e.g., Matthew 24:11-12, 2 Timothy 3:13). Yet God still saves all who trust in Jesus Christ and sets them in the safety for which they yearn (v. 5).  Put your faith and trust in Him today.  Seek counsel in God’s word and cry out for His righteousness in the midst of this lost and decaying world.

Hope from the Hebrew Scriptures

In previous entries, I have examined examples of the translators of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek used the Greek word for hope. Those Greek translations were what the early churches across Europe and Asia used as their "Scriptures" as Paul and the other writers are writing what becomes the Christian Scriptures. So, how the translators used the Greek word for hope and how modern English translators use the English word are somewhat different.

For instance, where you find the word "hope" in an English translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Greek translation often has the word for "substance" (hupostasis). This creates a strange situation in translating Hebrews 11:1, where faith is typically understood as the "substance of things hoped for". Because of the difference in understanding hope between our culture and the Greek culture, it would sound somewhat like it was saying "faith is hope of what is hoped for".

Frankly, who cares about the difference between the way the Greek translators understood hope and how we see it through the lens of English translations today? Well, think about "love". I can say that I "love" pizza, my dogs, and my Jeep. But I also use the word for my love for my daughter, which is distinctly different than my love for my wife, which is distinct from my love for my Savior. Yet, in English, it's the same word. In Greek, they are much more precise about love, and that's what I'm getting at. They are also more precise when it comes to hope.

A glaring exception to this is Job. Ironically, one of the most depressing books of the Bible led the translators of the Hebrew into Greek to use the Greek word for hope in many of the same places later English translators used it. A good example is in Job 4 where Job's friend Eliphaz argues that if Job is suffering, then it must be because he sinned. He makes this statement:

"Your words have helped the tottering to stand, And you have strengthened feeble knees.

"But now it has come to you, and you are impatient; It touches you, and you are dismayed.

"Is not your fear of God your confidence, And the integrity of your ways your hope?

"Remember now, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright destroyed?

(Job 4:4-7 NASB)

The Hebrew word is "tiqvah", which is commonly translated into English as "hope". In the Greek text, though, it is either the word referenced above (hupostasis) or another word, "hupomone". Yet, the translators consistently translated it as the typical Greek word for hope used later in the Christian Scriptures, "elpis". In other words, this place, and most of the book of Job, is an agreement between the Greek culture and our own about hope. 

Again, so what? Well, look at what Eliphaz claims. He claims that Job's hope is his own integrity. In this, both the Greek and English agree with the translation. But when we look at Job's reply in another place we find this:

“Be silent before me so that I may speak; Then let come on me what may.

“Why should I take my flesh in my teeth And put my life in my hands?

“Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him.

“This also will be my salvation, For a godless man may not come before His presence.

(Job 13:13-16 NASB emphasis mine)

 

Here, the translators differ. In Hebrew, we "yachal" (wait) and in Greek, "hupomone" (endure). In English, we have "hope". The ground that will not crumble away, the foundation that will endure, and the only secure future we can look to is with our Creator and Savior. Call it hope, call it assurance, confidence, or expectation, whatever. All else may fail, all else may fall away and crumble around us (and eventually, it all will), we may lose every other relationship on earth, but we will never be lost from our Savior. 

This isn't an argument about whether salvation can be lost once gained. This is about the confidence we can have in the One having created us, who also made it possible for us to relate to Him. This is about confidence, not in ourselves or our own ability (which is pitiful), but confidence in He who is powerful, powerful to call stars into existence with a mere word. He who forms galaxies and quarks also secures our relationship with Him, and draws us into His presence, before His throne, and into His lap. The book of Job isn't about the disaster that Job experiences, but about the secure hope we can have in our Powerful Savior.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation