The recent news this past week is our part of the
world seems so meaningless. We read
about 12 people being shot to death at a movie theatre in Aurora, CO and 50
injured. Earlier this week, it was
closer to home in Scarborough, ON where 2 people were killed during a shooting
at a block party and 23 injured. There
has been an increase of shooting violence of 32% in TO this year with 140
incidents to date.
Where is the hope?
It has been said that hope is a projection of the
imagination; so is despair. Despair all
too readily embraces the ills it foresees; hope is an energy that arouses the
mind to explore every possibility to combat them. It is motivated to picture every possible
issue, to try every door, to fit together the most difficult pieces of the
puzzle and to see the fingerprints of God.
The word ‘hope’ has been given a bad rap over the
years and has been put on the same level as wishful thinking as in it’s usage
when someone says “I hope so”. I’ll
never forget my own kids jumping on Rylan after he prayed one time using the
word hope. However the true meaning of
biblical hope is the certainty of expectation as it relates to being on a
receiving system not an achieving one.
Biblical hope does the very same thing but in
prayer. It is a prayer that envisions
that believes that when it seeks, it will find, that when it knocks, the door
will be open, asks and it will be given.
Matthew 7:7,8.
I’ll never forget my conversation with my cousin
Ashraf shared about his muslim faith and what he said after all the five
pillars to his faith,” I hope I will be accepted by Allah.”
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing
fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs
13:2
One of my great longings is to see people enter
into the new and living hope of life with Jesus.
Psalm 32 has been connected by many commentators
to Psalm 33 and this is seen in the connection of similar metaphors and word
usage from references to God’s unfailing love to the imagery of horses. The living hope for King David was that he
could finally put his past behind him and walk in newness of life.
Biblical hope is believing, expectant and
persistent! It is strong, confident and
secure.
LORD - all
capitals in the Hebrew is a reference to Yahweh, the personal, covenanting God,
it is a picture of Jesus.
The path to a living and vibrant hope is
established IN PRAISE and WORSHIP.
1 A living hope is established in our praises v
1-3
·
It is fitting and
skillful
In the Authorised Version, verse three reads
"Play skillfully with a loud noise"! It is important that we have
some noisy times in our worship together. Just as quietness expresses our
intimacy with God, so loudness releases our passion and wholehearted
commitment.
Am I in that category, am I part of the upright? The passage answers this question.
When we are cynical, critical and negative are
souls are not right. We are called to praise
God with all of our skill and artistry.
I love how Eugene Peterson writes this passage in
the Message
Good people, cheer God! Right-living people sound
best when praising.
Use
guitars to reinforce your Hallelujahs!
Play
his praise on a grand piano!
Invent
your own new song to him;
give
him a trumpet fanfare.
It has been a joy for me to watch Rylan continue
to gain skill as he learns to play the guitar thanks to Sharon and James
Sabatini. The song he is learning to
play is “Come, Now Is The Time To Worship”.
·
It is new song
A new song is used in Scripture in relation to
God’s deliverance. We see this in Psalm
96 as well in relation to salvation = deliverance
It is also speak to the realization that His
mercies are new every morning.
Lamentations 3:22,23
It is new.
How do you keep your worship of the LORD fresh?
·
It is confident!
Shout for joy!!
2.
A living hope is built up through the
confession of His Word v 4-19
God’s Word presents His perspective on
reality. It is true, right and
reliable. How quickly we appeal to our
own wisdom or experience.
·
The LORD of
creation
The affirmations of God’s sovereignty stand in
stark contrast to those who continually seek out “the God particle” In the latest issue of Macleans, the cover
page is all about the Higgs boson particle = which has been compared to the
moon landing as the scientific achievement of a generation.
