A Word Of Hope

Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.  ~Psalm 119:49,50

In the Holy Bible one can find many promises that God has made, and it would seem as if the psalm writer has found one which brings him great comfort. He has asked God to specifically mark His Word so it will be recognized or remembered later on, because it has brought him hope. When the psalmist is afflicted and his life is in turmoil, he thinks on what God has said and it brings him great comfort. The very Word of God revives him and ultimately brings him life! I too find comfort in what God has said...

Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.”  ~Isaiah 44:6

When it seems the entire world is on a runaway train and things have spiraled out of my control, I find great comfort in the sovereignty of God. Even though Satan rules and manipulates events here on earth, he can only operate within the bounds God has set for him, and ultimately, all he does and attempts, works to the glory of our Heavenly Father! When you consider the evil that we as humanity are responsible for, all the pain and suffering that we impose on one another, you risk falling into despair, for the darkness is very great. Dear Christian friend take heart, for the light of God shines bright and whom shall we fear?

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?  ~Psalm 27:1

There is great comfort in knowing God as the psalmist does, as long as you are in a "right" relationship with Him. To know that you are a child of God and your heavenly Father watches over you should bring peace and joy, even in troublesome times, but for those who have not received forgiveness of their sin, knowing God should produce a fear that goes to the center of their soul! If, after hearing the truth of God's Word, one chooses sin over salvation there is no hope of eternal life. To know God without trusting in the shed blood of Christ will not bring comfort, it brings fear...

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.  ~Hebrews 10:26,27

All who have trusted in the finished work of Jesus Christ and received Him as Savior, have that promise of eternal life! There is no power on this earth or anywhere else that can separate us from Him. The deceiver of this world himself cannot even remove us from the hand of God and he hates us for it. Though Satan comes against us with all the powers and evil he can muster, God Himself is our light and our salvation, He is our shield and strength, and He is our hope! The psalmist is right; there is comfort in God's Word in which He has caused us to hope...

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.  ~John 10:27-29