Devotion:
Read Psalm 33:18-22.
We begin the Advent season this week, focusing on hope. The Cambridge English Dictionary defines hope as “to want something to happen or be true, and usually have a good reason to think that it might.” I looked at the definition of hope in a number of sources, and I like this one best! Psalm 33 is a song of joy, reminding us that all we have in life comes from God, who is all-powerful. If we pause and think about our contemporary culture, this teaching goes against the grain. We like to think that we earn all that we have by our ingenuity, resourcefulness, and hard work. The psalmist shakes us with the teaching that this is simply not true. In verses 16 and 17, we are reminded that earthly political and military power fall short in the end. Only God can save us!
Therefore, it is in God that we are to put our trust and our hope. God’s love is sure and unfailing. If our hope means wanting something good to happen or be true and having good reason to think it might, there is no better center for our hope than God. When we trust in God, we have help (strength, gifts, and resources) and the perfect shield (protector and defender). Do not despair; put your hope in God.
Personal Worship Option:
Reflect today on the power of hope. Without hope, we give up, we give in, and draw into ourselves. In what things other than God do you sometimes put your hope? These things are not all bad, but none of them should ever compete or replace our trust and hope in God.
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