Happy Is The Man Who Trusts In The Lord

[0:00] Well just let's bow our heads and pray. O Lord our God, we come again to you to bring before you the desires of our heart.

[0:16] And our desire is that your kingdom may come and your will be done on earth as in heaven. May your kingdom advance in us individually and collectively as a congregation.

[0:30] And we remember this evening two of our Baptist friends here in Partick. And we pray that you will be at work among them to encourage them and to give them progress in the way.

[0:47] We pray too O Lord for our friends who are away from the congregation on holiday. We commit them to you and to the word of your grace.

[1:00] Pray that their time where they are may be profitable. And we remember those who are unable to be with us for health reasons. And we commend them to you.

[1:13] Thank you for the progress that is being made. And we just pray O Lord that this will be a means, a source of encouragement to those who struggle in their health.

[1:28] Lord our God, we pray for those who are for one reason or another not inclined to be with us. But who could be here. And we pray for them too.

[1:41] That it may be your will for them that they are seeking you the Lord. And that seeking they may find.

[1:54] And find that you are seeking for them. We bless you O Lord that you are the one who seeks us out. And we have it as our own testimony that this was the way for us.

[2:08] That when we thought we were seeking you ourselves alone. We discovered that far more important the Lord was seeking us.

[2:19] And drawing us into the arms so to speak of Christ's loving and tender embrace. And we saw beauty in him that we never saw before.

[2:32] And we were all together persuaded to come to him. And to come like Abram of old in the abandon of faith. And we just pray O Lord for such as are upon our hearts this evening.

[2:48] That they may find that it is time to turn from their own ways. And their own will. And to seek the Lord. We pray too O Lord for friends who are involved in cross-cultural mission here in the city.

[3:06] And some we know from our own denomination. We ask your blessing upon them like Duncan Peters and Colin McLeod and Shorys McGillivray.

[3:19] And those who help them. Bless them Lord. Give them tokens of your favour. The seal of approval as the apostle talks about it. And may it be O Lord that you would remember others like Graceland.

[3:34] Witnessing to Jewish people. Whether here in this city or in other places. May your kingdom come. And may such missionaries have the joy of seeing people come into the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.

[3:54] We pray for our city. It's a city that has known much blessing. And much of the powerful preaching of the word of Christ.

[4:10] And believing the report. But it's a city too that has fallen on hard times. There is much materialism and secularism. And much rampant irreligion.

[4:22] But we pray O Lord that as surely as you have people in this city. That you will not only spare it from further degeneration.

[4:33] But that you will turn the heart of the people back to you. Give people to know what it is. To say the Lord God is a sin and shield.

[4:45] The Lord will give grace and glory. And will withhold no good from those who walk uprightly. May it be O Lord that the day will not be far away.

[4:59] When young and old alike. Will be under the powerful convictions of the Holy Spirit. And seeking relief in Jesus.

[5:12] O Lord turn to us now as we wait upon you. Bless the word to us. Make it relevant. Grant that it may be effective in us.

[5:24] As we ask your pardon for our sins and shortcomings. Not for our sake. But for the sake of the Redeemer. The Lord Jesus Christ.

[5:35] Amen. Well now we're going to turn to Psalm 84. And we'll conclude our study this evening in Psalm 84.

[5:49] We may just read again. From verse 9. O God behold our shield.

[6:04] And look upon the face of your Messiah. For a day in your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God.

[6:16] Than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from those who walk uprightly.

[6:32] O Lord of hosts. Blessed is the man who trusts in you. I want us to think then in this concluding verse of Psalm 84.

[6:47] Verse 12. About the subject. Happy is the man who trusts in the Lord. We've noticed that blessed can simply be translated happy.

[7:00] Truly happy that is. Happy is the man who trusts in the Lord. Now I want us to recap. I want us to recap earlier today.

[7:11] But I want to take a slightly different angle on recap. Before we look at the actual verse itself. We've noticed from the beginning of the psalm.

