# 434 The Proverbs – ‘A manual for living’ (MSG). Proverbs 13. Hope or hopelessness?

A new year has begun. Are you the type who makes new year’s resolutions? I wonder what your plans, hopes, desires are for 2025? And what about any unfulfilled hopes, plans or desires that you had in 2024? Are they still there, or have you given up on them? Just maybe you are still hopeful, or just maybe you are bitterly disappointed that what you had hoped for in 2024 has not become a reality.

The author of Proverbs in chapter 13 says something very relevant. He suggests that:

¹² Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
    but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. (NIV)

The Message puts it this way:

Unrelenting disappointment leaves you heartsick,
    but a sudden good break can turn life around. (Message)

I don’t think this should need a lot of explanation, possibly having been the experience of all of us at some stage in our lives.

So, just how important is it for you and me to have hope? It seems, very important! Consider the following concerning a sense of hopelessness:

“Hopelessness is a powerful emotion that often contributes to a dark or low mood and may adversely affect the way one perceives the self, other individuals, personal circumstances, and even the world. Often hopelessness can have a significant influence on human behavior, as it may reflect an individual’s negative by view of the future.

Feelings of hopelessness can often lead an individual to lose interest in important objects, activities, events, or people. Someone who has become hopeless may no longer value things that were once important. The emotion is often associated with a lack of inspiration as well as feelings of powerlessness, helplessness, abandonment, captivity, oppression, and isolation. Numerous studies indicate that hopelessness is closely linked to poor mental, emotional, and physical health.”  https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/psychpedia/hopelessness

Considering the state of our planet and its people in our day, there must be many, many people right now experiencing this “powerful emotion” and wondering what the solution is. The answer may be very complex but, in another sense, it is easy, i.e., to find hope again or as Proverbs says, to have our longing fulfilled. But is this even possible? The Bible seems to indicate that it is, whatever our circumstances. Let’s check it out.

The Bible uses the word hope 190 times (125 times in the OT and 65 times in the NT). In Proverbs it is used 10 times and here are a couple of them:

 Don’t envy sinners,
    but always continue to fear the Lord.
You will be rewarded for this;
    your hope will not be disappointed. (23:17-18)

My child, eat honey, for it is good,
    and the honeycomb is sweet to the taste.
In the same way, wisdom is sweet to your soul.
    If you find it, you will have a bright future,
    and your hopes will not be cut short. (24:13-14)

Here we note that hope (that which will not be disappointed or cut short) is found in a right relationship with God when we fear the Lord, and as we seek His wisdom [that] is sweet to your soul. We also have discovered previously that Jesus is the fulfilment of that wisdom. It is Christ himself. In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2:3 NLT) – see Post # 432.

But he is not only Wisdom but in him is hope. In Matthew 12, referring to Jesus and quoting from Isaiah 42, it says,

 ¹⁸ “Look at my Servant, whom I have chosen.
    He is my Beloved, who pleases me…
²¹ And his name will be the hope
    of all the world.” (Matthew 12:18,21)

Peter speaks of why this is true, and that he is the source of our hope, when he writes:

Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory. (1 Peter 1:21)

Paul also writes concerning the hope of salvation found in Christ and encourages us to strengthen our confident hope of salvation. ⁵ And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us… (Romans 5:4-5)

In Hebrews the author speaks of those of us who have fled to him [Jesus] for refuge [salvation, and therefore] can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. ¹⁹ This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. (Hebrews 6:18-19)

Sadly, the opposite is true for unbelievers, as Paul explains concerning the theology of death:

And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. (1 Thes. 4:13)

The reality is that, if we are looking to anyone (politicians, leaders, family) or anything (money, power, pleasure) to fulfil our hope in life, then we will be eventually disappointed. On the other hand, in a right relationship with Jesus, the One who is called a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls, we will not be lead to disappointment.

Let me conclude with a question and a prayer.

A question: As you face this new year, how are you doing in this area of hopefulness? Is your ultimate hope in Jesus, or in a substitute which will eventually lead to hopelessness?

 A prayer: I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit… I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. (Romans 15:13 and Ephesians 1:18).