Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Psalm 71 and verse 14. But I will hope continually and
will yet praise thee more and more. Psalm 71 and verse 14. In verse 5, The psalmist testifies where
his hope is. For thou art my hope, O Lord
God, thou art my trust from my youth. Our text begins with the
word but. And so, in the verse prior, we
have the adversaries to his soul, those that see against him, those
that trouble him. He has through this psalm as
well his increasing years, his infirmities of years, the many
things that are trouble and a trial to him. But in the midst of these
adversaries, in the midst of declining years and increasing
infirmities, he has this bug, this which balances him, that
which is in spite of what he is going through, and we may
even say because of what he is going through, I will hope continually
and will yet praise thee more and more. Now just because this
is the Old Testament does not mean that his hope was not in
the place where we put our hope which is in our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Ghost. The hope of God's people from
the beginning of the world to the end is all in one place. And so in view of that, I want
to speak this morning of the Christian's hope. What is the
hope of a Christian? Paul Peter, in his epistles,
says that we should be ready always to give a reason of the
hope that is within us. We are to do it in meekness,
we are to do it in fear, we are to sanctify the Lord God in our
hearts, but we should be able to give a reason of that hope. And in our text is joined together
two things as well, There is the hope that is to be not just
a one-off thing, but a continual exercise. And then joined with
that is praise, and will yet praise thee more and more. Praise
flows out from hope and hope being realized. We need to remember
that, those things are joined together. Maybe we cannot praise
the Lord, we're in low place, discouraged, and yet where the
Lord gives us hope, there is that right scriptural expectation
that there shall be yet praise. This was the exercise of the
psalmist in Psalm 42. And 43, why art thou cast down,
O my soul? Why art thou disquieted within
me? Hope thou in God, for I shall
yet praise him, who is the help of my countenance and my God. And again, he's joined together
that hoping in God and the expectation that where that hope is, then
in the Lord's time away, there will be In other words, God will
not take away or disappoint the hope of his people, because the
hope is in a right place. Now, I want to, perhaps you,
before we speak of the points I have in mind, to think of an
illustration If we had a person, they were poor, they were in
need for someone else to help them and provide for them, and
they knew a person, and that person was a very rich person,
that person was a very wise person, that person was willing to distribute
of their wealth, they weren't known to be a miser, that person
had great ability. And we would think of all what
that person had, and so our hope then would be rightly founded
upon that person. because they had what we needed. They had the ability to give
what we needed. And so that person would be then
an example of where our hope was actually placed. Now, if we were looking to a
person and hoping in that person But that person was not wise. They weren't wealthy. They were
a miser. If we were to say to someone,
well, we are hoping in that person, they would say, your hope's in
vain. It's useless to hope there. They
haven't even got what you need. They're not even of the disposition
to give what you need. There's no provision there. So
the actual object of our hope is very important as to what
we understand concerning where we are putting our hope. And so the first point that I
want to look at this morning is, who is our hope and trust? I will hope continually, I will
praise Thee more and more, It is what is set forth in verse
5, Thou art my hope, O Lord God, Thou art my trust from my youth. That is clearly set forth here. But then going back to our illustration,
we have this person and they are wealthy, they've got wisdom
and understanding, they've got what we want, but we are poor,
we haven't got what they have. Then there's the exercise of
hope. There's what is going on in our
hearts as to what we are expecting and wanting and desiring. So we're wanting that flowing
from that person comes to us the wisdom that we need, the
financial support we need, the physical support that we need,
and so there's a, whereas the fullness, as it were, is all
in that person, what is in us is an exercise of hope, is the
expectancy and doing things in a way that is consistent with
one that's expecting that from that person I will receive, I
will get what I need. And of course with that you would
be asking that person, wouldn't you? And you'd be behaving in
a way that would suggest that you're hoping to have these things
from that person. You'd want to know that person
and know that that person knew you And so our second point is
