anchor – Moment to Moment (Bible blog)

The Answer to our cries

This psalm was possibly written after the Jews returned from exile in Babylon. As we see in Ezra and Nehemiah, however, they were still struggling with hardship after their return.

And so while the psalmist recognizes God’s mercy to them (1-3), nevertheless, he cries out to God,

“Return to us, God of our salvation, and abandon your displeasure with us.

Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger for all generations?

Will you not revive us again so that your people may rejoice in you?

Show us your faithful love, Lord, and give us your salvation.” (Psalm 85:4-7)

So many questions born out of pain. And ultimately, all of them are answered in Jesus.

Because Jesus bore the Father’s wrath on the cross, God will not be angry with us forever. He will revive us again so that we may rejoice in him.

In Jesus, God shows us his faithful love and gives us salvation.

In Jesus, God declares peace to us. (Luke 2:14, Ephesians 2:17)

In Jesus, faithful love (or “grace”) and truth join together (John 1:14, 17)

In Jesus, righteousness and peace embrace. (Hebrews 6:20-7:3)

That’s the hope we have in times when God seems far and we start to doubt his love.

Jesus is our hope. So in these difficult times in which we sometimes doubt, in which we often cry out, let us cling to him as the anchor of our soul. (Hebrews 6:18-20)

The reason for our hope

Sometimes, because of our weakness, we wonder if God can truly accept us as his children. We look at all our sins and failures, and as a result, our faith starts to shake.

But thankfully, our salvation is not based on our performance, nor on our feelings. What is it based on? God’s unchangeable purpose and his oath.

We see the purpose God had in mind from the beginning of time in Romans 8:29-30, to make a people who are like his Son. And that purpose doesn’t change. He foreknew us, he predestined us, he called us, he justified us, and he glorifies us.

That was the promise God was making to Abraham. That through Abraham, God would make a people that belonged to Himself. And that is not only the Jews, but us. (Romans 4:16-17).

For that reason, Jesus went into the inner sanctuary before God the Father, carrying the blood he shed on the cross. And now he intercedes for us as a sympathetic high priest. (Hebrews 2:17-18, 4:14-16).

So if you’re ever feeling like your faith is shaking, remember that Jesus himself is our anchor of hope that we truly belong to God. For what God promised, what God had purposed from the beginning, is accomplished not by what we do, but by what Jesus did and does for us even now.

Let us rest our hope, then, not in ourselves, but in Jesus. He alone is the anchor of our hope.