PS 119:49: Remember the word to Your servant, Upon which You have caused me to hope.
We are learning about the great importance of hope in Ephesians. Though our ultimate hope is God’s eternal inheritance, we also hope for God’s promises for this life. His word promises to meet our needs, answer our prayers, and bless us in several aspects. When we are facing a certain trial, and we are living in hope that God will deliver us from this situation and bring blessings, we hope in his word. It is hope in his word that helps us to deal with our discouragement and persevere in grace. We will soon fall away without hope. Now the subject of the Psalmist is hope. I believe this prayer teaches us how to pray and experience the goals of our hope.
5 headings: Author of hope. Means of hope. Recipients of hope. Reasons to live in hope. Prayer to live in hope.
Author of Hope
The end of verse 49 says, “You have caused me to hope.” Though many hear the word, God effectually causes his elect to hope in his word by the Spirit’s influence. If the eternal and immutable God has caused this hope, would God raise up such a hope merely to defeat it? Will that hope of which he is the author ever fail? God promises to meet our needs in this life, save us from trials, and promises we will not be tempted beyond what we can bear, but will provide a way of escape.
If he uses exceeding great power to bring us to eternal inheritance, will he lack power to answer the needs and trials of this life? No, the exceeding greatness of his power, according to the strength of his might, will accomplish all his word promises in this life and the next. So the Author Himself should give much hope that he not only causes us to hope, but he will fulfill every hope set upon him. If God has specially excited your faith, it is not a foolish imagination or vain expectation, like that of those who dream; it is God’s word you build upon, and it is by a faith of God’s operation.
Means of Hope
“Remember the word Upon which You have caused me to hope.” What is the great means by which our hope is created and continually strengthened? It is the word of God; all the promises of God in the word. His word not only promises eternal inheritance, but on the way to that, he promises to meet our needs in this world: physical needs, psychological, mental, spiritual, family, financial—all our needs. He promises to answer our prayers. We are hoping in God for all that.
The Sermon on the Mount says, “Do not worry what you will eat, drink, or wear. Your Father knows you need them. Seek his kingdom, and all these things will be added to you.”
Isaiah 41:10 (NIV): “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Philippians 4:19 (NIV): “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 8:32. The verse is: “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (NIV)
Many more such promises we hear; all are great means God uses to create hope in his people’s heart. There can be a hundred and one false faiths built upon man’s pride and imagination, but when our hope is built on God’s word, it is true hope.
Recipients of Hope
“Remember the word to Your servant.” This hope is not promised to everyone, but to his servants. These hopes will be fulfilled to those who believe. We have to continue to believe deliverance will come, and it will be the best answer to our current situation. So we hope.
Reasons to Live in Hope
Now, why does God promise great things and tell us to live in hope? Why doesn’t he answer immediately? Why does he delay? First, he should not promise at all, but when he promises, there is a delay between making the promise and fulfilling the promise. Why the delay? Clearly, the delay is not because he has no power to accomplish it immediately, or he doesn’t love us. It is not from forgetfulness of his promise, for ‘he is ever mindful of his holy covenant,’ Ps. 111:5. Not from any mutability of nature or change of counsel, for he is Jehovah, who changes not. He has a due foresight of all possible difficulties and need not alter his counsels. Then why? Let us take your own personal prayers; you pray hoping God will answer, but why is there no answer immediately? Why the delay? Clearly, he doesn’t want us to give up, but to live in hope that he will fulfill his promise in his time. What are the reasons to make us live in hope? Why the delay? There are several reasons. We can group them broadly into two: for our good and for his own glory.
First: For Our Good
What good? We think our greatest good is the immediate answer to our prayers and for us not to be put in any difficulty. But according to God, our greatest good is for us to grow in faith and reach a stage of assurance. In Paul’s language, we have to reach a stage where we know… How will we know? Our great need is to grow in faith. Faith is the assurance of things unseen. Faith is the mother of all graces; the more we grow in faith, the more we grow in other graces.
What does this delay do? Remember the recipients of his promise: “Your servants”; those who believe. To believe is a qualification. Promises are given that we may believe. Promises invite faith and hope. His blessing comes as a fruit of belief. Many, many verses say, “Lord, answer me because I believe,” or “Have mercy because I believe in you.”
It tests the limit of our faith. Maybe our faith can bear a one-week delay, then he extends it to two weeks, a month, sometimes a year. That makes us extend our faith, thereby growing in faith. Will we trust and depend on God even when we cannot see the answer to our prayers? Whether we can stay on his word, and hug it, and embrace it until the blessing comes. Will we grow in such faith, which is the assurance of things unseen? This is tested when the object of hope is not only out of sight, but all that is seen and felt seems to contradict our hopes, and God apparently seems to continually deny us or put us off, and we meet sometimes even a rebuke of our confidence, instead of an answer. You know that is very painful, but that is what makes us grow in faith and reach a stage of assurance.
