1st Sunday of Advent: Hope

1st Sunday of Advent- Hope

Psalm 62

1My soul waits in silence for God alone; From Him comes my salvation. 2 He alone is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I will not be greatly shaken.

3 How long will you attack a man, That you may murder him, all of you, Like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence? 4 They have planned only to thrust him down from his high position; They delight in falsehood; They bless with their mouth, But inwardly they curse.

5 My soul, wait in silence for God alone, For my hope is from Him. 6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, My refuge; I will not be shaken. 7 My salvation and my glory rest on God; The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God. 8 Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your hearts before Him; God is a refuge for us.

9 People of low standing are only breath, and people of rank are a lie; In the balances they go up. Together they are lighter than breath. 10 Do not trust in oppression, And do not vainly rely on robbery; If wealth increases, do not set your heart on it.

11 God has spoken once; Twice I have heard this: That power belongs to God; 12 And faithfulness is Yours, Lord, For You reward a person according to his work.

Before I remembered that today is the first Sunday of Advent, when we light the candle that represents “hope,” I had already picked this psalm to preach on. I thought I might need to delay it until I realized this psalm is a psalm of hope. This is one of David’s psalms and it is a song about God being a refuge “from Treachery and Oppression” as the NASB noted. Let’s go through it verse by verse.

“1 My soul waits in silence for God alone; from Him comes my salvation.” This first sentence of this psalm is like the opening thesis statement about what this psalm is about. Salvation comes from God. In this context, I think David is speaking of physical salvation, not the salvation of his soul, although that is most certainly true as well.

In this opening sentence, David is declaring what he wants to be true. He wants his soul to wait in silence for God alone. As David is only human, this statement is not always true about himself. I say that, for later in verse 5, David tells himself: “My soul, wait in silence for God alone, for my hope is from Him.” He wants this to be true about himself. He wants his soul to be content and wait for God’s help. He knows that his hope comes from God, yet like all of us, sometimes his hope wavers.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes how I feel doesn’t always match up with what I know is true. Sometimes, I experience all sorts of emotions, worry, or anxiety, and those feelings are totally unfounded. Sometimes we just feel terrible, and for no good reason. Other times in life, I have experienced profound sorrow and grief, or fear and distress, and all with good reason. Even though in those situations my emotions were reasonable, I still had to separate how I felt from what was true. For what was and remains to be true is that God is my salvation, even in the midst of real trouble. When real problems arise, it’s difficult to be silent and at peace, but regardless of how we feel, God is still our salvation. Our emotions don’t change that fact. Just like David, I have found that I need to tell myself to wait, to hope in God’s salvation, so that my soul will settle down and wait.

Telling ourselves this is so important that we see David declare, “2 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I will not be greatly shaken.” Again, David wants to be firm in his conviction that God is his hope, his rock, his salvation, and his stronghold. He does not want his hope in God to be shaken, and so he declares it will not be shaken.

The words we speak are powerful, and as uplifting or damaging as our words can be to other people, our self-talk can uplift us or damage us as well. The devil would like us to declare our doubt and fear. He would love for us to give voice to our despair. Instead, we should speak words of life and hope, and then the Holy Spirit can fan those words into real hope and faith inside of us.

Interestingly, even the world knows how powerful words can be. I’m not the biggest fan of Teddy Roosevelt, but he spoke wisdom when he said, “There were all kinds of thing of which I was afraid at first, ranging from grizzly bears to ‘mean’ horses and gunfighters; but by acting as if I was not afraid I gradually ceased to be afraid”[1] (Hakim, p.149).

I really like that and think that is an example we should all follow. By pretending to not be afraid, eventually he stopped being afraid. He acted the way he wanted to feel, but didn’t yet feel. He decided to be unafraid. For us believers, we have a profound advantage over Teddy, though. It is not ourselves that we need to trust in. We have God, our rock, and so we truly do not need to be afraid. If we act as if we are not shaken, and act as though we fully hope in God our rock, then my guess is it won’t be long until we really do trust Him. Until that happens, we can declare, “I will not be greatly shaken for God is my rock. I hope in Him!” For if we say it often enough, I think our emotions will catch up with what we know to be true. For God truly is our rock.

This metaphor of God being a rock is one that David uses a lot. The other day, my two youngest children and I were studying this psalm and discussing why David uses that metaphor. I was telling them that in order to understand this psalm, we first need to understand what David means by the word ‘rock.’ I said that David is describing a rock that is large enough to provide shelter. My son said that we should not picture a rock like Charlie Brown gets in his trick-or-treat bag, some ordinary, small rock. He is correct. Instead, we should picture an enormous rock, like a citadel, or a stronghold that, when needing to escape a storm, one could find a cave inside of it or an overhang to seek protection under. A rock so large it is immovable. A rock that if you stood upon it, it could not be shaken. As a shepherd, David would have known the value of such a large rock.

Then David describes a reason why he is needing to hope in God. He is being attacked. He says, “3 How long will you attack a man, that you may murder him, all of you, like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence? 4 They have planned only to thrust him down from his high position; they delight in falsehood; they bless with their mouth, but inwardly they curse.”

Now, while this scenario David describes is a specific one, the trouble he faced is not unique to him. From the beginning of time, people have fought each other. People have tried to topple those in leadership, so they may gain power. They used the same methods then that they still employ today. They tell lies, pretend to be friendly, all the while waiting to attack. David had to deal with two-faced liars then, just as we do, too, today. Yet David does not crumble under the attacks or stoop to their level. Instead, he instructs himself to be strong and repeats what he said earlier. He says, “5 My soul, wait in silence for God alone, for my hope is from Him. 6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my refuge; I will not be shaken.”

