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Put Your Hope in the Lord

Writer's picture: Pastor Nathan NassPastor Nathan Nass

“Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you. I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.” (Psalm 130:1-8)

Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord.” Those words make me think of a story I heard. Six years ago, the commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command gave the commencement speech at the University of Texas. In his speech he told a story about his time in Navy SEAL training. The hardest months of his life. The goal of the instructors was to break those men’s wills so that only the strongest survived. In the middle of Hell Week—when the sailors went without sleep for a whole week—they went in the mud. Mud up to their necks. And just sat in the mud. For 15 hours. Cold. Exhausted. Groaning. Finally, the instructors offered a deal: “If just five of you quit, we can all stop.” The groans increased. You could sense that some were ready to give up.

Is that how you feel today? You don’t have to be in the special forces to feel stuck in the mud. In the depths. Lots of people right now feel like they want to give up. I do! What’s your depths? We’ve all been there. We’ve hit rock bottom, only to find there’s no bottom. We just go down even further. Maybe it’s a sickness. Or depression. Or a death. Or rejection. “Out of the depths.” Like you’ve been plopped in the middle of the ocean. Waves and wind pounding you. No one to save you. Alone, except for God. Is that where you’re at today?

It’s worse than you think. The psalm adds this thought, “If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand?” If God were to actually keep a list of our sins, how long would it be? Can you imagine having all your sins unrolled before you? It’s starting to get uncomfortable, isn’t it? You saw that scantily clad woman pop up on the screen, so you clicked on it. You smile every time you see that person, but in your heart you hate them. Can you imagine having all those sins unrolled before you? People love keeping a record of other people’s sins. What if God were like that? Isn’t that terrifying? You talk about depths. What can we say? “Help! Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.

Thankfully, that commander didn’t stop his story with the men in the mud. As some were ready to give up, suddenly a voice in the back started singing. It wasn’t singing on key. In fact, it sounded awful, but it was singing. And then another voice joined in. And another. Soon every man was singing. The instructors yelled and cursed at them. They threatened that if they kept singing they’d never get out of the mud. But the men kept singing. And as the admiral described it, “Somehow the mud seemed a little warmer, the wind a little tamer and the dawn not so far away.” Their situation hadn’t changed, but something was different. Know what it was? Hope.

When you’re in the depths, hope makes all the difference in the world. That hope is what God’s Word calls out to you today. You might feel in the depths. You might see your sins piling up. The devil is going to tell you to give up and give in. But there’s a voice that’s singing. “With God there is forgiveness. In his Word I put my hope. With God there is forgiveness. In his Word I put my hope.” The devil has tried, but he can never silence that song of hope. “I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.” There is hope—hope in the Lord!

I love and need this encouragement from God’s Word: “Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.” When everything else fails, the Lord’s unfailing love never does. When nobody comes to church, when you feel all alone, you’re not. The Lord’s unfailing love never ends. When everyone points out your faults, Jesus points you to his cross. Jesus has forgiven every one of our sins. Let that hope ring out to those in the depths. “Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.” There’s hope!

Do you know who that voice in the back singing is? You are! You are the Christian voice in a hopeless world. Look at the people around you. They need hope from Jesus! Hope always begins with a voice. “You are so much more than your looks. You are the child of God!” “Your sins don’t define you. You are forgiven!” “It’s not about what you do, it’s about what Jesus has been done for you.” “It’s not about how many games you win, it’s about how much God loves you.” Christians are the voice of hope to a hopeless world. You get to say to people in the depths: “Put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.

This is what Jesus and his Word do for you and me. When we’re in the darkest moments of life, it might seem like it’s never going to end. But Jesus and his forgiveness and love are new every morning. It’s Jesus’ Word and Jesus’ promises that fill our bodies and our souls with hope for another day. Are you in the depths? You’re not alone. “I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.

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