A great illustration is the woman of Canaan that came to Christ with good faith hoping he will heal her daughter. At first, he doesn’t even talk to her for a long time; she follows him without a word. Then, when he opens his mouth, his speech is more discouraging than his silence: Matthew 15:26, “It is not right to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to the dogs.” What a discouragement. Many would have gone away, thinking, “What foolishness! I came believing this Christ, but he not only kept denying, now he is insulting me… Okay… farewell Jesus… bye. I have other options.” No, her faith was genuine. The Lord was testing and extending its limit to bring it to assurance. He always does that when he finds true faith.
But she turns this rebuke into an encouragement: verse 27, “True, Lord! yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their children’s table.” Verse 28, “Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman! great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt.” You have reached assurance.
Many times we come and pray for blessings promised, and God’s oracle is dumb and silent. Never measure his love by his silence in answers. Many times that is a sign of great love. Though God loves his child, he seems not to take notice of our desires or prayers, but will humble us to the dust, to see if we persevere in faith. Such persevering faith knows the knack to pick an answer out of God’s silence, and even from his rebukes. It is to such faith he says, “Great is your faith.” He tremendously blesses us at that stage.
Secondly, the delay is not only to grow our faith, but to grow our patience. There are a hundred and one weaknesses and problems in us. How will all that be corrected? James says, “Let patience do its perfect work, so you lack nothing.” Romans 5:3 says, “We also have joy with our troubles, because we know that these troubles produce patience. And patience produces character.” ‘And if we hope for that we see not,’ and enjoy not, ‘then do we with patience wait for it,’ Rom. 8:25. But patience is especially tried when we meet with oppositions, difficulties, and dangers, with many things done and many things suffered before we can attain what we hope for. Now, quietly and patiently to wait God’s time is a great trial of our patience. Our times are always present and instant and now, right now. Our natural fallen state is impatience: “now right now.” A hungry stomach wants food even if it is raw, tasteless, whatever. But God wants us to learn patience, sometimes even to control and submit our basic instincts to God, like our Lord, who even after 40 days of no food, waited for the Father, never listened to Satan, but persevered in hoping and praying. That is the image of his Son God wants us to be conformed to.
The delay even tests our love. Is our love to God true? When God always blesses and gives good things, any unbeliever can love. That is not loving God, but loving ourselves. As long as he keeps me happy, that is my God; I will love God. But when without any present benefit from him, sometimes he makes us wait, sometimes doesn’t answer our prayers, and even sometimes he sends trials and deep distresses, will we love him for who he is, his blessed attributes, and what he has done for us in Christ? This is the trial Job faced, right? Satan said Job’s love is false because “You are giving him everything. Give him trials, and you will see he has no love for you. He will curse you.” So God makes us hope and wait to test our faith, patience, and love.
There are great, wise reasons, like to enlarge our desires, so that we may have a greater sense of our necessities and a greater value for the blessings promised. And things promised being asked, and at length obtained, are the more valued. Delay increases importunity: ‘Ask, and you shall have; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you,’ Mat. 7:7. Importunity brings us closer to him and helps us know him more.
All this will lead to the greatest good when he answers our prayers at his time. Our faith will reach assurance, patience will do its perfect work, character will be developed, we will not lack anything, and then our love to God would have grown. Do you see how important it is for us to persevere in hope to God when we don’t see his answers immediately?
Secondly, For His Glory
The delay is not only for our good, but also for his glory.
He glorifies his grace. God, as the self-sufficient sovereign God, doesn’t owe us anything; he doesn’t have to promise us anything, but could say, “I am your creator, just live your life as my fate.” But he graciously promises; by giving these covenant promises of the future, he makes himself a debtor to us by his own promise. ‘My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.’ The promises are as so many bonds, in which he stands bound to us. He rejoices when we so trust him and his promises, even in confidence using it as an argument in prayer, saying with liberty, “I am only asking what you promised, what you made me hope.” Why would I ever hope if you didn’t promise me? It is a mighty argument in prayer when we can plead that we ask no more than God has promised.
He glorifies his love for his children. In love, he has made such glorious plans for their future. It is as if he cannot wait until the accomplishment of things, but he must tell us beforehand what he plans to do for his people. He is like some parents who have planned great gifts for a child, so they cannot control themselves until they give some clue and make the child curious.
He is also the God of wisdom. He will not foolishly grant things to his children, knowing they are not ready. So his wisdom controls him, and he will grant the blessing we hope for at the best and fittest time, where it will do the greatest good for us and bring the greatest glory to him. Isa. 30:18, ‘He waiteth that he may be gracious; for he is a God of judgment;’ he will do things in their proper season: Eccles. 3:1. There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. ‘Everything is beautiful in its time.’