the exercise of hope that in our text it is to be continued. I will hope continually, this
exercise of hoping within. And then lastly, our last point,
that our praise comes from the Lord. He is the one that does
put a song in the heart of his people, and it comes from him,
it comes from what he has done, his work, and because of that
our hope is sure and our praise is certain. Our text is very
clear, but I will hope continually and will yet praise thee more
and more. I'm not praising thee now, I
cannot praise thee now, I'm in low condition now, but as God
has given me this hope, then I know that the time will come
that I will praise the Lord and it may begin in a gradual way
and praise more and more and increase. of that prize, certainly
beginning here and ending in eternity. So our first point,
who is our hope and trust? What is the potential? What is the store? We think of
the word that it has pleased the Father that in him, that
is in the Lord Jesus Christ, should all fullness dwell. Our
Lord in John 14, he begins with, ye believe in God, believe also
in me. And really the first thing in
hoping is that our hope is placed in the God that made heaven and
the earth. In Jeremiah, we read that the
gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, let them perish
from under the heavens. The testimony of all the confessions
is, I believe in God. I believe in God that made heaven
and earth. It is that way that Paul set
the unknown God that was unknown to those at Athens on Mars Hill
as being the God that made the heavens, that in Him we live
and move and have our being. And it is this same God that
Elihu and the Lord himself showed to Job, who before Job came into
being, before he was born, before any of us were born, formed the
world and the stars, the sun, the moon, all of the creation. A God that has immense power
that his works are already seen, already evidenced, and day by
day there is a reminder of his power, of his ongoing work. And remember, if we are hoping
in this God, we're hoping that his ongoing work will extend
to giving blessings and help for us. If, for instance, we
looked upon God as a creator, he created it, he formed it,
and then he just left it to man and had nothing to do with the
creation that he had made at all, that would not give us any
hope that his power and his might and what he exercised in creation
can be bestowed upon us. No, it is that we need that right
high view of the might and the power of God. Is he able? Now what a word it was that the
King Darius said to Daniel when Daniel was thrown into the lion's
den. First he said, thy God is able
to deliver thee. But then in the morning he cries
with a loud bitter cry, that has thy God delivered thee? And for God to deliver, he must
have that might and power. Is anything too hard for the
Lord? For his whole works in creation
declare that there is not. And when our Lord Jesus Christ
came, then how evident it was that he was able to still the
waves and the winds, to put a stop to them. What manner of man is
this that even the winds and the waves obey him? Now we've said that what is on my
spirit is the Christian's hope. What is a Christian? Who is a
Christian? We read that the disciples were
first called Christians at Antioch. Antioch in Syria. And a Christian then is a disciple. What is a disciple? A disciple
is a follower. Christian, a follower of Christ. That is what a Christian is.
Now, the Lord says in John 8, verses 30, 31, to those that
believed on him, he said, if ye continue in my word, then
ye shall know the truth, the truth shall make you free. But
he also said this, Then shall ye be my disciples indeed. A real disciple, a real follower. So when we think of a Christian's
hope, we have the hope of a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. A believer
in and a follower after God's eternal Son. And it's vital we
have a right view of our Lord. How can we hope in Him in whom
we have not believed? How can we have a hope in Him
that is but a mere man? It is vital that we view the
Lord that He truly is God, Immanuel God with us. Solomon says that,
Will God in very deed dwell upon the earth? He has. I and my Father
are one, the Lord testifies that. The Father says, this is my beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased. The Holy Spirit bear witness
at his baptism and the form of a dove alighting upon him. And our Lord Jesus Christ testified
of his Father and of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter that should
come. Really, in all the Word of God,
there is revealed to us a triune God, a God that is an eternal
God, a God that was before time, that is in eternity, and we cannot
comprehend eternity at all. Time is created. Before time,
there was no time. After time, there shall be no
more. And it's fruitless for us to
say, well, what did God do before the creation or before the world
was? And in our minds, we're thinking
of years. We're thinking of time. But we
don't have any concept here below of eternity or of a timeless
state. Everything is bound with time. used to think as an engineer.
