Hope, Comfort and Joy - Part 1 of 2

Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing, my great Redeemer's praise, The worries of my God and King, the triumphs of his grace.

This is Layser Bradley Jr. welcoming you to another broadcast of the Baptist Bible Hour. There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel's veins, And sinners plunged beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains, Lose all their guilty stains, lose all their guilty stains, And sinners plunged beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains. E'er since by faith I saw the stream, thy flowing wounds supply, Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die, And shall be till I die, and shall be till I die, Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die. In our study in Psalm 119, we come to verse 49, and our subject for this section is hope, comfort, and joy.

Those are three wonderful words, aren't they? It's just comfort to be found in the reading of such wonderful words. Hope, our hope in God. God, who is the God of all comfort and our joy to be in the Lord.

We need the support of our listeners to stay on this station. If you would like to help, you can go to our website at BaptistBibleHour.org and make a donation there. If you met someone who said, I have no hope, I can find no comfort, you would certainly recognize that they had no joy. We're going to look at a portion of scripture this evening, which talks about hope, comfort, and joy, and will enable us to understand a little more about the source, the application, benefit of these blessings. Let's turn to Psalm 119, we'll begin reading in the 49th verse. Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, for thy word hath quickened me. The proud have had me greatly in derision, yet have I not declined from thy law. I remembered thy judgments of old, O Lord, and have comforted myself. Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law. Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage. I have remembered thy name, O Lord, in the night, and have kept thy law.

This I had because I kept thy precepts. First the writer speaks of hope. Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. What is hope? Well, it is not an idle wish.

People use the term rather freely. Well, I hope that something great is about to happen. I hope that somebody died and left me a million dollars, but you're really not expecting that. We're not talking about just a vain wish. We look at the book of Proverbs, chapter 11, verse 7. The second part of that verse says, And the hope of unjust men perisheth. The hope of unjust men perisheth. There is then a hope which is of no value.

It's going to perish. It's without meaning. It's not based upon anything that's valid and concrete. It's just someone's idle wish. Hope then, the hope of which we read in this text and the hope that we read of repeatedly in the scriptures, is a valid expectation. To some people, hope in a spiritual sense is almost the equivalent of doubt. But hope is something positive.

Hope is expectation. Jeremiah, chapter 17, verse 7 says, Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, whose hope the Lord is. The man is blessed.

The man is happy. The man is favored of God, if he's trusting in the Lord. And the Lord is his hope. And then in the 13th verse, it says, O Lord, the hope of Israel. All that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters. God is referred to here as being the hope of Israel, but on the negative side, he's saying those that forsake him are going to be ashamed. They're not going to find what they may have been looking for.

They're going to be sorely disappointed. But in God, we have hope. We have something that's real, something that's genuine, because God is our hope. Now in this passage, we learned that the basis of the hope is the word of God. Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. We're looking to God's word. We're expecting to receive what God has promised. If you have hope, you're not reading his word and saying, well, I don't know that I can expect to receive that benefit, that blessing. I very seriously doubt that that's for me. I've had a lot of disappointments along the way.

I can't really rely on it. But in the book of Romans chapter 15, verse 4 says, for whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. One of the purposes then for which the scriptures are written is that we might have hope.

These things were written aforetime for our learning. The things that were written aforetime tell us about the greatness of God, the power of God, the promises of God, the covenants of God, the workings of God. And as we go back and review what God has done and see how he made promises and kept them, then our hope is increased. In the 13th verse it says, now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace and believing that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. I love expressions like this where God himself is described as the God of hope.

So if a person says, I'm hopeless, I don't have any hope, they're obviously not looking to God because God is the source of this hope. Nothing is more certain than the promises of God. If God says, this is what I'm going to do, it's as good as done. No one can point to a single promise that God has forgotten or to a covenant that he has broken. In the book of Hebrews chapter 6, this point is emphasized. In the 17th verse, wherein God willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel confirmed it by an oath that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie we might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.

Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast and which enterth into that within the veil whether the forerunner is for us entered even Jesus made an high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. He says it's impossible for God to lie. If God then makes a promise and you turn to his word and read it would you dare doubt it? On what basis could you say I'm not sure God will do that.

