The Christmas Carols: Past, Present, & Future HopeSample

Day 19

Hope Was Born This Night

Read: Psalm 42

Hope is neither a luxury nor an option. We may need water, food, and air to survive, but we need hope to thrive. So how do we have hope in this dark world? Where is our hope found?

In Psalm 42:5a, the psalmist asks, “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?” In other words, my spirit feels crushed! I am prone to discouragement! What am I to do?

The psalmist continues with the solution to a down cast soul, “Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God.” Put another way, the solution for our spirit today is hope for tomorrow.

Some believe the “good old days” belong to our present or past. But hope for tomorrow means that we do not think of today or yesterday as the best that will ever be. As we age, we are also tempted to think that our remaining years will only be full of loss of health, deaths of loved ones, and activities we can no longer enjoy. This perspective makes our past or present the pinnacle of existence, and everything else is simply downhill. If our perspective is solely earth bound then there may be some truth to this existential depression. However, if we know the God of the universe, we have access to an unending hope . . . because it is anchored to something OUTSIDE this life.

When we “hope in God,” we connect our perspective to the eternal. In eternity, we are saved. In eternity, our broken and breaking bodies are made imperishable. In eternity, God richly provides for all our needs. In eternity, we neither sin nor struggle. With this eternal perspective, we can have an enduring hope!

Jesus’ birth demonstrated His intimate connection between the world in which we live and His eternal order. Jesus came to give us a tangible and living hope, to provide a way for us to enter eternity. When we place our faith in Christ, we can have a hope today based on what He has promised us tomorrow.

The psalmist ends 42:5 by reminding us to demonstrate our hope in God by praising Him. As we listen to “Hope Was Born This Night,” may we hear “the echoes of grace of our Savior’s embrace because hope was born this night.”

Hope Was Born This Night - Sidewalk Prophets

Tonight, I can see a star shine.
And its splendor fills up the sky.
It's the same that appeared,
And the wisemen revered,
When Hope was born this night.

Out upon the snowy fields
There's a silent peace that heals.
And it echoes the grace,
Of our Savior's embrace.
Because Hope was born this night.

Glory to God in the highest!
Peace on earth,
Goodwill to men.
Let all of the world,
Sing the chorus of joy,
Because Hope was born this night.

I can hear the Christmas bells ringing,
As softly a church choir sings,
It's the song used to praise,
The Ancient of Days,
When Hope was born this night.

There are angels in this place.
And my heart resounds in the praise.
Like a shepherd so scared
I'll rejoice and declare,
That Hope was born this night.

Glory to God in the highest!
Peace on earth,
Goodwill to men.
Let all of the world,
Sing the chorus of joy,
Because Hope was born this night.