“But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more,” Psalm 74:14.
Psalms 70 and 71 have at least two things in common. Both call on the Lord to hurry. In Psalm 70:5, David calls on the Lord not even to stop for a drink or a breath; “make no tarrying,” he urges.
But, the other thought that is common to the two chapters is puzzling: God will have to hurry or David’s solutions will be impossible; yet, “let such as love thy salvation say continually, let God be magnified” (verse 4). God will have to hurry to sort things out; yet, “I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more,” Psalm 71:14.
Then says the Christian, “Hurry to my help, Lord, but I will praise You, whatever happens. Make things right, Lord, but I will hope without a break.”
Our streets house the chapels of blighted hopes — gambling spots, casinos, book stands, snipers, and swindlers. Our newspapers offer the prayer scrolls of the gambler’s dreams — lotteries, art unions, raffles, and lucky draws. Gambling is hope turned into vice.
David had no such thought about God. To hope continually in God had foundation in fact. God had nurtured him from his birth (verse 6); He had guided and delivered His people. For David, to hope was “to go in the strength of the Lord” (verse 16). Hope did not speak about what God might or might not do in the future, about whether David might be the lucky one in some divine lottery. Not at all. Hope spoke of God’s certain action for the benefit of His people and, more specifically, for the benefit of David.
The haste the sweet singer asks of God may add to the innumerable saving acts he already knew (verse 15). On the other hand, there may be nothing that he as a human can discern that has changed the situation — except for one thing: past experience of the God on whom he had leaned from birth assured him that God was still acting for his salvation. Nothing could change that. Therefore, he could declare continually how great is the name of God; he could wait in hope continually.
As members of God’s Church, we must navigate these post-modern/post-Christian times. In the midst of our sojourn as Seventh-day Adventist Christians, we are a people of hope. I’m hoping for the power of God to foster our mission of “Multiplying through Reconnection,” developing our media for the propagation of the everlasting Gospel, and the embracing of mentorship for the tutelage and training of next-generation leadership for God’s cause. Couched in the Gospel Commission is the assurance of God’s presence and help until the end of time.
To wait in continual hope means to go with God both to the green pastures and to the valley of the shadow of death, and in all things to give praise and thanks.
“God loves to have us trust Him, and loves us to have confidence in His promises,” Selected Messages, Book 2, p. 247. –RCS
Southern Union | July 2022
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