Wonderful Attributes of God
Hope
At first glance, Hope may not seem like an attribute (or characteristic) of God, but look at Psalm 71:5 and Psalm 119:49. We see that the Psalmist claims: “For You are my Hope, O Lord God. You are my Trust from my youth”, and “Remember Your Word to Your servant, upon which You have caused me to Hope.”
As we can see from the words of the Psalmist, he steadfastly placed his hope in the LORD, trusting in Him since his youth. All that the writer had, all that he was, and all that he would ever be was as a result of his relationship with the LORD. And it is even so with us...
All that we are, He has created.
All that we desire to be,
He has instilled within us...
He has “given”, “created” and “instilled within” us that we might strive for that intimate, personal, Hiding Place in Him, as mentioned in Psalm 91. And, furthermore, all things come from Him, as James 1:17 tells us:
“Every good and perfect gift is from above and comes from the Father of Lights, in Whom there is no variableness, neither is there any shadow of turning.”
Hope is therefore a good gift; it is an excellent gift, and so I just accept that it comes from the Father. And He cannot give something which He does not have; therefore, He has Hope. Hope which He chooses to bestow upon us as He wishes. Hope which He pours out upon us when we need it most. I do not know where I’d be during those times, those moments, those places in my life where I would have “gone under” except for the Hope He had so graciously placed within my heart. My Hope is in You, Lord. And I hope and pray that it always shall be.
In all of the Old Testament verses below, hope carries the following meanings:
“To wait; to be patient, cause to have or make to hope; stay, tarry, trust.” Also: “To hie for refuge [with hie meaning to make haste or to hurry]; to trust, be confident or sure; be bold (confident and secure), put confidence in, put trust in, make to trust.” And, we can also see “A place of refuge; safety, both the fact (security) and the feeling (trust); assurance, boldness, confidence, hope.”
Psalm 16: “(7) I will bless the LORD, who has given me counsel; my reins also instruct me in the night seasons. (8) I have set the LORD always before me, and because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. (9) Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also shall rest in hope.” Psalm 33: “(18) Behold, the Eye of the LORD is upon them that fear Him, upon them that hope in His mercy; (19) to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. (20) Our soul waits for the LORD: He is our Help and our Shield. (21) For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His Holy Name. (22) Let Your mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in You.”
Psalm 42:5 “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted in me? You (my soul, need to put your) hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His Countenance.”
Psalm 119:81 “My soul faints (consumes away or feels as if it is failing, were it not) for Your Salvation, and I hope in Your Word.”
Psalm 119:114 “You are my Hiding Place and my Shield: I hope in Your Word.”
Psalm 147:11 “The LORD takes pleasure in them that fear Him, in those that hope in His Mercy.”
Proverbs 13:12 “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes (and is finally realized or brought forth), it is as a tree of life.”
Jeremiah 17:7 “Blessed is the man that trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD.”
And, one of my personal favorites: Lamentations 3:
“(20) My soul has (the thoughts of my affliction and my misery) still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. (21) This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. (22) It is of the LORD’S Mercies that we are not consumed, because His Compassions do not fail. (23) They are new every morning; great is Thy Faithfulness. (24) ‘The LORD is my Portion’, says my soul; therefore I will hope in Him. (25) The LORD is good to them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeks Him. (26) It is good that a man should both hope and quietly (patiently & boldly) wait for the Salvation of the LORD.”
with the meaning of hope being:
“To anticipate, usually with pleasure; expectation or confidence; faith, hope; patient endurance; patiently waiting; to expect; to have hope, hope for, trust.”
Paul, speaking to governor Felix, Acts 24: “(14) But this I confess to you, that after the way which they call heresy, that is how I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets. (15) And I have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.” Romans 4: “(18) Abraham, who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, ‘So shall thy seed be’. (20) He staggered not at the Promise of God through unbelief, but he was strong in faith, giving glory to God. (21) And being fully persuaded (and here is Abraham’s hope), that what God had promised, He was also able to perform. (22) And therefore (his faith and his hope) was imputed to him for righteousness.”
Rom. 5: “(1) Therefore we, (like Abraham) being justified by faith, have Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (2) by Whom also we have access by faith into this Grace wherein we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the Glory of God. (3) And not only this, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation (continually) works out (performs, produces and accomplishes) patience; (4) and patience, experience; and experience, hope. (5) And hope never makes us ashamed, because the Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost Who is given unto us.”
Rom. 8: “(24) For we are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For (if or) what a man sees, for what (and why) does he yet hope? (25) But, if we hope for that which we do not (or cannot) see, then with patience do we wait for it.”
Rom. 15:13 “Now the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in your believing (having faith in Christ and trusting Him completely), that you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”
1st Corinthians 13:13 “And now abides faith, hope and charity ~ these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”
Galatians 5: “(4) Whoever of you is (or is insistent on being) justified by the law, Christ has become of no effect to you, and you are fallen from grace. (5) For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.”
Ephesians 1: “(17) And our prayer for you is: ‘That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him; (18) may the eyes of your understanding be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His Calling’...”
Colossians 1: “(3)... and we are praying for you always, (4) since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which you have to all the saints, and (5) for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof you heard before in the Word of the Truth of the Gospel... (22)...for He reconciled you in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His Sight...
(23) Therefore, continue in that faith grounded and settled, and do not be moved away from the hope of the Gospel, which you have heard, and ...whereof I, Paul, am made a minister...(26)
(and we also pray that God reveal to you) the Mystery, which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but is now made manifest to his saints; (27) to whom God would make known what is the Riches of the Glory of this Mystery among the Gentiles ~ which is Christ in you, the Hope of Glory.”Titus 2: “(11) For the Grace of God that brings Salvation has appeared to all men, (12) teaching us that, as we deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; (13) looking for that Blessed Hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.”
Hebrews 6: “(17) Wherein God...confirmed by an oath: (18) That by two immutable things, (in which it was impossible for God to lie) we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge (which, if you’ll recall, was an Old Testament meaning of hope) to lay hold upon the hope set before us. (19) And this hope we have as an anchor for our soul, both sure and stedfast, (allowing us to) enter in to that which is within the veil (into the Holy of Holies); (20) and this is where the forerunner for us is entered, even Jesus, who is made a High Priest forever after the Order of Melchisedec.”
1st John 3: “(1) Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world doesn’t know us, because it did not know Him. (2) Beloved, now we are the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know this ~ when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. (3) And every man that has this hope in Him purifies himself, even as He is pure.”
In light of the preceeding verses, it can be said of Christians that we are to anticipate with pleasure the return of our Lord Jesus, and with expectation and confidence we place all our faith in Him, in His Word and fully trust in His Ways. All of our hope is in Him, and even as we may face hard times and difficulties, we will do so with patient endurance, patiently waiting for the Salvation and Deliverance of our God. And, even when there seems to be no hope, we, like Abraham, must hope against hope that God will make a way. For, as David said:
“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, and he delights in His Way. Though he falls, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the LORD upholds him with His Hand. I have been young, and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging for bread. The LORD is always Merciful, and (He abides with us) and His seed is blessed. Therefore: Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.”
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