[7:24] That the writer who was familiar with working in the temple courts. He was a co-write. And these folks had the menial tasks to do.

[7:38] And in his case he was prevented sometime from being involved. And he longed for a return to the enjoyment of the worship of God.

[7:51] Of the fellowship of God. He longed to be in the courts of the Lord's house. And we saw how that meant not just to be attending the temple duties.

[8:04] But to be part of the worshiping congregation. Part of the spiritual house that met in the temple itself.

[8:16] And we saw that not only did he look forward to fellowship with God. But he looked forward to fellowship with the Lord's people. He could say happy. Verse 4.

[8:26] Are those who dwell in your house. They will still be praising you. He wanted to be involved in the fellowship of the Lord's people. And the worship of the Lord's people.

[8:39] And we took some time in looking at the importance of the worship of God. Of the corporate worship of God. Of the meeting together. For God's worship.

[8:52] And fellowship with him. In that togetherness sense. And all this of course was as we noticed. On the journey heavenward.

[9:03] That's a good translation of verse 5. Happy is the man whose strength is in you. Whose heart is set on pilgrimage. The New Testament opens that subject up.

[9:17] And it tells us a lot about the Lord's people as strangers and pilgrims. As those who are passing through this world. On route to glory land to heaven.

[9:30] But we notice too. And we mentioned this already today. We notice that all this was based. On the promises of God concerning the Messiah.

[9:41] And even before the Messiah came. The psalmist is allowed by the Holy Spirit. To use this cry. This prayer. Verse 9. O God behold our shield.

[9:54] And look upon the face. Of your Messiah. And the ellipsis on that is. And in him bless us. It's all down to.

[10:06] Blessing us in the Messiah. We consider then. How the godly man rates the service of God. That was another thing we looked at.

[10:17] How the godly man rates the service of God. And the psalmist showed us. That we were to rate it highly.

[10:29] And we were to count our service to God. A wonderful privilege. An inestimable privilege. And to be content.

[10:42] To serve him. Where we are. And to be obedient. And faithful. In our service. These are some of the things. We covered.

[10:53] In the latter part. Of our study. For a day in your court. Excels a thousand. Of my own choosing. And we saw.

[11:05] How he was. Taught. And sought to teach us. About humble. And faithful service. To his God. But then.

[11:17] We moved on. And we saw that. It was in the path of obedience. The blessing was to be found. And he encourages us.

[11:28] To think like that. To think about. Walking in the Lord's ways. Serving in the Lord's ways. We thought earlier today.

[11:39] No good thing. Will he withhold. From those. Who walk uprightly. I remember. Years ago. Doing a bit of a study.

[11:50] In the subject of. Of Israel. As the covenant. Community. As the covenant people. And looking at. Passages where.

[12:03] Where their. Obedience. To God's. Rules. Was the way. Of blessing.

[12:14] For them. And I think. That that carries over. It carries through. The whole. Not of the Old Testament. Only. But in the New Testament. To. God.

[12:26] Graciously. Rewards. Our obedience. He's not obliged. To do it. He chooses. To do it. And it's an incentive. To us. To. To. Obey.

[12:37] His precepts. To walk in. And. To know that. When we do. Walk in them. Relying on his grace. Of course. We are blessed. We enjoy.

[12:48] The blessing. Of the Lord. No good thing. Verse 11. Will he withhold. From those. Who walk uprightly. But then.

[12:58] He comes. At the end. Here. To these words. O Lord. Of hosts. Blessed. Or happy. Is the man. Who trusts. In you.

[13:10] I wonder. If you noticed. That there is. An exclamation mark. Here. At the end. There's an exclamation mark.

[13:20] That I probably. Haven't brought out. In. In saying this. In speaking this out. He's. He's. Exuberant. He's. Exclaiming. Something.

[13:31] He's affirming. Something. With a great sense. Of. Of. Experienced. Knowledge. Happy. Is the man. Who trusts. In you. And that's the subject.

[13:44] We want to look at. For a wee while. This evening. First of all. And briefly. The focus. Of his trust. O Lord. Of hosts.

