“RESTING IN HOPE”
Anita Clark – Pastor, Carbondale, KS
Psalms 16:9 -”Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth, my flesh also shall rest in hope.”
Note the statement, “Therefore my heart is glad.” The “heart” means “the ruling center of the whole person, the spring of all desires.” In I Kings 3:9, King Solomon asked of the Lord, “Give therefore thy servant and understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad; for who is able to judge this Thy so great a people?” And God answered, (Vs.11-13) that because Solomon had not asked for a long life or riches and other things, but had asked for understanding and to discern judgment, God would give him, what he requested. There would not be a king as great as him all his days. God said this rested on, “... if thou wilt walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as they father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.”
So, when the Bible speaks of the heart, i.e. “Thou shalt love the Lord with all of your heart.” It means that deep within your being you should love God above everything else. As you walk with Him, He grows sweeter continually.
Our lead scripture (Psa. 16:9) speaks of a heart that was glad. The word “heart” is really speaking of the soul - our inner seat of motivation and affections. The word “glad” means to be cheerful, or joyful. Verse 8 actually tells us why David the writer was glad. It says, “I have set the LORD always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” That security gives the writer a spirit of rejoicing, rest and gladness. Notice it says, “...my flesh shall rest in hope.” The word “rest” means in the Hebrew, “to reside permanently, with the idea of lodging and continuing to inhabit and remain.” The word “hope” means “a place of refuge, safety, security assurance, confidence, to trust and stay.”
In Romans 12:12, Apostle Paul says to the brothers, “Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer.” In Romans 5:1-5, Apostle Paul says, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace, wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also; knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” The word “hope” in these verses means in the Greek - “anticipation usually with pleasure, expectation and confidence.” This hope comes to us by our learning to rest in the things of God. Romans 8:28 is said to be the “Christians rocking chair.” And we know that all things work together for good to them who love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.”
Romans 5:3 speaks of “Glory in tribulation.” The word “tribulation” means in the Greek, “pressure, afflictions, anguish, burdens, persecutions, tribulations and trouble.” All of these were the lot of Apostle Paul and his followers. “All who are godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” (II Tim. 3:12) What does it mean in the original Gk. to “glory in tribulations?” It means “to boast, have joy and rejoice in trials”. Apostle Paul always did that. Remember he said , “Look not at the things which are seen,” (II Cor. 4:18).
Back in Romans 5:4, we see the word “patience,” which is worked in our lives by going through tribulation. This word, means in the Gk. “Cheerful endurance, waiting, patient continuance.” The next word, “experience”- in the Amplified Version reads “proven character.” The tests and trials we go through do a great work in our lives. They prove the faithfulness of God’s. Philippians 4:7 says, “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding; shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” The amplified version says, “That tranquil state of a soul assured of salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with it’s earthly lot of whatsoever sort that is, that peace, which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” How many times when we are in deep trials that we have experienced this wonderful peace of God!
The next word (Rom. 5:4) is “hope.” In Lamentations 3:18,21-24, Jeremiah, the Prophet was expressing his lament about the terrible persecution he and the nation endured. “My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD.” There are times in our lives when trials are so great that we might feel this way. In verse 20 he says, “My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.” He is down in spirit. However, in verse 21-26, He has victory and hope in his great trials. None of us have ever gone through the suffering that Jeremiah went through. He trusted in the LORD. As he states, “This I recall to my mind; therefore I have hope: It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning, great is Thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him. The LORD is good to them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.” What an overcomer! The word “hope” here means, “to wait, to be patient, be pained, trust.” The word “compassions” in verse 22, means “mercy, pity tender love, from inside His heart.” Isn’t that a beautiful thought, from inside His heart he shows His great love and compassion for us in whatever trial we are going through. Where Jeremiah says in verse 24, “The LORD is my portion” (allotment, or inheritance).
In Romans 8:18-25. Paul says, “I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” He goes on to express how the creation is waiting “for the manifestation of the sons of God” (Vs.19). In verse 21 - He speaks about how the creature (the believers) “shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” In verses 24-25, “For we are saved by hope; but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why does he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” Titus 2:12-13, says the Grace of God is “Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world, Looking for that blessed hope of the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ…”. This is our “blessed hope.” This should be seen of our lives at this moment - to be ready for the soon appearing of Christ. Are you seeing the signs in the earth today? Are you watching for Him today? There is nothing holding back His soon return. Watch!
