My hope

Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Selah Surely every man walks about like a shadow; Surely they busy themselves in vain; He heaps up riches, And does not know who will gather them. "And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You. – Psalm 39.5-7

It is tempting to hope in all kinds of things around us. We have jobs and bank accounts and some have houses and lands. We have governments and nations. We have family and friends and churches. Those are all pretty secure things and it is easy to put our hope for the future in those things.

Here the psalmist writes about the same issues we face, but he had moved beyond hoping in vain things. He knew that man’s lifespan was nothing compared to God. He knew that man was nothing more than a vapour. He knew that we are bur fleeting shadows on this earth. He knew that we gather up stuff and don’t even know who is going to reap the benefits.

So then he asks the rhetorical question – what am I waiting for to take care of me and my needs?

‘My hope is in the Lord.’

And that is the only place for our hope today. As good as those things at the beginning sound they are all liable to fail. They can all let us down. But if our hope is in the Lord He can never let us down.

Where is our hope right now, right this moment?