Theme · theological

Hope

Hope in Scripture is not wishful thinking but confident expectation grounded in God's character and track record. Abraham hoped against hope that the promise of a son would be fulfilled. The exiles in Babylon clung to hope through prophetic promises of return. The Psalms repeatedly counsel the downcast soul to 'hope in God, for I shall again praise him.' Paul calls the God of all hope and identifies the resurrection as the ground of Christian hope. Hebrews describes hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. Revelation's closing cry — 'Come, Lord Jesus' — is hope at its most concentrated.

Passages expressing this theme

1Cor 13:13 — And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
1Cor 15:19 — If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
1Pet 1:3 — Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Pet 1:13 — Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
1Pet 3:15 — But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
1Thess 4:13 — But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
Col 1:27 — To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Eph 1:18 — The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Heb 6:19 — Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
Heb 11:1 — Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Isa 40:31 — But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Jer 17:7 — Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
Jer 29:11 — For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Lam 3:24 — The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
Lam 3:25 — The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
Matt 12:21 — And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.
Prov 13:12 — Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.
Ps 33:18 — Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;
Ps 42:5 — 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.
Ps 62:5 — My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.
Ps 71:5 — For thou art my hope, O Lord GOD: thou art my trust from my youth.
Ps 130:5 — I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.
Rom 5:2 — By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Rom 5:5 — And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
Rom 8:24 — For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?