Years ago an S-4 submarine was rammed by a ship off the coast of Massachusetts. It sank immediately. The entire crew was trapped in a prison house of death. Every effort was made to rescue the crew. Near the end of the ordeal, a deep-sea diver, who was doing everything in his power to find a way for the crew's release, thought he heard a tapping on the steel wall of the sunken sub. He placed his helmet up against the vessel and realized it was the Morse Code. He listened carefully and spelled out the message being tapped from within. The question was, "Is...there...any...hope?"
That's a question we've asked at least once in our lives, isn't it? Is there any hope for my marriage...for finding a job...for a college scholarship...for an early retirement? Someone has said, "We can live 40 days without food, eight days without water, four minutes without air, but only a few seconds without hope."
In Psalm 39, David is faced with asking the question, "Is there any hope?" He has been trying to keep a stiff upper lip, so to speak, by remaining silent during a very painful time in his life. Then he spills out from his heart all the impatience and frustration he is feeling. But by the time we get to verse seven, we learn that it has been helpful for David to have been honest with the Lord. He responds with what we might call a "trusting prayer" that is fueled by the hope he has in his Lord.
God has given us the same hope. We don't worry about our standing with God because Jesus has made us right and acceptable to our Father. We don't despair about our future because Jesus has prepared a place for us in heaven. We don't allow present day problems to consume us because Jesus has promised to never leave nor abandon us. Romans 15:4 reads, In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We have hope!
