Our joy. Our hope.

This is pure speculation on my part, but I’ve been reading John 14-16 a lot recently.

And I just have to wonder, whenever Peter and the other disciples sang this psalm, how often did their minds go back to what Jesus told him in those chapters.

At that time, Jesus was about to go to the cross, and so he told them he was going to leave. More, he told them they couldn’t follow him to where he was going.

Peter, brimming with self-confidence, couldn’t accept this and insisted that he was willing to die for Jesus.

ut Jesus told Peter that he would instead deny Him three times. Hearing all this, Peter and the other disciples became emotionally distraught. (John 13:33-38)

So Jesus told them,

Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. (John 14:1)

How much did those words ring in their hearts when they sang David’s words in the years after Jesus’ resurrection?

My heart is confident, God;
I will sing; I will sing praises
with the whole of my being. (Psalm 108:1)

Like David, they learned not to be confident in their own abilities, but in God and his faithfulness toward them.

When Jesus told them that he was going to leave for a while, they probably thought as David did.

God, haven’t you rejected us?
God, you do not march out with our armies. (Psalm 108:11)

But Jesus reassured them,

I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live too. (John 14:18-19)

Years later, filled with the Holy Spirit, knowing Jesus’ presence in their lives, how triumphantly did they sing David’s words.

With God we will perform valiantly;
he will trample our foes. (Psalm 108:13)

And whenever they sang those words, did the recall Jesus’ final words to them that night?

I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.” (John 16:33)

How much did their hearts sing out as they remembered their risen Lord:

I will praise you, Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.

For your faithful love is higher than the heavens,
and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

God, be exalted above the heavens,
and let your glory be over the whole earth. (Psalm 108:3-5)

Like the disciples, we serve a living Savior. Like them, let us always have hearts that rejoice in the hope that we have in him.