Friday Evening Devotionals

Hope

Tom Barnard

 

“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in me?

Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.”

(Psalm 42:5, 6 KJV)

 

“I paint ideas, not things. I paint primarily because I have something to say,

and since the gift of eloquent language has been denied to me, I use painting;

my intention is not so much to paint pictures which shall please the eye, as to

suggest great thoughts which shall speak to the imagination and to the heart….”

George Frederick Watts (1817-1904)

 

“Hope” is the title of a striking 1885 painting by George Frederick Watts that hangs in the Tate Gallery in London. Hope is also the name of the lovely, blindfolded woman who is the central figure in the painting. She is pictured sitting on top of a giant globe, holding in her left arm a lyre with all its strings broken but one. She touches the last remaining string with her finger and bends forward, listening for the faintest note—believing for the best ending to a hopeless situation.

 

In real time, where hope exists, no darkness can extinguish the light. God has the power to turn imminent death into eternal life. As someone said, “This sinful world only knows about a hopeless end; the Christian knows an endless hope.” As St. Paul asked, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” And the answer is: No one!

 

Heavenly Father, I hardly know where to begin. Almost daily, bad news continues to be heard from our Nation’s Capital. Good friends are dealing with the loss of loved ones. Business failures are more common than business successes. Unemployment is up; profits are down. Words of hope are rare. Against these situations the words of the Psalmist echo through my soul. I say to my spirit, “Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.” Amen.