How Hope Protects Us

Have you noticed that one of the most common phrases in music is “hold on” or some variation of it? Generally, we need encouragement that we can make it - that it’s worth it to persevere. That’s essentially what hope is, right?

In the Psalms, hope comes up dozens of times. Again, there’s no lack of trials that need to be faced and difficulties that must be endured - and having something to look forward to (a.k.a., hope) is a key ingredient to the recipe for perseverance.

Psalm 25 takes a slightly different approach, but no less interesting. Notice how how the author is pointing out that doing the right thing is actually protective - not because of the morality of it all, but because the poet is doing the right thing believing that God will honor it. Listen in:

May integrity and uprightness protect me,
    because my hope, Lord, is in you. - Psalm 25:20

There’s a sense in which the psalmist can rely on integrity because God is still God, and integrity is God’s preferred way of being in the world. It’s like following Jesus - that’s the way to life, even though in the short run it often does not feel like you are flourishing. But that’s where the hope comes in, right? You have to trust that living in God’s ways will in the end be honored by God.