And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you. – Psalm 39:7
Blaise Pascal was a seventeenth-century French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, writer, and Catholic theologian. He has often been credited with saying, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every person, and it can never be filled by any created thing. It can only be filled by God, made known through Jesus Christ.” However, researchers have searched his papers for that quote and have not found it.
What they did discover was even more profound: “What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace?“
“This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself.”
Psalm 39, where today’s verse is found, was written when David was experiencing deep sorrow, probably from the death of his son. He despaired over the brevity of life, and might even have entertained the thought of taking his own until he reminded himself of the one hope he had… his hope in God. He knew the abyss that was his life at that moment could be endured because he knew the Lord.
There is a great spiritual need in America today for people to discover and know the true identity of God. He alone can transform the nation that has lost its way and its hope. Pray for those in government to be challenged to seek and find a relationship with the Savior.
Today’s Verse: Psalm 39:7
“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in you.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: Matthew 9:35-36, John 10:7-15
35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
