Quick encouragement

I know that this makes three posts in less than twelve hours, but I just had to share this with you this morning.

I've been in Psalm 131 this week during my quiet time. It's a short one--just three verses. Seems like not very much to spend seven days on, huh? But yesterday I spent some time looking up the meanings of the original Hebrew for verse three, which says this:

O Israel, put your hope in the LORD

both now and forever more.

Here's what I learned.

The word for "hope" is actually a verb. It means "to hope, to wait, to expect. To tarry, to wait for." The lexicon added this "to remain, to delay."

"Now and forever more" is a combination of a conjunction and a noun. The first part means "as far as, even to, until, up to, while." The second part is this: "long duration, forever, everlasting, evermore, indefinite or unending future, eternity." The lexicon added this: "the beginning or end of which is either uncertain or else not defined."

So with all that in mind, here's the encouragement I have for you today--based strictly upon God's Word.

"O [insert your name here], put your hope in the LORD
both now and forever more."

Wait for him, even when there's no end in sight, when it seems like all hope is lost. When all else is uncertain and unsure, wait for God with the expectation that he will arrive. When all around you is moving forward or in another direction without clear leading from God, wait and be still. Tarry a little longer, delay whatever plans you have made. Wait for him, trust him to keep his word. He has promised to come and he is worth waiting for.

Just look at the very last verses of Scripture found in Revelation 22:20-21:

"He who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming soon.'
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen."

May God bless you abundantly today, my friends. I love you dearly!

Comments

[Kelly]

This is GREAT Encouragement for today! Thank You

[Holly @ Crownlaiddown]

I'm receiving that blessing, friend. Thank you for sharing it!!

Love you,
Holly

[The NON-Superwoman]

Joanne, this is so right on time for me. God bless you for sharing this post. Our God is an awesome God.

[Peggy]

Thank you for your WORD STUDY on HOPE, Joanne and for your encouragement. I
receive & put my name in the verse!

I don't know if you knew that my monthly
FOCUS is HOPE...and I wrote in one of my posts about the WORD in Spanish...ESPERAR
meaning "to wait, or to hope" as a verb.
What stirred me in your writing/study was
"to expect"...it's this expectancy of Our
Messiah, Our Lord that gives us our confidence, our faith...which in turn helps
us TO LOVE as CHRIST LOVES US and know that
in Christ alone , we place our HOPE & TRUST

Blessings on you & your weekend!Thanks so much for your sharing & confirmation for me

[mamasmitten]

Thank you for taking the time. Thank you for sharing.

[Lisa]

He definitely is worth waiting for. Thanks for breaking it down.
Blessings - Lisa

[Krista Smith Kliebenstein]

Love it! I really needed this. Thanks for sharing.

[Jen]

Joanne....This was a word that I needed on this very day, at this very hour and this very minute. Thank you for being obedient to write it when the Holy Spirit impressed you to write it....even if it was the 3rd post in 12 hours. It was a timely and much needed post. Thank you....I hope that you have a very wonderful and restful weekend!

[Kimberly]

Thank you for posting this. I'll be printing it out and carrying it with me. I really need some hope right now.

[gretchen]

Thank you so much! This has been a week were an opportunity was presented to me and I had to make a quick decision. If I based my decision on fear and uncertainty of the future, I knew that would be a mistake. But the opportunity was a good thing. I felt like the Lord was saying to me "Trust me, trust me." and I felt the urge to WAIT. So I turned down this good opportunity, and am trusting God to take it from here. Sorry for lack of details but it is necessary. Anyway, your post was a confirmation to my spirit this morning since I made my decision yesterday and have been analyzing it somewhat ever since, even though I know it was the right decision.

[Carrie]

It was only a few short years ago that we found a church with a pastor who had a passion for word studies like this. It always fascinates me and blesses me that there is so much meaning to these little verses when you stop and look deeply into them. We were only at that church a short time and I really do miss his method of digging deep. I remember that he could easily spend an hour on one verse. Amazing!!

Thank you! It reminded me how rich the Word can be when we slow down and spend time with it verse by precious verse!