This is the wise providence of God in the government of the world, that everything is brought forth in its proper season. His wisdom knows which is the right time, and in the time when it is most fit. God humbles and God exalts his people in due time: 1 Peter 5:6, ‘Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.’
Thirdly, though there is a delay, he will glorify his faithfulness. While they hope and wait on him, they face internal struggles and external mockings from unbelievers, who ask, “Where is your God? Why has he left you in this situation?” You will find God’s servants often mocked for their trust: Ps. 22:8, ‘He trusted in the Lord; let him now deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.’ Christ himself was not free from the lash of profane tongues; he was mocked for his dependence on his Father: Mat. 27:43. They pray like the Psalmist: Ps. 25:2, ‘O my God, I trust in thee, let me not be ashamed; yea, let none of them that wait on thee be ashamed; but let them be ashamed which transgress without a cause.’ When you trust God, the honor of his Godhead lies at stake. God has a great respect for that trust in him and will always greatly honor it. Not only to you, but even to his enemies, he will reveal through us that he is a faithful God to those who trust him. God will not disappoint a trusting soul. He will show himself faithful, willing, and able to succor his people in their distresses.
So if God has promised something, there are only two limitations: one, our good, and second, his own glory. Nothing else will hinder God from fulfilling his promise.
So we see the Author of hope is God. The Means of hope are the promises of his word. The Recipients of hope are the servants who believe him. For the Reasons to live in hope, we saw reasons why God wants us to live in hope, though there is a delay, because it is for our good and his glory. Meanwhile, how do we manage the difficult, discouraging time of delay?
Prayer to Live in Hope
We learn from the Psalmist’s prayer; a Prayer to live in hope. During the time of delay, even our Lord taught we should not be discouraged, but always pray. You must pray, or you will be discouraged during the delay. That is what prayer is all about.
PS 119:49: Remember the word to Your servant, Upon which You have caused me to hope.
Every time discouragement strikes, is it okay to say “Remember” to God? Does he forget? I thought we forget; he never forgets. True, but see, this is from a human perspective. From our perspective, when we live trusting in God’s word, this hope should keep us joyful and alive. But we can get to a situation where sometimes it may seem to us like God has forgotten his word. We don’t feel or see any effect of hope internally, and even no sign externally. God actually doesn’t forget, but from a human perspective, it may seem like that: no sensible results from his word, and we long to have sensible effects of hoping in God. What do we do? Two things: we can get discouraged, or we can pray like the Psalmist.
PS 119:49: Remember the word to Your servant, Upon which You have caused me to hope.
Why should we pray for our hope?
One – Such prayers will revive our hope and make us sensible of the effects of our hope. That is why Paul, instead of doing a hundred and one things, prays that we may know our hope of calling. Isa. 26:3, ‘You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.’ 2 Tim. 1:12, ‘I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.’
Two – Hope must be pleaded in prayer. Because prayer is one of the means by which God has decreed to fulfill his promises; and therefore, we must obtain mercies in his own appointed way. God says, “I will do thus and thus for you,” Ezek. 36:37, ‘But I will be asked/prayed inquired after by the house of Israel for this very thing.’ God will do it, but he commands us to pray as a means to fulfill his promise. We know the famous verse Jer. 29:11, 12, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” That is, you must address and set yourselves seriously to this work. When the promise is urged by the believer, it will be performed by God. So when Daniel understood by the books and writings of the prophets that the time was come wherein God had promised to deliver his people, then he falls to praying in a serious manner, Dan. 9:3. When God has a mind to work, then he sets the spirit of prayer working. The prayer of faith is the voice of the Spirit, and God hears the voice of the Spirit always.
Application
So what lessons do we learn? Three lessons; a cure for your discouragement: BPP – Believe, Patiently Wait, Pray meanwhile.
First, we have to believe God’s promises to us, that he is able to fulfill. All our hope built on his word will never be disappointed. Be sure you believe that. This is the condition. If you believe, your eyes will be opened to see each promise as if it were given no less than if your name were inserted in the promise and written in the Bible. There is no other reason for delay, only the limitations of your greatest good and his glory. Believe.
Second, patiently wait in hope. All believers in Hebrews are called those who inherited the promise with patience. Isa. 28:16, ‘He that believeth Maketh not haste;’ Lam. 3:26, ‘It is good that a man should both hope, and quietly wait for the salvation of God;’ Hosea 12:6, ‘Keep mercy and judgment, and wait on the Lord continually.’ God delays because he would have us make use of faith. Real believers are such as have ventured upon God’s word, temporarily denied themselves for their hopes: 1 Tim. 4:10, ‘Therefore we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God.’
Third: Pray the promises, plead the promises. Do not allow them to lie as dead words in your mind, but put them to use and put God in remembrance. When the accomplishment is delayed, it is a notable way of raising and increasing our confidence.
PS 119:49: Remember the word to Your servant, Upon which You have caused me to hope.
Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore 