Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also shall rest in hope.
Psalm 16:9
How can we live at all if we don’t live in hope? We must dwell in hope if we dwell at all because to dwell without hope, is a dark, blank existence. David knew this all too well. He had known the darkness of no hope. In this Psalm, He was singing the praises of the benefits of living a life committed to God, even though this Psalm was written during a time of peril in his life. He had discovered the perfect harmony of living in contentment and hope even when times were hard.
David knew that living a life after God was hard, and in fact he had experienced many hardships because of his faith in God. But he knew that living a life lived outside of God’s will was harder and brought many sorrows in life. He also knew where his hope could be found. Even facing death, he was singing praises and had hope. He was secure because he had learned to dwell in hope.
To dwell is to stay in one place - to live at or in a specified place. Dwelling - staying, living - in hope is essential in this life because as we are on one mountaintop and see one hope fulfilled, there will be a valley just around the bend. Hope must be our constant companion. We can rest in hope like David. Hope is what carries us through and sustains us from one point to the next.
We are not dwelling in hope if we keep hope at an arm’s length.
When hope is fulfilled, if we have a hard time celebrating because we are waiting for the other shoe to drop, we are not dwelling in hope. Faith and hope go hand in hand, and faith is believing that God is faithful and will fulfill His promises to us. He is faithful in the small things and He is faithful in the big things. He is faithful when we can't see ahead.
Our faith in Him gives birth to hope and hope is the very air we breathe. It is the oxygen that keeps us alive.
Dwelling in hope is resting in His grace. It is trusting in His sovereignty and living expectantly for what He will do next in your life, not holding your breath in fear of what lies ahead. The hope we have in Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the prophecy already seen as a tiny babe so long ago and the hope of His second coming and the promise of eternal life. Stop living with dread and fear. Start living with excitement for what He has ahead for your life. Rest in the security of that hope. Dwell in hope.
Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom; in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth without knowing whose it will finally be. But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you. Psalm 39:7
