Hope Gives Us Courage To Find Peace

Psalm3:3-5 -  But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.  To the LORD I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill. "Selah"  I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.

 

David had been attacked by many enemies in his lifetime…but this Psalm was written while he was running from his own son. Absalom had turned on his father and hunted him down like a wild animal.  David found himself hiding in caves with just a few of the most faithful and loyal of his men.

 

I can’t imagine the anguish that must have churned in David’s heart and mind. But somehow he managed to cling to God and his promises and spoke these courageous words.  He found a small silver of hope in God and turned it into the courage he needed to find peace and joy.

 

When we lose hope….despair takes its place.  And once despair takes root it is very hard to clean completely out of our lives. It grows its lies and tricks of the heart around everything we hold dear in our hearts…and twists it into a darkness that seems endless around us.

 

But when we find the hope that David found…it allows us to cling to those things we hold dear and see them as ropes out of our darkness.  Peace and joy begins to flood the places where darkness once caused us to fear. Hope is the weapon that gives the heart the courage to fight through the storm.

 

That hope is only found in the salvation that God offers us.  He gave his only son to save us from our sins...and give us new hope with him forever in Heaven.  David knew to cry out to the father and let him take over in that dark cave of despair he felt.  It gave him the peace to sleep and rest…cause he knew God was going to make it okay…in his way…in his time.

 

Father…thank you for reminding me that darkness can only be overcome by the hope that you give me in the gift of salvation from your son Jesus. Help me to be like David….and cling to your hope that can give me peace and rest from the worries and fears of the world. Show me  how to cry out to you to be my shield and the lifter up of my head….so that I can wait out the storms around me and wait for you to answer me from your holy hill.  Amen.