[13:56] And we've noticed. In the study. Before. That the. This. Covenant. Name of the Lord. Keeps coming up. It reminds us.

[14:09] Of God's. Special. Special. Relationship. To his people. He brings us. Into this. Relationship. With himself. He lovingly.

[14:19] Commits himself. To us. And he does this. In a saving way. He brings us. To himself. In his own sin. And.

[14:31] We were. Mentioning. Along the way. That the name. Lord. That is here. In verse 12. Is given. To Jesus. In the days. Of his flesh.

[14:42] Sometimes. Of course. People just refer to him. As master. And. That's what they were saying. But. More often. Than not.

[14:52] When the name. Lord. Is used. Of Jesus. It refers. To him. As the divine. Son of God. As one. Who is equal. To the father. In power.

[15:03] And glory. And it. Emphasizes. His. His. Entitlement. To bring us. Into an estate. Of salvation.

[15:15] And so. When the psalmist. Says. Oh Lord of hosts. He's thinking. As he had begun. About his relationship. To the Lord.

[15:25] He was in saving. In a saving relationship. With the Lord. And we can say. And ought to say. Again and again.

[15:37] Jesus. Is Lord. You remember. Paul says. No one. Can say. Jesus. Is Lord. Except.

[15:47] By the Holy Spirit. Now. That doesn't mean. That we. That an unbelieving person. Cannot. Assert this. Because an unbelieving person.

[15:59] Can say. Jesus is Lord. That's what the Bible says. But. What. Paul was meaning. There is. That heart and soul. We believe this.

[16:10] And we rest on it. And we're glad. That it's true. Jesus. Is Lord. Jesus. Is Jehovah. There's no other. We are.

[16:20] We are identifying him. And we are identifying with him. No one can say. Truly. Jesus. Is Lord. He is the eternal. Except.

[16:32] By the Holy Spirit. And. We ought to be encouraged by that. That's not. Something we just happen to believe. It's something the Spirit of God.

[16:47] Confirms to us. And we believe it. As I say. Heart and soul. But. Before we leave this. Opening part.

[16:59] O Lord of hosts. We remember that. This expression. Comes up again. And again. Either. O Lord of hosts. Verse 3. Or.

[17:11] Lord God of hosts. Or as it is here. Simply. O Lord of hosts. And we remind ourselves. That this expression. Sabeoth hosts. Talks about.

[17:22] About the Lord. As sovereign. Over all. Rational creatures. He's sovereign. Over everything. Of course. But particularly. The emphasis here.

[17:32] Is on his sovereign. Power. And rule. Over all. Rational creatures. In the spiritual world. And in this.

[17:43] Planet earth. He is the almighty. He rules over all. And. We remind ourselves.

[17:55] Of him. In this way. That his power. Is. Is. Is. Is. Is. Almighty power. He is able to do. Whatever he wants to do.

[18:06] And we've. We've tried to bring that out. In our studies. See it. And the psalmist. Finishes with it. He is able to do. For us. To use Paul's words.

[18:18] That we were thinking on recently. Ephesians 3. 20. He is able to do for us. Transcendently more. Than we can ask. Or even think. And that is to be laid hold of.

[18:30] We are to believe it. And receive it. And rest on it.

[18:42] And act upon it. In our hearts. And act upon it. Not simply believe it. But believe it. And receive it. Into our hearts. And rest upon it.

[18:54] In our hearts. And act upon it. In our hearts. It is a. Mega truth. About God. That he is able to do. That Jesus is able to do.

[19:07] Transcendently more. For us. Than we can ask. Or imagine. And I hope. That truth. Makes you feel like me. About that size there.

[19:17] About an inch high. Because most of our difficulties. In the life of faith. Circle round.

[19:28] Not believing. Really. That he is able to do. Transcendently more. Than we can ask. Or imagine. We get down on our knees.

[19:40] Or if we can't get on our knees. Anymore. We sit. Or stand. And do we really. Remind ourselves.

