“Learning to Hope”
Isaiah 40:27–31 (ESV)
27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God”?
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.
30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;
31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Why are some people resilient, and others are not?
Question:
What transforms these words from an idea into reality?
What does it mean to “Wait upon the Lord?”
The Hebrew word for “Wait” =
The capacity to continue to bear up under difficult circumstances.
This root means to wait or to look for with eager expectation.
Waiting with steadfast endurance is a great expression of faith. It means enduring patiently in confident hope that God will decisively act for the salvation of his people
In modern psychology, hope is usually defined as more than wishful thinking.
A hopeful person is not necessarily optimistic about everything; they tend to believe that goals are possible and that there are ways to pursue them.
Viktor Frankl, writing about survival in Nazi concentration camps, observed that maintaining a sense of future possibility was often psychologically protective.
Modern research generally supports the idea that perceived future possibilities are strongly linked to mental health.
Hope has an eternal home in man’s heart. As long as there is a future, there is hope. But only the believer can really express his hope in the future, for it belongs to Yahweh alone.
John Hartley
Isaiah 40:31 (ESV)
31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 37:14–15 (ESV)
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord.
15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord:
Isaiah 37:16–17 (ESV)
16 “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made the heavens and the earth.
17 Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God.
Isaiah 37:18–20 (ESV)
18 Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands,
19 and have cast their gods into the fire. For they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed.
20 So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.”
What do we learn from Hezekiah’s remarkable faith and hope?
He has it.
He appeals to the glory of the Lord.
Now let’s contrast that with a later event in Hezekiah’s life.
Isaiah 30:1–2 (ESV)
1 “Ah, stubborn children,” declares the Lord, “who carry out a plan, but not mine, and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin;
2 who set out to go down to Egypt, without asking for my direction…
Isaiah 31:1 (ESV)
1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the Lord!
Isaiah 39:1–2 (ESV)
1 At that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered.
2 And Hezekiah welcomed them gladly. And he showed them his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.
Isaiah 39:1–2 (ESV)
1 At that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered.
2 And Hezekiah welcomed them gladly. And he showed them his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.
Isaiah 39:3–4 (ESV)
3 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?” Hezekiah said, “They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.”
4 He said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”
Isaiah 39:5–7 (ESV)
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts:
6 Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord.
7 And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
The Hezekiah Contrast
He trusted the word of the Lord from Isaiah and hoped in God.
He disbelieved the word of the Lord from Isaiah and hoped in his own resources and that of Babylon.
Why are some people resilient, and others are not?
Isaiah 40:31 (ESV)
31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Today’s Action Plan to Grow Your Hope
Read Isaiah this month – two chapters each day.
Keep in mind chapters 1-39 & 40-66.
Make a list of things that:
Build your faith and your hope.
Are examples of hope or despair in people or kingdoms.
Describe God.
Share what you learn with others.
Small Group Discussion Questions
Share your own experiences when your “faith felt thin,” and your hope was empty.
How did your hope, steadfastness, and resilience return?
Read James 1:2-12. How does this relate to the lesson on hope?
Read 1 Peter 1:3-7. How does this relate to the lesson on hope?
Read 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. Why do we not lose heart?
How does the content of Isaiah 40:12-17 increase hope, steadfastness, and resilience?