Oh I know I read it here but I'm just not sure. Nothing could be more certain than what is here revealed to us in his word. Now I understand the excuse that sometimes is made is well yes God made that promise and it's for some people it's just not for me because I'm too unworthy to be the recipient of it. But oh how many times are we made to see those wonderful promises that are based not on our worth but on his faithfulness. This is the basis of hope that God is faithful. God is going to do what he said he was going to do. And so he speaks of that hope that is steadfast and sure.

This isn't a situation where you're just running around in a great deal of darkness and confusion and saying well I'm hoping for the best or I hope I'm saved. Yes the apostle Paul said in hope of eternal life which God that cannot lie promised before the world began. But the very terminology itself indicates that Paul was in expectation of something wonderful on the other side. As a matter of fact he said for me to live is Christ to die is gain. He was looking to that happy time that he would be forever united with the savior. Free from all of the struggles and conflicts here to be at home with the Lord.

That hope was expectation. Psalm 89 speaks repeatedly of the faithfulness of God. In verse one the writer says I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.

For I have said mercy shall be built up forever. Thy faithfulness shall thou establish in the very heavens. I have made a covenant with my chosen. I've sworn unto David my servant. Thy seed will I establish forever and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah and the heavens shall praise thy wonders.

Oh Lord thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints. God had sworn to David that he would raise up one of his loins to occupy his throne. And Peter tells us in that message on the day of pentecost that God was fulfilling that covenant promise. In the covenant that God made with Abraham he promised that through that seed according to the Galatian letter it's not seeds many but singular Jesus Christ the promised seed there would be great and abundant blessings poured out. And it is through the promised seed Jesus Christ that we have salvation. God has remembered his covenants and therefore we have hope. In verse 34 he says my covenant will I not break nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever and his throne as the sun before me.

It shall be established forever as the moon and as a faithful witness in heaven Selah. And so as Jesus Christ came out of the grave and was raised to occupy the throne of David and rules and reigns today we're reminded of the faithfulness of God that he is a covenant keeping God. So hope is not an idle wish it's a valid expectation. It's based on the fact that God is faithful and the Psalmist is saying here remember the word unto thy servant upon which thou hast caused me to hope. I'm resting on your word. Lord you have declared it you've made the promise this is my hope. Matthew Henry expressed it this way. God gave the promise in which the Psalmist hoped and the hope by which he embraced the promise. So God is involved entirely in the matter. We are hoping in God we hope in his word and it is God the Psalmist says who made me caused me to hope. If it hadn't been for his work in our heart we would well have been like many others who would say the Bible doesn't mean anything to me. I can't be sure of its testimony.

I can't rest in it. I can't find any hope in it but the fact that you have hope and you rest in the word of God is an indication that he has caused it. He has caused you to hope in his word. Charles Bridges says faith trust not what the eye sees but what the word promises. That's faith.

If it was something that you could see and handle and touch it's already in your possession you don't need faith for that but there are a lot of things for which you must trust God and look toward that day when he's going to answer the prayer or when he's going to fulfill the promise and so by faith you trust what you cannot see. And we display our faith. We can talk all day about saying yes I trust God and I believe God but how do we demonstrate it?

