Isaiah 26:1–6, Psalm 18:1–9, Nehemiah 6:15–16 (read online ⧉)
What is hope? Hope is knowing deeper than deep that God has got your back. The struggle for us is that having our back doesn’t always mean avoiding pain or consequences.
Isaiah’s vision of Jersualem is that of a city that can withstand whatever the world can throw at it. It will be occupied by a righteous nation. Characteristics of this nation are righteous, faithful, God-reliant, peaceful, trusting, humble. These are to be the universal attributes of those who call themselves God’s.
God is the rock of hope. This hope is not bound in the world’s hopes of money, things, power, or influence, but solely on God’s love, grace, and mercy. As God is everlasting, God-ly hope will not fade away. The world’s hopes, along with the world itself, will pass away.
God as rock (i.e., foundation) and walls, we can “stand on” God and are protected by God. Often the times we are truly aware of God is when it is only God’s foundation and protective walls keep us safe.
1) Why is foundation and wall so integral to hope?
2) What do you think of these characteristics of the nation in Isaiah’s vision?
3) How are ways you can explain God-ly hope versus worldly hope?