2Samuel 9:8: And he bowed and said, What is your servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog as I am?
Mephibosheth was lame on both legs and he belongs to the family of Saul, once a sworn enemy of David. I am sure that he tries hard to be out of the radar, because he doesn’t want the sin of his grandfather to be visited on him. However, the reverse was the case, out off the blues, David sent for him, not to harm him in any way but to shower favour on him (2Samuel 9).
Mephibosheth called himself a dead dog in the focus verse. That was how irrelevant and insignificant he thought he was. Another place in the bible were the image of a dog was used to illustrate a spiritual truth was in the book of Ecclesiastes. That verse which says that to him that is joined to the living there is hope and that a living dog is better than a dead lion (Ecclesiastes 9:4-6). It is better to be a dog that is joined to the living than to be lion that is dead, because the dog still has possibilities that are beyond the reach of the dead lion on this earth. For the dead lion, the end has come.
The story of Mephibosheth is the classic grass to grace story. David exercised his sovereignty in Israel to shower favour in him. He looked for an excuse to be a blessing to him.
Hannah was in a similar situation. She was barren and time was ticking. When God performed a miracle for her, giving her Samuel, she sang a song, where she acknowledged the power of God to change situation (1Samuel 2:1-10). The psalmist says that promotion does not come from the east, west or south but God is the judge, who lifts up one and demotes another (Psalm 75:6-7).
Paul wrote that hope does not make us ashamed because the love of God has been shed abroad in our hereafter (Romans 5:5-6). It means that when hope is in place, shame is displaced, because in all situations, we have the full assurance of the love of God and we are focused on that, no matter what.
And among the three things that Paul wrote to the Corinthians that are eternal in relevance are faith, hope and love (1Corintians 13:13). So hope is no small matter. Also in defining faith, the writer of the book of Hebrews said that faith is the substance of things hoped for (Hebrews 11:1); the evidence of things not seen. Hope is the platform of faith. Lack of hope is the basis of being a yo-yo Christian. We walk with God by faith (2Corinthians 5:7), but hope is the ground on which you walk; it gives stability to your walk with God.
We need to realise its importance. In the book of Hebrews we realise that hope is an anchor for the soul, which enters into the very presence of God (Hebrews 6:17-20). An anchor is what gives a ship stability, so even when there are waves coming at it, it maintains its position. Hope is very important for spiritual (walk with God) and emotional (anchor for the soul) stability.
In biblical terms, hope is beyond wishful thinking. It is the impressing on the heart of an unseen reality, by God himself. It is unspoken expectation of possibilities that are beyond the boundaries of our imagination.
Paul wrote that eyes have not seen what God has prepared or those who loves him (1Corinthinas 2:9-10). But hope can apprehend them, because it reaches into the very presence of God. To reject hope is to reject God.
Paul wrote that we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God; that glory is beyond the limits of man, independent of his imagination, the full expression of the possibility that man has, based on God’s design. Hope is a powerful thing that makes you lit up with joy at all time. Without hope, there is depression. Elijah, when Jezebel declared that she was going to deal with him, had no hope of God coming to his rescue (1Kings 19:1-16). Then he wished he was dead.
When Jonah made the prophecy in the Nineveh that the city will be overrun in weeks, he said it with faith but there was no hope and love, but it is the three: faith, hope and love that fully captures the heart of God for the moment (1Corinthians 13:13). Jonah was only occupied with one third of God’s heart.
God said that the city will be ran over, within a frame of time; that is faith. That the people will respond in repentance and change their ways, averting the disaster is hope, love being the greatest of the three says that since God is love, he is more interested in showing compassion than, coming hard in judgment (once you meet his condition). Jonah entered depression, when the judgment he wanted and have declared on that city did not come to pass (Jonah 3-4). He had overlooked hope, in his delivery of the message.
Hope is a form of rest in God. When Jesus died, he rested in hope of the resurrection; he said my flesh will rest in hope (Acts 2:25-32). Without hope there is agitation. Hope is the light at the end of the tunnel, a rest in what God has designed and appointed, knowing it is the best.
Hope is about what you are gazing on. It demands no action unlike faith, though it undergirds faith. Paul told the church in Rome that they ought to be rejoicing in hope (Romans 5:2), in what has been planned on their behalf by God, planned eternally for them. When it comes to hope, it’s about waiting based on divine assurance.
Hope defines how we react to the death of a Christian; Paul said that we should not sorrow as those who have no hope (1Thessalonians 4:13-18). We need to have the basic understanding of the relevance of the resurrection of Christ to us. That he rose means we will also rise up too to be forever with the Lord. That is beyond a prayer point (prayer is directly linked with faith), it is a done deal in Christ. We are called to only rest on it.
The writer of Hebrews said that the law makes nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did, by which we draw near to God (Hebrews 7:19). You cannot draw near to God without hope; hope is the realisation that the deficit in the account of your relationship with God has been covered by the blood of Jesus. You are not approaching God to prove anything; it is in reliance on the work of Jesus, and his signed-sealed-and-delivered perfect work of Christ. That is why penance is anti-truth; it denies hope through which we draw near to God. Hope has no work to do; it only gazes on the finished works of Jesus.
With faith you do something, but in hope you rest in the work of Christ, it keeps you going, looking unto Jesus keeps you going (Hebrews 12:1-4), keeps you motivated. Because you realise that God loves you more than you can ever know, you approach him wearing the righteousness of Jesus (2Corinthians 5:21), you have nothing to prove, no claim to make, but you lean on the steadfast love of the Lord that does not cease, and his mercy that never comes to an end (Lamentation 3:20-23).
Job said that there is hope for a tree when it is cut down that when it “experiences” water, it would sprout again (Job 14:7-9). Hope represents possibilities, and God exists in the realm of limitless possibilities, where eyes have not seen, not ear heard what God has prepared for those who love him. Possibility exists beyond the realms of the mental appraisals of man.
The bible says that we should be of good cheer (John 16:33). And there is something cheery about hope (I am not talking about wishful thinking); that even though you don’t know how, but you know God will come through for you, despite your mistakes and errors; because he is sovereign and loves you unendingly. And you rest in that hope.
Even though I said that hope waits it does not mean it is passive. It actively engages the word of God. it is not hope, the spiritual quality described in the word of God for you to expect to have 70 virgins to marry in heaven, because it is opposite the truth of God.
David wrote: why are you depressed, oh my soul? As a solution he said to his soul: hope in God; “for I shall yet praise him, who is the help of my countenance, and my God” (Psalm 42:11). As far as he was concerned, hope is an antidepressant.
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