How do we display it? Well he says remember the word unto thy servant. He didn't say remember my service, remember my commitment, remember some meritorious quality that might be pointed out. He says remember thy word. Is that not the basis of our hope this evening? If we were looking at ourself and examining our many many failures certainly we would come to the conclusion we didn't have any hope but we're hoping in his word in his faithfulness in his promise. Look at the book of Isaiah chapter 62 verse 6 says I have set watchmen upon thy walls oh Jerusalem which shall never hold their peace day nor night ye that make mention of the Lord keep not silence now get this and give him no rest till he establish until he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. What a strange approach the God who has promised to bless Jerusalem the God who has promised to favor his people said I have put watchmen upon the walls of Jerusalem they're not going to hold their peace they're going to be speaking continuously and I'm calling on you my people to pray and give no rest until he established to make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. Now that's the very principle we looked at at some length in a recent message which indicates that we are to pray the promises of God. God says it's pleasing to me to have my people come persistently and to give me no rest until Jerusalem is made a praise in the earth and so when we're in need of hope we look at the promises of God not at our circumstances. Circumstances in which we find ourselves can often be very discouraging a glance at the future can be very disheartening but when we're looking to God and his word we have hope think of it when we're going through various trials and afflictions here's a promise Isaiah 43 verse 1 but now thus saith the Lord that created thee oh Jacob and he that formed thee oh Israel fear not for I have redeemed thee I have called thee by thy name thou art mine when thou passes through the waters I will be with thee so if you're passing through the waters the cold waters of sorrow waters that seem to chill you to the bone that you've found it difficult to have warmth in prayer found it difficult to have comfort in reading his word you're passing through cold waters you're going through the rivers he says they shall not overflow thee when thou walkest through the fire thou shall not be burned neither shall the flame kindle upon thee so what's an appropriate way to approach God when you need hope in such a difficult time Lord I'm looking at your word I'm claiming the promise I read it I believe what you've said and I'm praying Lord as I pass through the waters do not forsake me you say well here's the promise that God says I will not that's the very reason for praying and seeking his face he says I will not and God delights to be reminded of his promises because as you pray the promises of God it demonstrates that you have confidence in them and that you are by faith trusting him verse 25 I even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake and will not remember thy sins my that's comforting isn't it you become burdened about your own failures your own sins and the Lord says I'm the one that blocks out thy transgressions and why does he do it for mine own sake it of course is on the basis of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ he tells us in the first epistle of john that he forgives us our sins for his name's sake but look at the next verse put me in remembrance let us plead together declare thou that thou mayest be justified the Lord says I blot out your transgressions but put me in remembrance remind me of my promise we're encouraged to pray then on the basis of what God has promised to do and as we do that we're given hope we looked recently at the ninth chapter the book of Daniel where Daniel was reading from the prophecy of Jeremiah and read about the fact that at the end of 70 years the people were going to be returning from captivity what did he do he began to pray he came before God confessing his own sins and the sins of his people and praying that God would bless in the return of the people God had promised to do it and now Daniel prays to that effect and God fulfills his promise as his people pray well we must be admonished in this regard because sometimes we come before the Lord and go through the motions of prayer but it's really rather empty because we do not believe his word we don't really have hope because we're not expecting anything hope is expectation when you give up you don't have hope when you quit praying or you're just mouthing the words but you don't trust God for the answer you're not praying in faith in the book of James chapter 1 verse 5 he says if any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not and it shall be given him but let him ask in faith nothing wavering for he that waverth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed for let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord if then you expect to receive anything of the Lord you must not be double-minded you can't be coming before God one moment and saying I believe that thou art the sovereign ruler of heaven and earth a God of great power and majesty and I trust thee and shortly thereafter you give in to your own doubts fears and apprehensions you're ready to pitch in the town say what's the use you give up no you can know in advance if that's the kind of prayers you offer God says he will not hear them now partial dependence upon the Lord is not enough says a double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways Jeremiah 17 5 thus saith the Lord cursed be the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm whose heart departed from the Lord there's a curse upon the one who trusts in the arm of the flesh rather than trusting in God his heart has departed from the Lord so if you're in lip service saying I believe God I trust God I believe in the doctrine of God's sovereignty I believe God is a God of power but you're also leaning on the arm of the flesh you're turning to human counsel schemes and plans and you're not really trusting God that's vain empty doesn't mean anything in the book of Isaiah chapter 30 reference is also made to this concept verse 1 woe to the rebellious children saith the Lord that take counsel but not of me see God is not going to tolerate that divided mind on one hand saying I'm trusting God and on the other turn to the world to seek counsel they're described as rebellious children that take counsel but not of me and that cover with a covering but not of my spirit that they may add sin to sin that walk to go down into Egypt and have not asked at my mouth to strengthen themselves and the strength of Pharaoh and to trust in the shadow of Egypt therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion what's the result of those that go down to Egypt for help go down to the world for help shame and confusion they're described as rebellious children why because they're seeking counsel but not of me what's the psalmist doing remember the word unto thy servant upon which thou hast caused me to hope he has hope because his hope is in the god of hope resting in god's word which can be relied upon well i pray the message has been a blessing to you today if it has we'd love to hear from you when you write us mention the call letters of the station with which the program comes to you our address is baptist bible hour box 17037 cincinnati ohio 45217 now till we greet you next time this is lisara bradley jr bidding goodbye and may god bless you oh