Many of the calculations we did on paper and calculating speed
and acceleration and forces, many of those calculations involved
time. And as I sat there with the pen
in my hand, I thought, I am using time to calculate this. It's
in my equation, but by the time I finished doing my sums, then
minutes, hours, seconds have all gone by. And all the time,
it's like this conveyor belt that's going on and on and on
through time. But soon time shall be no more. But God is beyond time, before
time, and after time. We cannot comprehend him, his
mind, his power. And in seeing the creation, his
ability, in the, in how intricate is his design, how ordered everything
is, how beautiful everything is, how wonderfully the Lord
brings things to pass. We see it and man shall be without
excuse because Even in us, who he has put over, over his creation,
he's given us that dominion over the animals and over all things. And we exercise that dominion
that we have over us. The God that made us and formed
us and gave us that dominion. And there's many, many things
that we do not have power over. No man has power in the day of
death. We cannot stay it, we cannot
stop it from happening. We have not the power of eternal
life. We cannot retain the spirit.
We cannot do that. And so we look to a God that
is greater than man, greater than anyone that we know, and
that is eternal that has great power. But as a Christian, we
look unto a God that reveals to us in his word about himself,
about us, and about why there is death, sickness, illness,
the condition that the world is in. And the Lord reveals these
things, a God who is able, as Daniel said, to reveal secrets. And right at the very beginning
is revealed a provision in his beloved Son to deal with the
sentence of death that is upon us as we have sinned or transgressed
the law of God in our first parents and as we have done since we
began. our own lives. And in the Lord
Jesus Christ is that provision, is that ability. Remember the
example we gave in the beginning, if we are to have hope in someone,
they need to have an ability or a provision. And you might
say, well, if God is all powerful and mighty, surely he will be
able to save us from our sins, to save us from death, to save
us from the wrath of God, to save us eternally. But the truth is, outside of
the Lord Jesus Christ, because of the Lord's holiness and justness,
He does not have that power. He cannot exercise it. But in
the Lord Jesus Christ, in Him coming, like unto us, sin accepted,
taking the punishment of God, the wrath of God, shedding His
blood, paying our debt, rising again from the dead. God is able
now to bestow mercy and righteousness to His people. He's able to save
unto the uttermost all that come unto God by Him. And that ability
is given by what God himself has done already, bound up in
God. So when the psalmist says that,
Thou art my hope, O Lord God, when we as Christians say, what
is the Christian's hope? Our hope is in God. It is in
what God is in the Lord Jesus Christ. in all He has done to
be able to show mercy and grace and bestow eternal life upon
His people. That is how we understand the
fullness and the provision in God. Now, what would we think
of a person naturally that just had all wisdom and ability, and
wealth, but never wanted to show it, never wanted to bestow it,
didn't want anyone to be a beneficiary of it. What if we had a power
station, and it generated wonderful amounts of electricity, and we
could say, look at all that wonderful power, that megawatts that that
is generating. You said, well, What good is
it? Well, but it does wonderful power.
But what benefit is it to anybody? But as soon as you then get the
wires from that power station and it goes into all the homes
and then you have the lights and the heats and the sound and
suddenly from that source is then all of these things happening. And then people look at what
is happening and they say, that is a wonderful power station,
isn't it? Look, it powers all Cranbrook
and all London, and all of this is coming from that power station,
Dundones perhaps. But without there being something
on the end of the wires and being powered, there's no way that
that power or the glory or the wonder or that provision is shown
at all. It's all hidden in that building.
But as soon as you put something on the end, and when you think
what God has said of his people, this people have a form for myself,
they shall show forth my praise. What's in our text? I will hope continually and will
praise thee more and more. In other words, they will receive
and that Receiving will result in praise from them and from
praise from others. The Lord hath done great things
for them. It will be seen, shown forth,
the Lord's praise. And where does it come from?
