Enduring Hope: Trusting God When the Future Is UncertainSample

Comfort in Trouble

Read: Psalm 119:49–64

SOAP: Psalm 119:49–50

Remember your word to your servant, for you have given me hope. This is what comforts me in my trouble, for your promise revives me.

Into the Text

Hope comforts us in trouble. God’s promises revive us so we can continue to endure and wait on God. The psalmist is revived by God’s promises so that he can continue walking in obedience and following God’s commands. He expresses the joy he finds in keeping God’s commands and how he is comforted by God’s law.

When we believe God is who He says He is, we want to follow His commands. When we understand God’s character we are more willing to do what He says; we follow His commands because we recognize that by doing so, we find life.

God is holy. And just like His love, goodness, and faithfulness, God’s holiness is the foundation of our hope. Because God is holy, our sin separates us from Him. But, in His love, God sent His Son to pay the price of our sins so we could be righteous before Him. We are fully forgiven when we believe in Jesus. We receive eternal life and will be with Him forever because of what Jesus has done to reconcile us to the Father.

Hope in God’s holiness drives us to obey His commands and walk in His ways. The more we follow His commands, the more we come to know Him. The more we know Him and His promises, the more we trust Him. We know His promises are true because if He is holy, He cannot lie. His holiness comforts us, revives us, and gives us the confidence to wait on Him when we don’t know the future.

Our hope is based on who God is. Every aspect of God’s character—His love, faithfulness, truth, goodness, power, and holiness—give us hope for the future. Hope in Him leads us to obedience and increases our faith. When our hope is in the character of God, we will want to follow His commands because we are convinced that there is nothing better than walking with Him.