[19:52] Of who it is. We are dealing with. The Lord of hosts. The King of glory. And it is a sobering thought. You know.

[20:02] That Jesus said. According. To your faith. Be it unto you. And I fear often. That we get. What we expect.

[20:14] We get what we expect. We are to revise. We are to revise. We are to revise. Our thinking. As we leave. This first point. The focus. Of his trust.

[20:28] The second thing. Is. This trust. Defined. And that's important. Because. The word that's behind this.

[20:40] Is a word that's used. Frequently. There are several words. In the old testament. For. For. For trust. In the Lord. Or we might say also. Faith in him.

[20:52] Confident. Belief in him. And so on. And this one here. Batach. Is the one that is. Frequently. Translated into the English.

[21:03] As trust. But it's trust. In the sense that. It's not just about. Belief in the truth. It's. It's.

[21:15] Acting. On the truth. We believe. And therefore. It's about. Relying on him. Leaning on him. Confiding in him. This is what.

[21:26] Trust is about. And to confide in him. And rely on him. We have to hope in him. We have to hope. That we will obtain.

[21:37] What we seek. Hope. And although it's not. Really. Translated. As hope. Hope. Is very much.

[21:48] In the bosom. Of the word. So to speak. In the Old Testament. Belief. Of the truth. Of God. Is.

[21:59] Is. Is. Spoken about. In different words. Words. Words. That speak about. Receiving. And believing. God's revelation. Of his salvation.

[22:10] In the promised Messiah. And the different words. Used there. Aman. And emunah. These words. Are used. To talk about. Believing. Receiving. But this word.

[22:24] We're looking at here. Is never used. Of. Of belief. About God. In terms of. The teaching. Of the word of God.

[22:35] On him. But I say again. The practical. Response. Of a believing. Soul. To the truth. Received. That's important.

[22:47] It's not. It's not just. Fiddling around. With semantics. It's not just about. Words. Merely. It's about. What the word. Means. And how we respond. To what it means.

[22:58] In our lives. He's talking here. Happy is the man. Who trusts. Who. Goes. Forward. Because.

[23:09] He hopes. In God. He relies. On God. He confides. In God. And in the New Testament. If we turn there. For a moment.

[23:20] We are called upon. To believe. On the Lord. Jesus Christ. And we shall be saved. We're told. To believe. The truth. Of the gospel. We're told.

[23:30] To hold fast. The faith. Of the gospel. That's believing it. But. When we look around. In the New Testament.

[23:42] For a word. That is equal. To trust. In the Old Testament. There's not one. Think about that.

[23:52] There's not one. There's not an equivalent. In the New Testament. To the word. In the Old Testament. Trust. That's translated here. In our English Bible.

[24:04] What I'm saying is. Hoping. Or rely upon. There's not a word. That's an equivalent. In the Old Testament. But the equivalent.

[24:18] Of the trust. In the Lord. That is frequently. Spoken about. In the Old Testament. Is hope. In the New Testament. It's hope.

[24:32] And if you can. Bear with me on this. In the. In the Greek Bible. The Greek Old Testament. You've heard it. Referred to the Septuagint. In the Greek translation. Of the Hebrew Bible.

[24:43] The word that translates. This word. Trust. Is hope. It's hope. And that's important.

[24:59] Happy is the one. Who hopes in you. Who relies upon you. To act. Someone has said.

[25:10] The one. Who trusts in God. Is the one. Who casts. All his hopes. Present. And future. Upon God.

[25:24] And you see. This is something. That's totally different. Than. The hope. Of the worldly. We're hoping. In God. We're hoping.

[25:34] To obtain. Something. That we know. He promises. This. And let us. Therefore. At this stage. Consider. The importance. Of this. Hope.

[25:46] I would say to you. That it's hope. That is born. Of belief. In the truth. Of the gospel. It's born out of it.

[25:57] It's the practical expression. Of that belief. Of the truth. You know. You're familiar. At least.

