Hope for This Life

The ultimate hope that brings the believer unshakeable joy, is the confidence that we will be radiantly happy in the presence of God in an era that will never end.

Psalms 16:11 You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

But experience tells us that temporal hope is of great value also. We need some assurance that God will bless us in the “before life” not just the “after life”. God knows our earthly needs and demonstrates his insight by implanting these words in the heart of the psalmist:

Psalms 51:12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

And

Psalm 27:13 I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

We need to pray this prayer, recognizing our need of his sustaining power and then allow ourselves to be comforted by this confidence. We will see God’s goodness in the here and now.

Psalm 71: 20 You have allowed me to suffer much hardship, but you will restore me to life again… 24 I will tell about your righteous deeds all day long…

And

Psalm 109: 30 With my mouth I will greatly extol the LORD; in the great throng I will praise him. 31 For he stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save his life…

Those who hope are expressing a need. They do not have all that they wish for. When we pour out that need to God, we can begin to watch how he will address our need, most significantly with his own presence “to cheer and to guide” as the old hymn says.

“He stands at the right hand of the needy”

The self-sufficient need not apply.