Jewish Understanding of Hope

What Is Hope?

There are more than 171,000 words in the English language. I point that out to illustrate just how sparse ancient Hebrew is, with only about 8,000 words in its arsenal. That means Hebrew words do double and triple duty all the time for similar ideas. For example, chaos, seas, and distress are all traced back to the same Hebrew root.

That makes what I’m about to say even more attention-worthy. In a language that’s word-challenged, there are at least fifteen different Hebrew words used in the Old Testament to try and capture the concept of “hope.” The most blantant is HaTikvah, which is not just “a hope,” but THE capital-h Hope. 

HaTikvah is so important to Jewish thinking, belief, and philosophy that it’s the name of the Israeli National Anthem. HaTikvah is what sustained Noah and Abraham and Moses and Ruth and Jehoshaphat and all the other heroes of the Old Testament when the odds were stacked against them and people looked at them like they were crazy for trusting God.

The song, HaTikvah, and the poem which inspired it, predate the establishment of the Jewish state by more than a half century. Many say the song is what crystalized the idea of a modern Jewish state in the hearts of Jews and their allies:

“O while within a Jewish breast,

Beats true a Jewish heart,

And Jewish glances turn East,

To Zion fondly dart;

O then our Hope—it is not dead,

Our ancient Hope and true,

To be a nation free forevermore

Zion and Jerusalem at our core.”

But what is The Hope to which this national anthem points, and how is it relevant to non-Jews living half a world away in the United States? That takes us back to the Old Testament, where “hope” appears as a theme 151 times in 144 verses, a substantial number that begs attention for all of God’s people, wherever and whenever they live.

Psalm 71:14-18 offers much insight into this hope. Here is what it says, along with how I believe it applies to how we live our lives:

14 But I will hope continually (HOPE in God is a choice of the will that carries us into the future) and will praise you yet more and more. (Praising God increases one’s hope) 15My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, (Talking in hopeful ways about God’s goodness is a major hope booster) of your deeds of salvation all the day, (How has God saved you in the past? Not just eternally, but in temporal ways? The kind of salvation spoken of here is inclusive of EVERY way you’ve ever been saved by God. Are you investing your days in telling people about God’s eternal and temporal saving power?) for their number is past my knowledge. (Don’t wait until you understand God’s ways to tell others about them.) 16With the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD I will come; (If I’m talking to you, you’re going to hear about God’s work in my life.) I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone. (Did I mention that I’m going to talk to others about God’s work in my life?)17 O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. (Oh, and by the way, I’m going to be talking about God’s goodness in my life. It’s a hope builder.) 18 So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me,

until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come. (Telling others about our hope in God is powerful medicine for us and for those who hear our testimony of God’s work in our lives.)

By my accounting, we English-speakers have at least 163,000 more words at our disposal than King David or Noah did with which to tell others about our hope in God. I hope we don’t waste them.