[26:07] To an extent. You're familiar. With the apostles creed. I believe. I believe. I believe. You're familiar. With the catechism. In the description. Of the way of salvation.

[26:18] And so on. But. From that. I believe. There is to be. The practical action. That demonstrates. You really do.

[26:29] Believe. You hope in God. Daily. You wait upon him. In the sense. You're relying upon him. You confide in him.

[26:41] As your best friend. And that's important. The practical expression.

[26:53] Of having believed. The truth in Jesus. So the focus is on the Lord of hosts. And the definition of the word trust here.

[27:08] Is hope in him. Reliance upon him. And him alone. And I want thirdly. Therefore. Just to consider. Examples.

[27:19] Of. Trust. Or hope. In action. The outworking. Of true faith. In the living. And true God. And what I want to do.

[27:31] Is just select. One or two. Of the. Of the more obvious ones. Of course. We could. We could go into this. In a big way. But let me just take. One or two. And start with.

[27:42] With. With some of those. At the beginning. Of human history. Or near the beginning. Anyway. The pre-fled situation. And if you were to think.

[27:53] About. A pre-fled. Person. Who was outstanding. I hope you would think. About Enoch. Because we're told.

[28:06] About Enoch. That he. Walked with God. You find it of course. In Genesis 5.

[28:17] But. Enoch. Walked with God. In the midst of a world. That was in. Moral. Meltdown. The world.

[28:28] Was corrupting itself. We read about. Enoch. That he was the seventh. From Adam. And he. Walked with God.

[28:40] Everyone else. Was going their own way. And the way. Of. Departing. From the things of God. From anything. That they had around them. They were corrupting themselves.

[28:54] And we're told. That Enoch. The son of Jared. Lived. Three hundred. And sixty. Five years. And he. Walked with God. And God. Took him away.

[29:06] The writer. To the Hebrews. Tells us. He did not. Experience death. Because God. Took him. And we're told.

[29:17] This about him. That in the midst. Of that. Crooked. And perverse. Generation. He pleased God. He was faithful. To God. He wasn't. Deflected.

[29:28] From his hope. In the Lord. He became. A preacher. Of righteousness. The single. Chapter. Of Jude. Tells us.

[29:39] That he. In his hope. In God. As to the future. He preached. Judgment. He preached. Righteousness. And judgment. Upon all.

[29:49] And godly. And impenitent. Sinners. The Lord. Will come. With. Ten thousand. Of his saints. To execute. Judgment. Upon all.

[30:00] Those. Who are ungodly. In their ungodly. Ways. But you see. The evidence. That he was. A true follower. That he believed.

[30:11] The good news. In his own day. As it was revealed. Was that he. Hoped on. He relied. Upon God. And he stuck. To the task. That he was given.

[30:24] In the pre-flood world. Too. There was Noah. And Noah. Found favor. In. In the eyes. Of the Lord.

[30:34] Or. Grace found Noah. As Mottier has it. God. Touched his life. God set him apart. To be a faithful servant. And Noah.

[30:45] As well. Was a preacher. Of righteousness. In a day. When the world. Had melted down. Even further. Morally. And he preached.

[30:57] Righteousness. And judgment. To a brazen. And an immoral world. And he pleaded. With people. Who were defying God.

[31:09] In their lives. He pleaded. With them. That if they. If they wouldn't. Turn from their evil. God would destroy them. And the world. He'd made. And every day.

[31:21] For a hundred and twenty years. Noah. Witnessed. To what God. Had told him. To do. Not only. In the task.

[31:32] Of building the ark. But preaching. Repentance. And preaching. Judgment. To them. If they would not. Turn. And every day.

[31:44] He hoped in God. Every day. He went out. He relied upon God. If you think about it. He was. He was asked to. To build. A great cargo ship.

[31:55] What. Three hundred and fifty feet long. Or something like that. And forty five feet deep. And about seventy five wide. Something like that. And every day. In the middle of nowhere.

[32:07] He with some help. Was constructing. This great. Big cargo ship. For a hundred and twenty years. And he was preaching. Repentance. How do we know.

