I Need Hope

Psalm 119:81-88

Verse 81  My soul faints with longing for Your salvation, but I have put my hope in Your word.

    Yesterday we talked about how important it is in an abiding Church for us to be rejoicing with each other.  But what happens when we are feeling weak in our soul?

    It is so easy to feel like we have lost all our strength.  We find ourselves stressed and not sure how we can make the needed steps to move forward in our lives.  Maybe there are choices we have made that we now regret and don’t know how to change or maybe we have just allowed our schedule to become overwhelming and are now feeling like there is no way out.  It is so easy to find ourselves in this position in life and yet that isn’t where we need to stay.

    The psalmist shows us in today’s key verse that he has put his hope in the Word.  It may not seem like a common way out of the discouragements of life, but as Christians we shouldn’t be looking for the common ways of doing things.  But what does it mean to put our hope in the Word?

    The Word can be an uplifting cure as we read it and come to know the God of the Bible.  As we have said before in this study, there is something encouraging about the knowledge that God is faithful.  When we see Him being faithful in the lives of His people through the ages, it will help us look at our own lives and see the times He has been faithful.

    Seeing how He is always faithful will bring us hope.  When nothing else seems to be functioning as we have thought it would, it is comforting to know that we can turn to the Bible and see our needs will always be met.  Not just the physical needs of food, shelter, water and air but also the emotional needs we have of comfort, wisdom, love and so much more.

    The thing that the psalmist understood that we need to grasp is that our hope can only be met through the One who can provide our greatest needs.  There is comfort and hope in the knowledge that we have a source for our needs that will never fail.  We can never use up all the comfort, wisdom and love that are ours through the reading of the Word.

Making It Personal

    Do you find yourself turning to the Bible when you are feeling like you are sinking in life?  What needs do you have that could be met in reading the Word?  Is the Word gaining importance in your life?

Making It Personal Kids

    Has the Bible ever helped you feel better about something in your life?  What are some ways that the Bible helps you not feel sad?  What do you think you need most from Jesus?

Closing Prayer

    Father, thank You for the way You provide for our needs.  Help us remember that it is good for us to look to You and Your Word to find the hope that we need.  In Jesus’ name, amen.