Yesterday I received a double dose of bad news. In the span of 5 minutes, the words in two emails left me disappointed and doubting that a project I had worked on for years would come to fruition. I wanted to quit. What’s the use? I felt like going back to bed and starting the day over again.
Then I remembered Psalm 71. The psalmist (who might be David) complained that his enemies were conspiring to take him out in his old age (Psalm 71:9-10). “They say, ‘God has abandoned him. Let’s go and get him, for no one will help him now’ ” (Psalm 71:11). His strength had left him. He couldn’t fight back. Should he simply curl up and die?
Yet the psalmist remembered his God, who had been faithful to him from childhood. He wrote, “From my mother’s womb you have cared for me” (Psalm 71:6). The God who had been faithful his whole life would remain faithful now and into the future. He didn’t know how his present battle would turn out. He might lose. But considering his death, he wrote that God will “restore me to life again and lift me up from the depths of the earth” (Psalm 71:20). The same God who was faithful in life could be counted on—even in death.
I still feel sad this morning, but I’m choosing to hope in God. I have several reasons to quit my project, but I have one large reason to press on that trumps them all. I believe Jesus will return and raise my body from the grave. He will reward every good thing I’ve ever done, so how can I cease my labor for Him? (2 Corinthians 5:10).
The literary center of Psalm 71 is verse 14. It has become my battle cry. Life can be brutal and deeply disappointing, but “as for me, I will always have hope” (NIV)—hope in a faithful God who provides all I need.
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: John 15:17–16:4
More:
Read Isaiah 40:28-31 to learn where our true hope is found.
Next:
Where have you lost hope? How might hoping in God empower you to keep going?
Adriel L. on September 17, 2015 at 8:27 am
Dear Mike, I’m sorry to hear about what happened. I can’t imagine the disappointment you are going through. But it may help to know this: it happened because God willed it, and it is what He wants for you. I hope you find encouragement in James 1:2-3 and the following verses: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.”
Thanks for sharing and have a meaningful day.
Mike Wittmer on September 17, 2015 at 11:12 am
Thank you, Adriel. I am finding that these verses are true. It’s not fun to learn them, but I couldn’t imagine going through trials without them, and the God who promised them!
Tom Felten on September 17, 2015 at 8:42 am
Mike, it’s great to have perspective provided by God and His promises, isn’t it? Recently, I was feeling anxious about an issue in my life when it occurred to me that the God will work things out in His timing and that He has proven Himself to be so faithful to me and others in the past. Yes, my hope is in Him today!
Mike Wittmer on September 17, 2015 at 11:18 am
Amen. I heard a scholar once say that God’s faithfulness is the key even after we die–that the key to hope is to know that the God who has been faithful in this life will remain faithful even in the next.
godlove on September 17, 2015 at 9:00 am
Thanks so much for this excellent post. It talks to each and everyone of us, we always have a point (or many points) when we find ourselves in situations which make us wonder whether GOD truly wants us to go through such disappointment but I guess at the end of the day He knows best what is good for those who trust in Him. The momentary disappointment may be to make way for a greater satisfaction, or to prevent us from having an even greater disappointment later. No man can fathom GOD’s Wisdom so it’s just best to “keep on hoping for His help [and] praise Him more and more”. (I’m adding Psalm 71:14 to my list of favourite Bible verses too.)
Mike Wittmer on September 17, 2015 at 11:14 am
Thank you godlove. I love the defiance of Psalm 71:14–no matter what happens, nothing can take away my hope in Jesus!
hisray on September 17, 2015 at 9:54 am
For me it always comes down to “Will the end result glorify me or will it glorify God?” If the answer is me or even if it is both, it is the wrong answer. If the answer is God alone then I will not let my circumstances dictate my trust in God.
Mike Wittmer on September 17, 2015 at 11:17 am
I like this, hisray. I do though think it’s okay for individuals to receive glory–Scripture tells us to honor people, such as our parents and leaders. The key is what is my intent? If I am doing something in part for my own glory, then I agree that it is sin. But if some honor happens to come from it, then I can humbly thank God and let it go–pour the praise out on the ground like David poured out the water that his men brought to him from the well in Bethlehem.
Andy Rogers on September 17, 2015 at 4:21 pm
Thanks for this article, Mike. I really appreciate your resurrection perspective. Thanks for the reminder. 🙂
Roxanne Robbins on September 17, 2015 at 10:38 pm
This morning I was listening to a Tim Keller sermon. He said our outlook today is based on what believe will happen in the future. If we fear the future, we’ll live in fear today. If we have hope like the Psalmist’s who, as you noted, trusted God would restore his life again and lift him from the depths of the earth, than we our outlook today will radiate hope.
Mike Wittmer on September 18, 2015 at 1:30 pm
That’s good, Roxanne. The future becomes the present which becomes the past. This means that the future is coming at us, and it will have the last word.