It comes from the Lord. So it is vital that our hope
be in a right place. You know, there's many that have
a vain hope, the hope even of solemnly the children of Israel
that were just in idols. They could never save them. They
had no ability to or anything. And those are following false
gods and they haven't got the ability to do anything. What
was done on Mount Carmel had Baal got ability to kindle the
fire, to burn up the sacrifice? No, he couldn't do it. But the
God of heaven could. And that, which is the beginning
of the hope of a Christian, is in God and is especially in the
Lord Jesus Christ. I was turning to Paul's First
epistle to Timothy and how he begins in that first verse. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
by the commandment of God our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ,
which is our hope. Which is our hope. Our hope is
in God our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ. God the Father, God the
Son, God the Holy Spirit, is all engaged in saving his people. The Lord said, Thine they were,
thou gavest them thee. The Holy Spirit, the author of
the word of God, inspired word, is also the author of the new
birth, and he brings to remembrance all things whatsoever The Lord
has said to his people, this is our home. God is our home. The God as revealed in the Bible. It may be our pleasure to look
much into what the word of God tells us is in God. And to remember this isn't just
for himself. God reveals this in his word. This is for his people. This is for sinners. And so we have in our second
point, in ourselves, that exercise of hope that is to be continued. It is to be continually hoping. But I will hope continually. and will yet praise Thee more
and more. So what is this exercise then
of hope? What is it hoping in? Was the hope of the Gospel? The Gospel is good news of salvation
through the Lord Jesus Christ. When we think of the message
of the angels when our Lord was born on earth, peace, goodwill
toward men, and the expectancy of blessing, there is then a
hope of that gospel. If the gospel is preached, if
good news is preached, there must be a reason for that. There
must be that which is promised, that which can come, And the
gospel has that hope, the very presence of that gospel being
based on the Lord that died and rose again for our justification
to bring us to be without guilt before and condemnation before
the throne. And so we have the Thessalonians
that had those that had passed away, And Paul writes to them
and he says that they ought not to sorrow as those that have
no hope. And he explains how that those
that have died in the Lord Jesus Christ, that they are with God. And when God comes again at the
end of the world, he'll bring them with him. They aren't perished,
they're alive with him. Absent from the body, present
with the Lord. And we have also that hope that
when we die as a believer, as one that is trusting in the Lord
Jesus Christ to put away our sins, that we also shall be with
him. And when he comes, we shall be
with him. The apostle says, if in this
life only, We have hope in Christ, we have all men most miserable. So how then is that hope seen? We see it with the publican in
prayer coming before God. God be merciful to me, a sinner. The exercise of hope in his soul,
he felt himself a sinner. Beat upon his breast, that's
where the sin was. Do you feel it? Do I feel it
there? But how did that hope realize
itself in coming in prayer, in pleading for mercy? Why? Because
he knew he didn't deserve it himself, but he knew that the
character of God was to show mercy. You think of Psalm 136,
after every verse, for his mercy endureth forever. And so that
publican, that sinner, he was pleading for mercy. We think of our bodies that are
perishing, but we have in hope of eternal life, that when this
earthly tabernacle is destroyed, is taken down, we shall have
a building of God eternal in the heavens. And that is a hope
that is an expectation on what God has said and what God is. The Lord says, I give unto them
eternal life. They shall never perish, neither
shall any man pluck them out of mine hand. And that relates
then in ourselves when we feel so lifeless and cold and dead
to look into the Lord and asking him for life. The Lord says,
you will not come unto me that you might have life. Ask, and
it shall be given thee. Seek, and it shall find knock,
and it shall be opened unto you." We have that hope. It will reflect
itself in our lives. We mentioned that the psalmist
cast down hope there in God, for I shall yet praise him, that
God would come to him. We think of David when Ziklag
was burnt with fire. And those that were with him
were talking of stoning him, that David encouraged himself
in the Lord his God. In other words, he was hoping,
exercising that hope in God. As a reminder, whatever we pass
through here below, that we are to continually hope. The adversary
will try to discourage us, say our hope is vain, it's empty,
say that because the Lord hasn't appeared immediately, He never
will appear, but the exercise is to waiting upon the Lord. And this is of honour and glory
to God when a people believing in the Lord's ability and that
He will come, they keep praying. Our Lord told this The parable
of the widow that came to the judge, avenged me on my adversary,
and he wouldn't for a while. But then he said, lest this woman
weary me by her continual coming, I will avenge her. The Lord said,
hear what the unjust judge said. Shall not God avenge his own
elect which cry day and night unto him? Just because the Lord
delays, doesn't mean to say he won't appear. We heard and read
regarding Joseph, the butler forgot him for two years, but
the Lord didn't forget. The Lord had an appointed time.
