Hope

Hope, biblically

In everyday English, “hope” often means something we’re not sure about — “I hope it doesn’t rain.” In the Bible, hope is different. It is confident expectation, based not on our circumstances but on God’s character. Hebrews calls it “an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast” (Hebrews 6:19).

An anchor is not a decoration; it is a small piece of iron whose entire purpose is to hold on when the wind rises. That is what biblical hope does in a human heart.

Verses of hope (KJV)

• “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”

  — Romans 15:13 (KJV)

• “Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast.”

  — Hebrews 6:19 (KJV)

• “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.”

  — Psalm 42:11 (KJV)

• “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

  — 1 Peter 1:3 (KJV)

• “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

  — Jeremiah 29:11 (KJV)

• “And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.”

  — Psalm 39:7 (KJV)

• “For thou art my hope, O Lord GOD: thou art my trust from my youth.”

  — Psalm 71:5 (KJV)

• “For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?”

  — Romans 8:24 (KJV)

• “Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.”

  — 1 Peter 3:15 (KJV)

• “Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”

  — Romans 15:4 (KJV)

• “It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.”

  — Lamentations 3:26 (KJV)

• “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope.”

  — Romans 5:3–4 (KJV)

Hope when waiting is long

The Psalms are perhaps Scripture’s greatest gift to people who are waiting. The psalmists ask God, “How long?” without apology. They complain. They wait. And then, quietly, they remember. Psalm 42:11 is the model: “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God.”

Notice: the psalmist does not tell his soul to feel better. He tells it where to look.

Hope is not a promise about outcomes

Christian hope is not a guarantee that a specific circumstance will change. Cancer sometimes stays. Jobs sometimes do not return. Relationships do not always mend. What hope guarantees is that we are not walking through these seasons alone, and that God is not finished. In Christian hope, the last chapter of the story is always good — even when the middle is hard.

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. Romans 15:13 (KJV)

A short prayer for hope

See also Faith, Psalms, and Daily Prayers.