False Hope
Psalm 33:13–22 (ESV)
13 The Lord looks down from heaven;
he sees all the children of man;
14 from where he sits enthroned he looks out
on all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 he who fashions the hearts of them all
and observes all their deeds.
16 The king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
17 The war horse is a false hope for salvation,
and by its great might it cannot rescue.
18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love,
19 that he may deliver their soul from death
and keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul waits for the Lord;
he is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name.
22 Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.
I have a thousand war-horses in my life!
A thousand ports for my hope to harbour in.
All but one are false. All but one will dash me upon the rocks of adversity leaving me bloodied, bruised, and, ironically, surprised.
All but one.
No matter the size of a king’s army, it will fail. No matter the renown of a warrior's might, his strength will be overcome. No matter the terror of the cavalry charge, the war-horse will stumble and fall.
Every conceivable strength, no matter what it seems to offer, will let you down. Every hope spent on the shifting sand this life presents, will leave you sinking in despair.
Hope in the security of this world is no hope at all. Better to live in despair than to hold to false hope.
Every hope is false—all but one.
Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love,
that he may deliver their soul from death
and keep them alive in famine.
Your only hope—my only hope—is that God himself would deliver us. The safe harbour of your soul is found in the place where God steps in and does what no-one else, what no-thing else, could ever accomplish. This is the good news—the gospel—that Jesus accomplished for you, what you yourself could never achieve.
Deliverance. Rescue. Hope.
The old refrain echoes from my past, “My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus blood and righteousness”.
What are you hoping in?
What 'war-horses' do you saddle up every day—looking, hoping, to deliver you? What 'might' do you muster up—striving, hoping, to save you? Who 'sits on the throne' before which you bow—despairing, hoping, seeking to come to your aid?
Lay them down. Cast them away.
Our soul waits for the Lord;
he is our help and our shield.
For our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name.
Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.