While he was waiting, his word tried him. The word of the Lord
tried him. There was that exercise going
on, but Joseph was still hoping in the Lord. hoping in what the
Lord had promised, what the Lord had said, what his expectation
was, that the Lord would appear, and the Lord did appear. We need to remember this. In a hope that is seen is not
hope. For what a man seeth, why doth
he yet hope for? We read in Hebrew, it says, the
Lord's promise and his oath. And the illustration is given,
if someone makes a promise to us and promises with an oath,
then we trust what they have agreed to do. And the Lord's
promises in the gospel are sealed and sealed with the oath of God. And the apostle then says to
the Hebrews, which hope we have, As an anchor of the soul, sure
and steadfast, entereth into that within the veil. We need
that anchor. Maybe this morning some of you
are tossed to and fro, you're troubled, troubled with affections
and trials and doubts and fears. Tossed to and fro. What would
a ship be in a storm if it had no anchor? Driven onto the rocks,
wouldn't it? destroyed, sunk, but an anchor,
an anchor that goes right down to the rock that holds fast,
that holds that ship. And this is what hope is set
before us. May we be encouraged this morning
to hope continually, hoping in God, hoping in His mercy, hoping
in Him, in His providence. hoping that he will appear for
us and help us. We're told that if we have this
hope in us, then we purify ourselves, we walk as if we expect his coming,
we watch for his coming. You know, if there was one, say,
waiting at a bus stop and they see on the side that the bus
is going to appear at a certain time, And they'd hope that it
would come. But if that person was just then
wandering up and down the road, away from the bus stop, and you
say, well, it doesn't seem to be consistent with hoping the
bus will come. You're not even waiting where
it's likely to come. You think of the parable of the
five wise and five foolish. They all slumbered and slept.
Were they really hoping of the Lord's coming? Are we exhorted
in the Word to redeem the time? Be as the men that wait for their
Lord, and that are watching. They're not just praying, but
also watching and looking for Him. Like Elijah on Mount Carmel. The Lord had appeared. He'd sent
fire from heaven, but there was still no rain. And so he goes,
he prays. Seven times, said to his servant,
go again seven times, look towards the sea. And the seventh time,
there riseth out of the sea a cloud like a man's hand. And there
Elijah saw what the Lord was doing, but his hope, and it was
a valid hope because the Lord had sent the fire, the Lord had
turned their hearts back again, they'd killed the prophets of
Baal, And there was a real hope then the Lord would send rain. The Lord doesn't do things by
halves. The Lord perfects His work. He
finishes His work. And we are to have that hope.
