Proverbs 13:12 Commentary and Bible Study

What is hope? It is a form of strength which we obtain by borrowing against the future. In anticipation of receiving some good thing in the future, we enjoy that blessing before it has come, because we are sure that it will come and we can act as if it had already come. Hope is a kind of debt to the future, but if the hope is sure, it is a debt which we can easily repay when the blessing arrives. The trouble comes when the thing hoped for fails to arrive. Then we find ourselves with something like a debt which we are unable to pay back. Furthermore, if we have built much upon that hope, then we have increased the size of our debt. This, says Solomon, makes the heart sick, for the heart begins to realise that it has hoped in vain. Is hope therefore a risky practice which it is best to avoid? Should we try to get along without it? Certainly not! Not when it is based on the word of God who cannot lie, and cannot disappoint. The truth is that the Christian cannot live without hope, because it is hope that enables him to bear with the sufferings of this present world, for only the hope of heaven can help him to take up his cross daily and follow Christ. Three things are required for a man to obtain strength from hope: the hope must answer to the perceived needs of the person; it must be most certain to come to pass; and it must be fully believed to be a hope for that person. The Christian hope is for the redemption of the body, of which the gift of the Spirit is the earnest or down-payment. Our hope must answer to the universal death sentence passed on the human race. When what we desire is given to us and we enjoy the things we hoped for, then the heart is filled with happiness. This is true even in those things which belong to this life; how much more will the heart of the saint exult when he receives the blessing of seeing Christ as he is in glory. Hope will be instantly repaid, and past trials will be considered not worthy to be compared with the glory revealed in us.