“I Will Always Have Hope”
[Psalm 71:1–14]
Chuck Colson, who served as an aide to President Nixon, wrote a book titled Born Again, based on his experience in prison. In it, he shared an observation (source: Internet) that there were three types of prisoners:
The first type were those without hope—people who banged their heads against the wall and harmed themselves.
The second type were also hopeless—those who crouched in the corner of their cells, unmoving and withdrawn.
The third type were those who waited for the day they would be released and took every opportunity to go out into the yard to exercise.
Even though they were inside a prison cell, they acted as if they would be released the next day. Though their bodies were confined, their hearts were already living in freedom.
The life of someone who lives with hope is a life of freedom.
A hopeful person is full of optimism.
People who are positive and proactive see light even in the darkness.
But pessimists see darkness even in the light.
So, which one are you?
Do you see light even in the darkness?
Or do you see darkness even in the light?
What is God’s thought toward us?
The Bible says in Jeremiah 29:11:
“‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,’ declares the Lord, ‘thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.’”
God, who wants to give us a hope for our future, desires to speak to us today through Psalm 71:1–14.
The Lord wants us to make a firm declaration: “I will always have hope.”
Therefore, under the title “I Will Always Have Hope,” I would like to reflect on this passage from three perspectives:
(1) What was the seemingly hopeless situation of the psalmist?
(2) Why did the psalmist decide to say, “I will always have hope”?
(3) What was the life of the psalmist like after making that decision?
First, let’s consider the despairing and hopeless situation the psalmist was facing.
The psalmist was in danger of death due to “the hand of the wicked, the unrighteous and cruel men” (v. 4), or “his enemies” (v. 10).
They watched for his life and plotted to kill him (v. 10).
The Hebrew meaning of the word translated as “cruel” refers to someone “swollen with leaven.”
In other words, a “cruel” person is a wicked or unrighteous individual who is so deeply evil that they do not stop doing wrong, do not know how to repent, and only continue to spread their wickedness further and further (according to Dr. Park Yoon-Sun).
Because such people were threatening the psalmist’s life, he was in a humanly hopeless, life-or-death situation.
Yet in that moment, the psalmist made this decision:
“But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more.” (v. 14)
Second, let us now reflect on why the psalmist made the decision to say, “I will always have hope,” even in such a desperate state.
(1) Because the Lord is his hope
Look at the first part of Psalm 71:5:
“For You are my hope, O Lord GOD…”
This world can never give us hope.
What the world offers is nothing but despair.
Satan constantly tries to drive us into hopelessness.
However, even in this world that brings despair, we live rejoicing in hope.
The reason is that our Lord is our hope.
The third verse of Hymn 539 says:
"Even when all I trusted in this world fails, I believe in the promise of my Savior, and my hope will grow even greater."
We Christians are people whose hope in the Lord grows stronger the more everything else in the world falls apart.
We stand on the promises of the Lord, and our hope in Him cannot help but grow.
(2) Because the Lord is his dwelling rock
Look at Psalm 71:3:
“Be my strong refuge, to which I may resort continually; You have given the commandment to save me, for You are my rock and my fortress.”
Every time enemies came to kill him, the psalmist fled continually to the Lord, who was his rock and his fortress.
He describes the Lord also as a “rock” (verse 3).
This “rock” refers to a firm and trustworthy object of faith (according to Park Yoon-Sun).
Especially when he was drained of strength because of his enemies, the psalmist trusted in the Lord, who was his strength.
The reason his heart was not shaken amid persecution and suffering was because he took refuge in the Lord—his rock, his fortress, and his stronghold.
Just like Abraham, the father of faith, who hoped against hope, we too must continue to hope in the Lord in this hopeless world.
We can do this because of the promises the Lord has given us.
When we stand firmly on those promises, we will not be shaken.
And we can pray, expect, and wait for the Lord who will fulfill those promises.
The promise that the psalmist held onto as he took refuge in the Lord his rock was this:
“You have given the commandment to save me” (verse 3).
Therefore, with hope in salvation and with assurance of it, he took refuge in the Lord, his firm rock, and made his dwelling there.
(3) Because the Lord has been his trust since youth
Look at the second part of Psalm 71:5:
“… and my trust from my youth.”
The psalmist was able to make the decision to say, “I will always have hope,” even in seemingly hopeless circumstances, because he had experienced God’s protection from his youth up to the present time of writing this psalm.
That is why, even in his current suffering and crisis, he was confident that God would protect and deliver him.
I hope this confidence of the psalmist will be planted not only in our own hearts but especially in the hearts of our young children.
If they learn to trust in God from a young age, how much strength and hope will they have as they live in this difficult and harsh world?
Finally, let us consider this third point:
What was the life of the psalmist like after he made the decision to say, “I will always have hope”?
(1) He takes refuge in God.
Look at verse 1 of today’s passage, Psalm 71:
“In You, O Lord, I put my trust...”
The psalmist confesses that the Lord is his strong refuge (v.7).
Therefore, he fled to the Lord, who became his firm refuge from the enemies that brought him despair.
He took refuge “continually” in the Lord, his strong and secure shelter (v.3).
His prayer topics are as follows:
(a) First, he prayed for God to save him.
The psalmist prayed:
“Deliver me in Your righteousness, and cause me to escape; incline Your ear to me, and save me” (v.2).
He prayed to be saved from his enemies—wicked, unjust, and cruel people—asking God specifically to help him escape from them (v.4).
(b) Second, the psalmist prayed that God would not forsake him.
Look at verse 9:
“Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails.”
He asked God not to leave him, even in his old age and weakness.
(c) Third, the psalmist prayed that God would bring failure upon his enemies.
In verses 10–13, the psalmist describes his enemies as those who watched his soul, claiming falsely that God had abandoned him and that no one could rescue him from their hands.
So he prayed this way regarding them:
“Let those who are adversaries of my soul be confounded and consumed; let those who seek my hurt be covered with reproach and dishonor” (v.13).
Look at verses 6 and 14 of today’s passage:
“By You I have been upheld from birth; You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb. My praise shall be continually of You” (v.6),
and “But I will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more” (v.14).
As his enemies grew in wickedness, the psalmist resolved to praise the Lord even more.
Having always taken refuge in the Lord, his solid rock, he praised Him continually under His protection.
So he said:
“Let my mouth be filled with Your praise and with Your glory all the day” (v.8).
Those who continually trust in God praise Him at all times, even when circumstances seem hopeless.
The reason is that they know and believe the Lord alone is their hope.
We who live by faith with this Hope—Jesus—dwelling in our hearts must praise Him in all situations.
No matter how hopeless a situation may seem, let us, like the psalmist, resolve to say:
“I will always have hope,”
because the Lord is our hope, our rock of refuge, and our trust from childhood.
Let us praise Him always.
Those who always hope in the Lord will always praise Him.
I pray that you and I may be such people—those who praise the Lord even in the midst of despair.
With a heart that desires to see us raised up as worshippers who praise the Lord by hoping in Him even amid despair,
Pastor James’ Reflection
(With gratitude for the hope the Holy Spirit gave me as He revived my heart through the Wednesday prayer meeting)