You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in Your word. (Psalm 119:114)
When I was a boy, I loved playing hide and go seek. I loved looking for good hiding places. I tried to look for a place where not only I would be completely hidden, but also allowed me to spy on my friends as we played the game. I still remember such moments with joy, decades later. In Psalm 119:114, the psalm writer uses the metaphor of a hiding place in reference to God: “You are my hiding place and my shield.” The Hebrew word translated as “hiding place” is seter, which can be translated as “cover, hiding place, or secret place.” A seter is a place where you can be safe and secure, hidden from all that might hurt you, including things like bad weather or enemies. For example, in 1 Samuel 19:2 Jonathan says to David, “My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding [seter] and stay there.” Because God is the psalm writer’s hiding place, he prays, “I hope in Your word.” He might have said, “I hope in You,” but wanted in this instance to emphasize the word of God as something in which he hopes. God’s word in this phrase is not exactly the same as the Bible. Rather, it is all that God has spoken, all that God has revealed to Israel. In particular, the psalm writer would place his hope in the promises of God, promises of protection, deliverance, salvation, prosperity, and peace. In the season of Advent, Christians renew our hope in God. We focus especially on hope related to the future, when Christ comes again and God restores and renews all things. This hope comes to us through God’s Word, now preserved for us in the Bible, what we often call the Word of God. Take Ephesians 1:8-10, for example. Here we learn that God has made known to us the plan “to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment” (Eph. 1:10). What is God’s plan? It is “to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.” (Eph. 1:10). God will restore the brokenness of all things that resulted from the entrance of sin into the world. God will make all things right through Christ, filling the world with endless peace, upholding all things with justice (see Isa. 9:7). In a world that is very broken, the promise of God to heal and to restore gives us hope. So, like the psalmist, we hope in God’s word. The core of Advent hope is something all Christians share in common. We remember how Israel hoped for the Messiah. We ourselves hope for His second coming and all that it will entail. In addition to this Advent core, we also have personal, individual hope in God. We wait upon God to respond to our needs and concerns. We wait upon God to minister to our family and friends. Our distinctive hopes are often inspired by God’s word in Scripture, especially the promises to which we cling faithfully. What do you hope for God to do in your life? In the lives of your family and friends? In our church? How do you hope in God’s word? Thank You, Lord, for the encouragement of Advent to put our hope in You and to shape our hope in light of Your Word. Amen. Comments are closed.
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