Again, here is this metaphor of God being a strong rock. A refuge or place of safety. He says yet for a third time, “7 My salvation and my glory rest on God; the rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.” Even though people want to end his life, he is declaring that his salvation and glory rest on God. God will be the one who will rescue him. God will be the one who brings salvation.

Then he turns outward and makes a collective plea to all people. He says, “8 Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts before Him; God is a refuge for us.” We can trust God at all times. There is no situation in which God cannot help us. We can pour out all our fear and worry to Him. He wants us to bring to Him all the things that unsettle our soul. He wants us to allow Him to calm us and help us. He has given us His Holy Spirit to work this hope into hearts, like a baker working yeast into a dough. As we go to Him in prayer, pouring out our heart’s cry, He will work hope into all the places in our hearts.

Like David is saying, we can have hope at all times. And we can trust in God to be our rock and refuge in all situations, because even if there are people who want to harm us, these, “9 People of low standing are only breath, and people of rank are a lie; in the balances they go up. Together they are lighter than breath.”

That is a beautifully poetic way of saying that no matter what station in life a person is, whether they are rich or poor, neither is of any account ultimately. Rich people might be considered more important to the world, but that’s a lie. Compared to God, all people, and whatever they want to do to us, are just a breath. If God is protecting us, no one can really harm us any more than a breath of air could. Not only that, but people can’t really help us. If we are looking to people to help us, instead of God, well then we will be sorely disappointed, for how can they help us? Their help is merely breath.

When we need help, we should trust in God, not in people. Additionally, we should not trust in ourselves. David tells us, “10 Do not trust in oppression, and do not vainly rely on robbery; if wealth increases, do not set your heart on it.” That is because trying to help ourselves by oppressing other people is not going to benefit us. Stooping to other people’s level and acting like the world does is not going to get us anywhere good. If we steal or cheat, that will not help us. If somehow we do acquire wealth, we are not to think that is going to actually help us. We should not think that more wealth equals more security. We shouldn’t put our hope in other people or in riches.

Then David says, ‘but don’t take my word for it,’ for “11 God has spoken once; twice I have heard this: that power belongs to God; 12 and faithfulness is Yours, Lord, for You reward a person according to his work.”

David says that, “God has spoken once; twice I have heard this” and I think he is saying that God’s word tells us this. God Himself has said about Himself that He is the One we are to take refuge in. The prophet Isaiah, speaking for God, tells us in Isaiah 40:31, “Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.” The NASB points out that the word for wait can also be translated as hope. God is saying that those who hope in Him will be strengthened.

Waiting and hope go hand in hand, for hope is waiting for something expected. If we don’t have hope, then we’ve given up waiting, for hope leaves when disappointment arrives. If I have hope, then there is still a possibility of something happening. Even if it’s a slim chance, it’s still hope if it’s possible. If it’s over and there is no possibility of something happening, then hope has gone. So hope is found in the waiting. In the time when we don’t know what will happen or how things will turn out. Some people respond to the unknown with fear and anxiety. They expect the worst and so they don’t have hope. They have trepidation. Others deal with the unknown by trying to escape it. Distracting their minds, they hope they can keep too busy to notice the time still ticking by. David’s advice to himself, and I believe God’s word through David to all humankind, is to quiet his soul and wait.

It seems like everyone is always waiting for something. We wait for news from our doctor. We wait for promotions. We wait to meet our future spouse. We wait for an answer to pray. We wait and wait and wait. It is the universal state of being. While we wait, what are we doing? Is our hope in God alone? Or is our hope in other things? If our hope is in our government, our friends, or our own ability, I think we will end up very disheartened. Those things will all eventually fail us. The only hope that does not fail is the One true God. If we put our hope in Him, we will find Him to be our rock, our refuge, our unshakable foundation. As difficult as it is, all we have to do is wait for Him. If we wait for Him, we will find that hope in Him does not disappoint. As Paul says in Romans 5:1-5, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we celebrate in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also celebrate in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

This hope is available to all who would believe and put their faith in Jesus. As Ephesians 2:12-13 says, “remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the people of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who previously were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” Without faith in Jesus, we are a people without hope. But through faith in Christ, we have can have peace and hope. Let me say it again: if our hope is in Jesus, He will not disappoint.

This advent season, we might need to practice this habit of David’s. We might need to declare in faith the things we want to be true about us. If we want to hope in God alone but we have doubt and fear, let us speak words of hope anyway. Let’s push past the doubt and fear and speak words of faith and trust. For God is our hope and our salvation. Even when things around us look hopeless, we can still have hope. For we always have hope, for with Jesus, things are never truly hopeless. In the end, Jesus will do just what Revelation 21:1-5 foretells: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ And He said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true.’”

This advent week we light the hope candle. It represents the Israelites’ hope that the Messiah would come. They waited a long time for Him to arrive. Just like generations of believers waited in hope for Him then, now generations of us wait in hope for His return again. No matter what we are facing, let us be people who declare the hope we have in Christ. This hope is a firm foundation for it rests upon the rock of our salvation: Jesus Christ, the hope of the world.

Pray: Heavenly Father, we ask that You would fill us, by Your Holy Spirit, with hope. Where we have fear and doubt, please replace it with hope and faith in You. We know that someday Jesus will return. Please help us to wait for that day with faithful hope. This advent season, we declare in faith, that we will wait for You. Not just for Jesus’ return someday, but we will wait for what You are doing in our lives. We wait for Your help. We wait for Your provision. We wait for You to build greater faith within us. We love You and say along with David, “My soul, wait in silence for God alone, For my hope is from Him. 6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, My refuge; I will not be shaken.”

In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

[1] Hakim, Joy. A History of Us: An Age of Extremes. New York, Oxford University Press, 2005.