June 27, 2022
Worship in WORD
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Ps 31:23-24 23 Love the Lord, all you his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who
acts in pride. 24 Be strong, and let your heart take
courage, all you who wait for the Lord! ESV |
Ps 31:23-24
23 Love the LORD, all his faithful people!
The LORD preserves those who are true to him, but the proud he pays back in
full. 24 Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.
The New
International Version. (2011). Zondervan. |
|
Ps 31:23-24 23 O love the LORD, all ye his
saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the
proud doer. 24 Be of good courage, and he shall
strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.
KJV |
Ps 31:23-24 23 Love the Lord, all you
godly ones! For the Lord protects those
who are loyal to him, but he harshly punishes the
arrogant. 24 So be strong and
courageous, all you who put your hope
in the Lord! Holy Bible, New Living Translation
®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of
Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved. |
I. Hope – vv. 1-8
A. Action – v. 1
B. Appeal – v. 2
C. Acknowledge – vv. 3-4
D. Abandon – v. 5
E. Abhor – v. 6
F. Acclaim! – vv. 7-8
II. Help! – vv. 9-18
A. Sorrow – vv. 9-13
1. Soul sickness – vv. 9-10
2. Societal scorn – vv. 11-13
B. Sovereign – vv.
14-18
1.
Surrender – vv. 14-15
2.
Shine – v. 16
3.
Shame – v. 17
4.
Silence – v. 18
III. Hail – vv. 19-22
A. God, for
His Great Goodness – v. 19
B. God,
for His Sheltering Presence – v. 20
C. God,
for His Hesed [ds#j# ]#] – V. 21
D. God, Who Hears and Answers His
People – v. 22
IV. Heart – vv. 23-24
A. Love – v. 23
B. Long – v.24
Thought
flow: Hope→Help!→Hail→Heart
B. Long
We are
nearing the end of our journey through Psalm 31. We’re looking at the final
verse and subpoint in my outline of this psalm. When developing this
outline, I began with only the four major headings. If I remember correctly, the subpoints developed
progressively as I reached each new heading. The final
two subpoints came late in my study of this psalm. I remember coming to verse
24 and asking myself how I could keep the alliteration going. I felt the word
“Love” would be appropriate for verse 23. That was an easy one, but what about
verse 24? There were no words beginning with “L” in this verse (unless you go
with “let,” as found in the ESV). I finally landed on the word “Long.” I know
what you are thinking now. “The word ‘Long’ does not appear in verse 24.” Or
does it? If the word itself does not appear here in our English translations,
perhaps the thought is there behind a word used in this verse. Maybe it can be
found in the word “hope.” When we think of the word “hope,” is there not a sense
of longing inherent in it? When we hope for something, is there not a feeling
of anticipation as we wait for it to arrive?
The word
used here is y¹µal (yaw-chal’).
It has
“the idea of “tarrying” and “confident expectation” and “trust.” 1 Y¹µal is usually translated
as “hope” or “wait.” How often have I heard it said that in Scripture, the word
hope means “a confident expectation.” It is often put in a way that
shames us for using it the way we use it today. But were the people in biblical
times any different than us? Hope may mean “a confident expectation,” but as we
will see, hope may be misdirected or misinformed.
Worship in Witness
As I mentioned above, inherent in the word
“hope” is that of longing. We are hoping, waiting, and longing for something to
take place. We desire a blessing to come. Or for something to happen... or not.
However, the thing expected may never come to pass. And the thing we hope won’t
occur just might. It is then we find that our hopes have been dashed. Our
longing has turned to disappointment. Perhaps this is why when we think of hope
today, it is often tinged with a little (or a lot of) doubt. Is this only a
modern-day phenomenon? Do we see this occur in the Bible? For example, did not
the two on the road to Emmaus have their hopes turned to disappointment? While
traveling home from being with the 11 apostles following Jesus’s death, these
two were joined by a stranger who, we learn, was actually the risen Lord
incognito. When Jesus inquired of them about what they were talking about, Luke
records their response in this way:
They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them,
named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know
the things that have happened there in these days?”
19 “What things?” he asked.
“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet,
powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The
chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they
crucified him; 21 but we had hoped* that he was the one who was going to redeem
Israel.
Luke 24:17b-21a NIV
They had confidently expected
but were disappointed at the apparent outcome. Cleopas and his
companion’s problem here was not a deficient hope. Their problem was a
misinformed and misdirected hope. These two not only had their facts wrong, but
their view of Christ was also in error. In other words, when we hope, we must
be confident that our source is trustworthy. A promise is only as good as the
reliability of the one making it.
When we hope in a person, a promise made by
them, or a human organization, it will always be mingled with doubt (after all,
we live in a fallen world). So the dependability of the object of our hope is
essential if we are to have a “confident expectation” of them. It
is only logical then that person precedes promise.
The promise is meaningless if the person is not trustworthy and dependable.
Once that is established, we must ensure we understand the promise. Even if the
source is reliable, our understanding of their promises may not be. The problem
in Luke 24 involves two people with a defective view of both person
and promise. The person of Jesus was reliable, but they failed to
see that. They failed to see He was God incarnate, making Him perfectly
trustworthy. And they had misunderstood His words and the promises found in the
Old Testament concerning Him. Therefore, their hope sank into the quagmire of
error because it was not founded on the Rock, who is Christ.