[32:19] He hoped in God. How do we know. That his belief. In the truth. Of God's salvation. Had its out working. In his life. Because he. Because he stuck.

[32:31] To a task. That to everybody else. Was nonsense. You are nodding. In approval. Good. It was nonsense.

[32:42] Sheer nonsense. From the worldly person's point of view. What a netter Noah is. And they ridiculed him. And scorned him. But you see.

[32:53] Noah. Quietly. Hoped in God. Relied upon God. Confided in God. Happy is the man. Who can do that.

[33:05] When. The opposition. Of the world. Is strong. Fixing. One's eye. Upon the. The promises. And the hope.

[33:15] Set before us. We go on. And you see. That's what Noah did. In the pre-fled world.

[33:25] Until the dreaded day came. And God shut him in the ark. And the rains came.

[33:39] And the world that mocked and derided. Perished. And mocked no more. But you see.

[33:52] We have these two great characters. Perhaps neglected characters. Who hoped in God. And stuck to the task. They were given. And they speak to you and me.

[34:04] Here tonight. That our hope in God. Requires us. To stay with it. To live the life of faith. In this world.

[34:15] We were thinking about Abraham. Earlier on. And we were reading about him. In Romans 4. And he was a man. Who believed the terms.

[34:27] Of God's salvation. In the Messiah. Yes promised. But. He laid hold of the promises. And he.

[34:39] Worked out. What he believed. He trusted in the Lord. He hoped in him. He relied upon him. To the extent.

[34:50] That even when life. Was going against him. And all the promises. That God had made. Concerning his son. Were unfulfilled.

[35:04] Everything was contrary. To his faith in God. Everything was contrary. To his hope in God. God. And we were reminding ourselves.

[35:15] You see. In Romans 4. Paul picks this up. And he discusses. The promised sin. The sin that was promised. To Abraham. That would be a sin.

[35:27] From. From Sarah's womb. And there they are. In old age. And God. Hasn't delivered. On his promise. God. That's what Paul is saying.

[35:40] In Romans 4. But what does he say. About Abraham. Did he stop hoping. No. We're told. What Paul says. Effectively.

[35:51] Is that. When all hope. Of having a son. With Sarah. Was gone. Abraham still. Hoped. In God. Now you remember.

[36:02] We're saying. That the New Testament. Gives us the word. That is used. In the Old Testament. Here. To trust.

[36:14] He still. Trusted God. That is. He still hoped. To see the fulfillment. Of the promise. Although it seemed. Contrary.

[36:25] To hope. Romans 4. And verse 18. Against. All hope. Abraham.

[36:35] In hope. Believed. And so became. The father. Of many. Nations. And you see. We need to remind.

[36:46] Ourselves of that. Because that kind of hope. Is not disappointed. Well. These are just. Three characters.

[36:57] For brevity's sake. I want to. To pick up. On the Psalms. Because we've been. Studying a Psalm. And there are. Forty. Two references. To the same word.

[37:10] Trust. Blessed is the man. Who trusts in you. And it is clear. It is clear. From all these references. That they do.

[37:20] Carry. In them. The clear meaning. Of hope. In God. Of leaning upon him. Of relying upon him.

[37:32] And him alone. It is. It is interesting. That. I am just going to mention. This in the passing. But it is interesting. That some time ago.

[37:44] We were studying. In Psalm 22. That is such a clearly. Christ centered Psalm. And. Although we have. Some of the words. Jesus spoke.

[37:55] On the cross. A lot of what we have. Is his thought. Life. Between himself. And his father. On the cross. And it is interesting. That when he is.

[38:05] Feeling forsaken. Experiencing. Forsakenness. And it is as if. The father is not listening. To him. Day or night. Not listening. He is.

[38:15] He is in a situation. Where. Where there is. Darkness. Most deep. And his crying. Seems to be in vain. And he says this. Our fathers. Trusted.

[38:27] In you. They trusted. And they were not. Put to shame. They trusted.

