Fourth. The word 'LET' is sometimes used to refer to a request or an entreaty. 'I pray thee, LET Tamar my sister come' (2 Sam 13:6). 'LET it be granted to the Jews to do,' &c. (Esth 9:13). And if it is so to be taken here, or if in the best sense, this interpretation of it may here be admitted, the consideration thereof is impressive; for then it is all one as if God by the mouth of his servant, the penman of this psalm, did entreat us to hope in him. And why this may not be implied here, as well as expressed elsewhere, I know not. 'God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God' (2 Cor 5:20). Why should God beseech us to reconcile to him, but that we might hope in him? If it is thus taken here, it shows 1. The great condescension of God is that he not only holds out to us the advantages of hoping in God but desires that we should hope for and that we might indeed be partakers of those advantages. 2. It also teaches us humility and that always, in the acts of faith and hope, we should mix blushing and shame with our joy and rejoicing. Kiss the ground, sinner; put 'thy mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope' (Lam 3:29).
Fifth. Lastly, this word is sometimes used with caution. 'Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall' (1 Cor 10:12). 'Let us therefore fear lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it' (Heb 4:1), and if it should be so taken here, then, 1. This shows us the evil of despair and that we, at times, are incident to it; our daily weaknesses, our fresh guilt, our often decays, and our aptness to forget the goodness of God are direct tendencies unto this evil of which we should be aware; for it robs God of his glory, and us of our comfort, and gratifies none but the devil and unbelief. 2. It showeth us that despair is a fall, a falling down from our liberty; our liberty is to hope; it is our portion from God; for he hath said that himself will be the hope of his people. Therefore, to do the contrary is a falling from God, a departing from God through an evil heart of unbelief. It is the greatest folly in the world for an Israelite to despair; 'Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel. My way is hidden from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God? Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not? There is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might, he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But they that wait upon,' that is, hope in, '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' (Isa 40:27-31).
[THIRD. Inferences from the exhortation.]
Now, we come to those inferences that naturally flow from this exhortation, and they are number four.
First, hope and exercise are as necessary in their place as faith and exercise. All will grant that there is a need for a daily exercise of faith, and we are bid to hope unto the end because hope is the grace that relieves the soul when dark and weary. Hope is the bottle to the faint and sinking spirit. Hope calls upon the soul not to forget how far it is arrived in its progress towards heaven. Hope will point and show it the gate afar off; therefore, it is called the hope of salvation. Hope exercised itself upon God.
1. By those mistakes that the soul has formerly been guilty of, concerning the judgment that it has made of God and of his dealings with it. And this is an excellent virtue. 'I said,' once says the church, that 'my hope is perished from the Lord,' but I was deceived; 'This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope'; that is, why, if I give way to such distrusting thoughts, may I not be wrong again? (Lam 3:18-21). Therefore I hope! This virtue is that which belongs to this grace only; for this and this only is it that can turn unbelief and doubts to advantage. 'I said in my haste,' said David, 'I am cut off from before thine eyes'; nevertheless I was mistaken; 'thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee' (Psa 31:22). And what use doth he make of this? Why, an exhortation to all good men to hope and to take advantage of hope from the same mistakes. I think I am cast off from God, says the soul; so thou thoughtest afore, says memory, but thou wast mistaken then, and why not the like again? And therefore will I hope. When I had concluded that God would never come near me more, he came to me again, and as I was then, so I am now; therefore, will I hope.
2. True hope, in the proper exercise of it upon God, makes no stick at weakness or darkness; but rather worketh up the soul to some stay, by these. Thus, Abraham's hope is wrought by his weakness (Rom 4). And so Paul, when I am weak, I am strong; I will most gladly rejoice in mine infirmities (2 Cor 12). But this cannot be done where there is no hope, nor by hope: for it is hope, and the exercise of it can say, Now I expect that God should bring good out of all this. And as for the dark, it is its element to act in that: 'But hope that is seen is not hope' (Rom 8:24). But we must hope for that we see not. So David, 'Why art thou cast down, O my soul? hope thou in God.' Christians have no reason to mistrust the goodness of God because of their weakness, &c. 'I had fainted unless I had believed to see' (Psa 27:13). By believing there, he means hoping to see, as the exhortation drawn from thence doth import.
