Psalm 130:7-8 “Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. 8 And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.”
When we are weighted down by the cares of this present life and our own sinful state, a good-strong “hope in the LORD” overcomes our dreadful weights and lifts us up to the great heights of joy and peace; most especially “hope in” the LORD’s promises for our most happy future. In the Psalmist’s day, “Israel” could look forward to the coming Messiah. In this context, “hope” is not used as feebly as we commonly use it in our day; it simply means a doubtless anticipation of a future event. In the midst of his great tribulation, Job declared, “I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth 26 And though” even after I have been dead for a very long time “yet in my flesh shall I see God: 27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another” (Job 19:25-27). Job had a good-strong “hope in the LORD”; thus, he was able to go forward no matter how severely his troubles were weighting him down. This blessed “hope” is the product of our God-given “faith” (Hebrews 11:2; 12:2). With this faith-based “hope”, we confidently and peacefully rest in our LORD’s promises. Israel rejoiced in “the LORD” for He blessed them to “hope” in His “mercy” and “plenteous redemption”. They hoped in His “mercy”; knowing that He would surely do for them what they could not possibly do for themselves; most especially, knowing that they could not save themselves from their sins. They hoped in His “plenteous redemption”; knowing that He had plenty of power and authority to, and would certainly, “save” all “his people from” all “their sins” (Matthew 1:21). To put the crown on their “hope”, the Psalmist proclaimed, “And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.”! Now, we rest in the glorious knowledge that our merciful “LORD” “hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (II Timothy 1:9). And now, our tribulations do not seem so severe when we spend our time “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” (Titus 2:13), knowing that “Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Hebrews 9:28)! We still “hope in the LORD”, for on that Great Last Day, we will hear His Heavenly voice Command, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34)!