[38:38] That is the word. They hoped. They hoped. And the Messiah himself. Knew in his own experience. What it was. To hope in the Lord. And to have his hope.

[38:50] Realized. To have deliverance. We were singing. In Psalm 146. Do not put your trust.

[39:01] In princes. Same word. Don't rely on man. As if he was God. Don't rely in the most exalted of men.

[39:14] The princes of this world. Because man. His breath departs. And his plans perish with him. Happy is the man who trusts.

[39:25] Who relies upon. The Lord. And if we were to say. What the great sin. Of Israel. Was in the Old Testament.

[39:36] Period. It's simply this. That they had. They had all the promises. Of God. He and amen. And the Messiah. They had all the privileges.

[39:49] And they believed not. Nor trusted. In God's salvation. In other words. They didn't hope. In that salvation. They didn't rely on it.

[40:02] Happy is the man. And woman. Who trusts. Who hopes. Who relies upon. The Lord. They were no hopers.

[40:16] Because they refused to believe. Believe. And because they refused to believe. They had no real hope. They had no outworking. Of true belief.

[40:30] There are many examples. In the Psalms. Of what it is. To hope in God. To rely upon him. In this way. And in this way.

[40:40] We are happy. And happy indeed. Let's take that to heart. And it's interesting. And we are just turning to this. As we finish.

[40:51] That in the New Testament. The references to hope. Are not found in the Gospels at all. But they are found in the letters frequently.

[41:03] And all the hope. Of the people of God. In the New Testament. Is focused upon Christ. He is the son.

[41:16] And center of their hope. In fact. Paul goes as far. In Colossians. Chapter 1. It is verse 27. To say this.

[41:27] Christ. In you. The hope of glory. And that means. He is the hope of glory. In you.

[41:39] So that when we hope in God. We are not only hoping in Christ. We are hoping in the Christ. Who is our hope within us. Christ dwells in me.

[41:50] Says the apostle. And therefore. Hope and truth. Dwells in me. And that you see. Is a spur to us. It is a rebuke too.

[42:01] Of course. It is a spur to us. To hope more and more. To work out our faith. As those who really lean upon him. I hope.

[42:16] Very much. That you are not thinking about this superficially. But that you are really thinking about it. And that you have discovered. As I have.

[42:27] That there is a relevance here to us. Each one. The Lord is saying to us. Are you really hoping in me in this way?

[42:40] Are you really relying upon me in this way? Do you really have confidence in me? In this way? Perhaps the unhappiness we feel.

[42:51] And the restlessness we feel. Is down largely to this fact. That our hope is dim. That our hope is perhaps weakened.

[43:04] And needs to be revived. And rekindled. Such hope. As we have been seeking to talk about here tonight.

[43:15] will make us all the more resolved. To hope more and more. We need to hope more and more. And we need to hope in Christ.

[43:28] Who is the center of our hope. As we said at the beginning. He is to be the focus of our hope. We are to rely upon him.

[43:42] And know the blessing. In doing that. It is interesting that when Paul wrote. In the great letter to the Romans.

[43:53] Towards the end in chapter 15. He talks about. How that in Christ. The Gentiles would hope.

[44:06] Romans 15, 12 and 13. And he says this then. He finishes with a benediction. May the God of hope fill you. Notice that. May the God of hope.

[44:18] Fill you. With all joy and peace in believing. That you may abound in hope. We need to abound in it.

[44:30] We need to overflow in it. Through the Holy Spirit. And this is the way we are really happy.

[44:42] Oh Lord of hosts. Happy is the man. Who trusts in you in this way. Who hopes in you. And relies on you. Really relies on you.

[44:53] May be then. That we will be the better. For thinking over. What the psalmist is saying here.

[45:06] Where our focus should be. What our understanding of trusting in the Lord is. In terms of. Of moving on.

[45:18] In a practical way. From what we believe. Of the gospel. To rely upon him. Day by day. To confide in him.

[45:28] Day by day. To talk to him. As our friend. And to hope in him. Still more. And more. Amen.