Next Sunday is the 1st Sunday of Advent 2023. For Christians it’s the beginning of the new “liturgical year” and, as such, it’s very fitting that the theme of our first Sunday is HOPE. We could all use a fresh injection of hope as we look to the future. To help us receive that, all our daily readings this week are focussed on the theme of HOPE!
Daily Reading: Psalm 25
The Biblical concept of “hope” is the joyful expectation of something good in the future. And as we contemplate Psalm 25, we discover that hope is conceived in the womb of trust. Our joyful expectation for the future is only made possible when we trust in the Almighty God who holds the future in the palm of His loving hand.
The whole of Psalm 25 is a beautiful declaration of trust in the Lord and of the consequent hope for deliverance that is born in the trusting heart. As the poem unfolds, it reveals that David is beset by enemies all around, by treachery within the camp, and by inner uncertainty, loneliness, affliction, troubles and anguish. In those circumstances, one would expect David to simple give up and lose all hope for the future.
Instead, he clings to God with defiant hope. He trusts in God (v.1-2) and takes refuge in Him (v.20). And out of that trust he finds his heart buoyed by hope (v.3, 5 & 21). He joyfully expects that he will not be put to shame and defeated, but will be delivered from danger, relieved, liberated, guarded, and rescued … all because of the Lord’s guidance, instruction, mercy, love and faithfulness. He is absolutely confident that “those who fear the Lord … will spend their days in prosperity, and their descendants will inherit the land.”
No matter what our current circumstances may be, and despite the many uncertainties we may feel, hope can only be born in our hearts if we provide it with the fertile womb of sincere trust in the Lord. So let’s allow the Holy Spirit to awaken within us the same attitude David displayed, and let’s say with him:
1 In you, Lord my God, I put my trust. 2 I trust in you …
3 No one who hopes in you
will ever be put to shame …
5 … for you are God my Saviour,
and my hope is in you all day long…
Amen!
Dave's Diary 
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