I quote the article by Kate Lunau and Katie
Engelhart
The Higgs particle tells us something very basic
and fundamental about why we’re here. It is evidence of the Higgs field, an
invisible force field that stretches across the universe, encasing us like a
Jell-O mould, and giving mass to elementary particles within it: the stuff that
makes up stars, planets, trees, buildings, animals and all of us. Without mass,
electrons, protons and neutrons wouldn’t stick together to make atoms; atoms
wouldn’t make molecules; none of us would exist.
But check out the discovery that David presents
for us:
Genesis 1:3 It brings us back to Genesis and John
1 – by the word of the Lord. That is the picture of Jesus Christ. We also see
“by the breath of his mouth” and in the Hebrew the word breath also means
Spirit so what we have in front of us is a beautiful picture of the Trinity active in creation.
·
The LORD of the
nations
Arrogance and pride are the downfall of nations
Righteousness, truth and justice exalts a nation
Let me share with you about our forefathers who
founded this country. Sir William Tilley
originally proposed the name, “The Dominion of Canada” in 1867 as he read Psalm
72:8 prior to a parliamentary meeting.
It would be there that the government decided the name of the new
country and it would be formalized through confederation.
This Saturday we are going to the CRY which is
not an event or a concert, but a movement to pray for righteousness and justice
to reign in our land. The really neat
unplanned things about this event is that it takes place on 0728…Psalm 72:8.
Faytene shares
We were in awe when we discovered that July 28th is T'isha
b'Av (the 9th of Av) on the Jewish calendar. This is a day that is marked on
the Jewish calendar to fast, pray and seek God as a nation.
3 A living hope is
experienced through His unfailing love v18-22
God’s love for us is not based on our perfection,
merit, or accomplishments. He’s not counting how many times we pray each day,
how much money we give to charity, or how much time we spend volunteering. Nor
is He keeping score of how many people we’ve won to Christ, how many services
we attended, or how well-behaved we’ve been under pressure.
We often don’t have trouble receiving His unfailing
love when we feel worthy; however, if we have messed up, we feel unworthy to be
in His presence and yet that is the first place He wants us to run.
Beth Moore wrote in Breaking Free,
“Oh, God, awake our souls to see—You are what we
want, not just what we need. Yes, our life’s protection, but also our heart’s
affection. Yes, our soul’s salvation, but also our heart’s exhilaration.
Unfailing love. A love that will not let me go!”
It’s a love that pull me out of the muck, out of
the ditch and also puts a undeniable love for others within me. He renovates my mind and my heart and changes
my perspective from one of judgment of others to compassion for others.
A beautiful friend of mine, Ruth Bailey, passed
away on Friday. She was 82 and we had a special connection at Southside. She was a die-hard Leafs fan, but she was
also deeply committed to seeing her family trust Jesus. It ran deep especially for her husband, Bill,
who was held in bitterness for so many years due to the drowning and death of
two of their children when they were under 10.
When I visited, he would show me pictures and the tears would flow. A few years ago, Bill took sick and I had the
opportunity to pray for healing and faith with him and he prayed to trust
Christ. He still had his challenges and
then when Ruth had her first stroke in May, the family came together. As I sat by Ruth’s bedside she took hold of
my hand with the one side of her body that was still able and prayed for
me. She spoke of how this is all worth
it so the family who gathered with her could hear her express her faith. She would have another stroke and pass away,
but Ruth was a woman who knew God’s unfailing love!
The Takeaway!
·
Waiting in hope
for the LORD
Who are the upright?
The upright are those who look to the Lord as
their hope and shield. It means that we
trust in Him.
Hope is the godly use of the imagination to
believe God that he can take every situation, every life, every dream, our
nation and weave His glorious purposes through it. It is that confident and expectant!
My
hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus' name.
Refrain:
On Christ the solid rock I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
2. When Darkness veils his lovely face,
I rest on his unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
my anchor holds within the veil.
(Refrain)
3. His oath, his covenant, his blood
supports me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
he then is all my hope and stay.
(Refrain)
4. When he shall come with trumpet sound,
O may I then in him be found!
Dressed in his righteousness alone,
faultless to stand before the
throne!
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