Hope in the LORD

Transcript

Hello, my friend… so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 220, Hope in the LORD.

Hear this verse:

"O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption." Psalm 130:7.

Let that settle for just a moment.

Psalm 130 does not begin somewhere pleasant. It begins at the bottom. Someone who hit the floor of themselves, looked around, and saw no way out. And from that place — that honest, aching, real place — they did not give up. They looked up. And that is faith's truest starting point. Not perfection. Not strength. Need.

And it is from there that the psalmist arrives at this verse. As if to say: you do not have to climb out of the depths to be reached. The LORD comes down.

The Hebrew word the psalmist uses — translated here as steadfast love — is hesed. There is no clean English equivalent. Hesed is loyal, covenant love. It is the love that made a promise to you and will not walk it back. It is love that does not wear thin over time, that does not disappear when you fail, that does not tally your mistakes before it answers you. It is the love that stays precisely when you are certain you have gone too far.

Then comes the second half of the verse: with him is plentiful redemption. Not thin. Not partial. Not conditional. Plentiful. In Christ, God does not merely cover what you bring — He carries it away entirely. The redemption the Father offers is more than enough for everything you are and everything you are carrying today.

That is why the psalmist does not say try harder. He does not say fix it all before you come. He says: hope in the LORD. And hoping is not passive. It is the active posture of someone who trusts that God is already moving, even when nothing is visible yet. It is the heart that says: I cannot control the outcome, but I know the One I am trusting.

Consider this: that same hesed carried Israel through the wilderness for decades, even when Israel kept failing. That same love did not abandon Peter after he denied Jesus three times — Peter was restored, and became a rock. That same love went down into the grave and walked out on the other side. And that love — that exact love, immeasurable and unbreakable — is looking at you today. You do not face this day alone. You are being held by a love with no bottom.

So today, I am calling you to act with hope.

Before breakfast, pick up a piece of paper or open your phone. Write one word — just one — that names the weight you are carrying today. It might be a situation, a name, a feeling. Write it down. Then, out loud, hand it to God. Say: "LORD, with You there is plentiful redemption." Not as a formula. As a declaration of faith. As someone who genuinely believes God is listening, and that He is more than enough.

Stay close to God. Pray — then act. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.