May 14, 2020 -- Psalm 119:166 -- Hope

I hope for your salvation, O LORD,

and I do your commandments.

Psalm 119:166 English Standard Version

Hope expresses such a longing of the soul. It can simmer and bubble below the surface and its real intensity won’t even be apparent to our conscious mind until suddenly we catch a glimpse of that which is hoped for and our heart soars with longing that is uncapped. Sometimes that hope betrays us. Other times we recognize the beauty of the longing.

J.C. Ryle warned the children of believing parents to be careful what they are hoping for. Many such children of Christian households hope to, yearn to fit in with their non-Christian peers, they hope for popularity, they hope to break the rules like they see their peers breaking rules. Ryle warned:

I ask the children of religious parents to mark well what I am saying. It is the highest

privilege to be the child of a godly father and mother, and to be brought up in the midst

of many prayers. It is a blessed thing indeed to be taught the gospel from our earliest

infancy, and to hear of sin, and Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, and holiness, and heaven, from

the first moment we can remember anything. But, oh, take heed that you do not remain

barren and unfruitful in the sunshine of all these privileges: beware lest your heart

remains hard, impenitent, and worldly, notwithstanding the many advantages you enjoy.

You cannot enter the kingdom of God on the credit of your parents’ religion. You must

eat the bread of life yourself, and have the witness of the Spirit in your own heart. You must

have repentance of your own, faith of your own, and sanctification of your own.

In wonderful contrast to neglecting riches given, the Psalmist is calling believers to examine our hearts: what is it we are hoping for? What is the yearning that is steering us in a direction we ought not to go? A verse like this calls us to recalibrate our hopes and longings so that all are oriented to the LORD of Glory, our salvation.

The commandments of God guide our feet in His righteous paths. The law of the LORD directs us to Jesus Christ—Who is the fulfilment of the Law. The word of the LORD resonates deep within our heart as the Spirit of God animates it within us so that we know our hope to be nothing less than Jesus Christ and HIs righteousness.

Faithful Father in heaven, thank You for those among us who grew up in Christian households. Thank You for those who met Jesus Christ because of faithful parents. We pray with thanks for those who were drawn to Jesus Christ at a later age and who now strive to raise their children in the hope and beauty of Christ the King. Spirit of God, help us all to know the riches given us in Jesus Christ. Spirit of God, directed by this word today, help us examine our hearts and minds, our hopes and aspirations and recalibrate our hope so that it is fixed on Christ alone. Blessed are You, God of all Perfections, the heart’s true Desire and the Desire of all Nations. Amen.