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.2
One more thought before I finish this section
– and this perhaps is the most important thing I want to convey. David did not
encourage God’s people to have a confident hope based on God’s promises. No, he
told them to “hope in the Lord” Himself. And though God promised to preserve
His people and punish the proud, no details were given on how He would fulfill
His promises. This detail is key to our hope. Our hope is in the Lord, not our
hope in the outcome we desire. Therefore, we must trust God and wait
(another way to translate y¹µal) for the details to appear. Yet,
we often place
our longings in what we desire, not God Himself. So when
things don’t turn out as we want, we are disappointed and can even blame God
for it. As a result, some have lost their trust in God, and some have even walked away from the faith.
That is because we have looked past God
to the blessing(s) we desire instead of trusting God to
fulfill it according to His will. God promises His people protection and
deliverance, but He rarely tells us when or how. That’s where hope comes in: a confident
expectation that God will provide us with what we need when we need it and in
a manner that is best for us and will bring Him glory. And His glory is the
place we find our deepest needs satisfied.
Hope (Long for) and
Trust in God
and
Leave the Details
to Him!
Worship
in Promise, Poem, Prayer, and Praise
God, You are…
God, You are my hope.
Amid the sunny day,
And the darkness when I grope
For Your hand to lead the way.
God, You are my Rock.
To You, O Lord, my hymn I raise,
When my foes jeer and mock,
And friends lavish me with praise.
God, You are my peace.
Though the storm rage outside,
And my fears inside increase,
In Your calm
embrace, I will abide.
In this Lonely Place
Lord, in this lonely place
I long to see Your face
So I come before
Your throne of grace
For Your mercy, Lord, I plead
To find the strength that I
need
To Your will alone
may I concede
As I walk this path of sorrow
Future fears may I not borrow
But in Your hands
place my every tomorrow
— Amen
You Alone by Kim
Hill
I lift my eyes when I am troubled
I lift my hands; I lift my heart
And there I stand, knowing nothing can defeat me
Just as long as I know where You are
In You alone
Is where I find my comfort
In You alone
You’re my only hope
In You alone
My heart has found a resting place
In You alone
In You alone
So I won’t fear though darkness hides
me
No, I won’t let my courage sway
For You are near and at the brightness of Your glory
The shadows of the night melt away
In You alone
Is promise I can cling to
In You alone
You’re my security
In You alone
My soul has found a dwelling place
Only in You alone
What could separate me from Your love?
Neither life nor death, nor anything at all
Anything at all
In You alone
Is where I find my comfort
In You alone
You’re my only hope
In You alone
My heart has found a resting place
Only in You alone
Only in You alone
Only in You alone
Lyrics: https://genius.com/Kim-hill-you-alone-lyrics
Video: https://youtu.be/tkOsovM3e-M
1(from Theological Wordbook of the Old
Testament. Copyright © 1980 by The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. All rights
reserved. Used by permission.)
2(from Biblesoft Hymnal, electronic
database Copyright © 2003 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
*The
Greek word used in Luke 24:21 shares the same root as the Greek word used in
the Septuagint version of Psalm 31:24 (e)lpi/zw)
For Further Thought or Study
ARNDT: All temporal and eternal consolation
arises from this faith and hope, that God is our God.
Lange, J. P., Schaff, P., Moll, C. B., Briggs,
C. A., Forsyth, J., Hammond, J. B., McCurdy, J. F., & Conant, T. J. (2008).
A commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Psalms (p. 222). Logos Bible Software.
MATTHEW HENRY: Those know not how to value
their hope in God who cannot find joy enough in that hope to balance their
grievances, and silence their griefs.
Lange, J. P., Schaff, P., Moll, C. B., Briggs,
C. A., Forsyth, J., Hammond, J. B., McCurdy, J. F., & Conant, T. J. (2008).
A commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Psalms (p. 222). Logos Bible Software.
Psalms 31:24: Trust must rely only on our God.
All other confidences are empty vanity. They who thus trust may cast away all
fear. Let them meet every trial bold as the lion. Courage will become more
courageous. Strength from above will make the heart more strong.
(from Commentary on the Psalms, by Henry Law,
Biblesoft formatted electronic database Copyright © 2014 by Biblesoft, Inc. All
rights reserved.)
Psalms 31:23
Be of good courage. This exhortation is to be
understood in the same way as the preceding; for the steadfastness which the
Psalmist here enjoins is founded on the love of God of which he had spoken,
when renouncing all the enticements of the world, we embrace with our whole
hearts the defense and protection which he promises to us. Nor is his
exhortation to courage and firmness unnecessary; because, when any one begins
to rely on God, he must lay his account with and arm himself for sustaining
many assaults from Satan. We are first, then, calmly to commit ourselves to the
protection and guardianship of God, and to endeavor to have the experience of
his goodness pervading our whole minds. Secondly, thus furnished with steady
firmness and unfailing strength, we are to stand prepared to sustain every day
new conflicts. As no man, however, is able of himself to sustain these
conflicts, David urges us to hope for and ask the spirit of fortitude from God,
a matter particularly worthy of our notice. For hence we are taught, that when
the Spirit of God puts us in mind of our duty, he examines not what each man’s
ability is, nor does he measure men’s services by their own strength, but
stimulates us rather to pray and beseech God to correct our defects, as it is he
alone who can do this.