The apostle, when he writes to the Ephesians, he tells them
what is the hope of his calling, that is the calling of God, And
then later on he says, what is the hope of our calling? When
the Lord has called his people, called them by grace. Paul says
in Romans 5, if while we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us, how much more being reconciled we shall be saved through his
life. How much more when the Lord has
begun a good work in us, will he perform it unto the day of
Jesus Christ? And so our hope is in the performing
God, what the Lord will do, not what we will do, not in our might,
our strength, but in what the Lord will do. And so the apostle
writes to the Thessalonians and he speaks of the patience of
hope, one of the things that hope goes through. is a patience,
an endurance, a waiting upon the Lord. But through all that
is a hope, and it's a good hope. The Hymn writer says, good hope,
through grace the saints possess the fruit of Jesus' righteousness
and by his Spirit given. There's a hope, hoping to the
end, a hoping in the grace of God, hoping for the help from
God, for the power from God. It is a real exercise in the
soul of the people of God that they are looking to the Lord
for that provision, for that to be conveyed, for that power
to be given, for that which will change their sorrow into joy,
their darkness into light, that shall answer their prayers, that
shall appear for them. Now these things are the exercise
of the people of God, the exercise of hope. And you see the difference
between the object of hope, where we are looking, and the exercise
looking at what shall flow forth. from that source. Paul, when
he writes to the Romans, Romans chapter 8, and we read this,
that we are saved, verse 24, we are saved by hope. But hope that is seen is not
hope for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if
we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait
for it. Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth
our infirmities. We know not what we should pray
for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for
us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth
the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he
maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And that hope then is in the
Lord, in a performing God, what the Lord will actually do for
his people. We have in Proverbs 10, the hope
of the righteous shall be gladness, but the expectation of the wicked
shall perish. Now it's a blessed thing to have
a hope in the Lord and to be walking here below as those that
have those hope in the fear of the Lord following His Word as
a Christian, as a disciple. And that hope then will lead
through to praise. And that is what I want to look
at in our last point. Our praise comes from the Lord. Therefore our hope is sure as
well. Our praise is certain. But I will hope continually and
will yet, is not now, but will yet praise Thee more and more. This is the blessing and the
work of faith that joins together and sees these things together.
We read in the Psalms, He shall give grace and glory No good
thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly. Grace here
below, grace to help, saving grace, free unmerited favour
comes from the Lord, and where that comes from Him, He will
give glory. In our text you've got joy as
well, when He gives hope, when He gives hope to a poor sinner.
What would we think as fathers, as mothers, giving hope to a
child that something would be conveyed, that we'd do something
for them. And when it came to that time,
we didn't do it. They say, but you led me to believe
you'd do this. I'd been hoping you would do
it. And sure enough, I didn't really mean it. I decided not
to do it. How cruel that would be. But
in the word the Lord says, that where he gives that hope, it
will result in praise. It's not a vain hope. The expectation
of the righteous shall not perish. Our hope in the Lord shall not
be put to shame. Where the Lord has raised that
up, and I'd say again, it's what has been shown to us of what
the Lord is, that gives rise to the hope in that, and where
that is so, in the Lord's time and way, He will give praise. He will let the poor sinner see
His glory. We think of Hannah in all her
sorrow and pouring out her heart before the Lord and then able
to come back and for this child, I pray, the Lord hath given me
my petition. And you might say she had hope
first in even coming to pray. And then she had more hope when
Eli said, the Lord give thee thy petition that thou hast asked
of him. And when the Lord, she went away
no more sad and then came back and so full of praise and so
full of glory. We think of the children of Israel
coming out of Egypt, the hope that they had first. When Moses
came to them, what trials it went through. Should they have
stopped when Pharaoh was making their burdens harder, taking
away their straw? No, the Lord was on his way. He was working. Their hope was
not put to shame. Those that were able to continually
hope, they were brought forth out of Egypt. Then what about
when they came to the Red Sea? The Lord did bring them through
and then you see their praise and their glory to God. The hope that the Lord gives
his people, he will not go back on that. He will not take it
away. He is the God of hope and he
works that by his power into the hearts of his people. And
then that will then lead on in his time and way to a time of
praise. May this be our resolve and our
desire like the psalmist here. But I will hope continually and
will yet praise thee more and more. My mouth shall show forth
thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day. For I know not the
numbers thereof, I will go in the strength of the Lord God,
I'll make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine own