Fifteen verses where the psalms speak of hope, most of them said while nothing had changed yet.
Hope in these psalms is mostly spoken before anything improves. Many of the verses put hope and waiting side by side: I wait for the LORD, my hope is in you, my soul waits in silence. Psalm 42 turns to its own soul and says, hope in God. The hope is not that things will turn out well. It is placed in God, in his word, or in his loving kindness.
The picks are grouped for waiting, for despair, for feeling forgotten, and for faith and hope together. Each shows the World English Bible text with a short note. Tick the verses you want and print them as one sheet.
The most common pairing in these verses: hope and waiting in the same breath.
I wait for the LORD.My soul waits.I hope in his word.
I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.
Wait appears twice and hope once, and the hope rests on something specific: I hope in his word. The next verse compares the waiting to watchmen longing for morning.
Now, Lord, what do I wait for?My hope is in you.
And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.
A short question and its answer. What do I wait for? My hope is in you. A few verses earlier the psalm asks, let me know how frail I am.
My soul, wait in silence for God alone,for my expectation is from him.
My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.
The writer tells their own soul to wait in silence for God alone, and gives the reason: my expectation is from him.
I waited patiently for the LORD.He turned to me, and heard my cry.
I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
Written in the past tense. The waiting was patient, and it ended: he turned to me, and heard my cry.
Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master,as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,so our eyes look to the LORD, our God,until he has mercy on us.
Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us.
Servants watching the hand of their master is the picture of waiting here. The eyes stay on the LORD until he has mercy.
For days when hope has to be argued for. These verses admit the low point first.
Why are you in despair, my soul?Why are you disturbed within me?Hope in God!For I shall still praise him for the saving help of his presence.
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.
The psalm asks its own soul why it is in despair and then answers, hope in God. Nearly the same words return in 42:11 and 43:5, so it is a refrain.
But I will always hope,and will add to all of your praise.
But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more.
But I will always hope. The but sets hope against what the psalm has just described: enemies saying God has forsaken him.
My soul faints for your salvation.I hope in your word.
My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word.
My soul faints, and the next words are I hope in your word. Faintness and hope sit in one verse.
For I hope in you, LORD.You will answer, Lord my God.
For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God.
Psalm 38 describes a body with no soundness in the flesh. In the middle of it comes this: I hope in you, LORD. You will answer.
For those who are poor, overlooked or waiting for help that has not come.
For the needy shall not always be forgotten,nor the hope of the poor perish forever.
For the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.
The needy shall not always be forgotten. The verse speaks for people outside everyone's notice and says their hope will not perish forever.
Arise, LORD!God, lift up your hand!Don’t forget the helpless.
Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble.
Don't forget the helpless. The psalm opens by asking why God stands far off, and here it turns that question into a plain request.
Verses where hope is also confidence: trust looking forward.
For you are my hope, Lord GOD,my confidence from my youth.
For thou art my hope, O Lord GOD: thou art my trust from my youth.
Hope and confidence are set side by side, and the confidence goes back to youth. It is a hope with a long history behind it.
I am still confident of this:I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
I am still confident of this. The confidence is about this life: to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
Israel, hope in the LORD,from this time forward and forever more.
Let Israel hope in the LORD from henceforth and for ever.
A short psalm ends by turning outward: Israel, hope in the LORD, from this time forward and forever more. The hope is for a whole people and for the long term.
Let your loving kindness be on us, LORD,since we have hoped in you.
Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.
The last verse of Psalm 33 asks for loving kindness and gives the reason: since we have hoped in you.
In the World English Bible, verses such as 39:7, 62:5 and 130:5 put hope and waiting side by side. These verses do not describe hope as a feeling of optimism. It is closer to a posture: eyes on the LORD, as Psalm 123:2 puts it, until he has mercy. Most of them speak from inside the waiting, before any answer is described. Psalm 40:1 is the exception, looking back after the waiting was over.
There is no fixed list, but Psalm 130, Psalm 42 and Psalm 71 all use the word hope and build towards it. Psalm 130:5 is the clearest single verse: I wait for the LORD. My soul waits. I hope in his word.
Psalm 39:7, Psalm 42:5, Psalm 71:14 and Psalm 130:5 all name hope directly. Psalm 27:13 speaks of confidence to see God's goodness in this life.
Psalm 31:24 joins them in one line: be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the LORD. Psalm 27:14 pairs strength with waiting.
Psalm 71:5 calls God my hope and my confidence from my youth. Psalm 33:22 asks for loving kindness since we have hoped in you.
Psalm 42:5 asks the soul why it is in despair and answers, hope in God, for I shall still praise him. The same refrain comes three times across Psalms 42 and 43.
Psalms of EncouragementPsalms for Comfort and StrengthPsalms About Faith and TrustPsalms for PatiencePsalms for DepressionPsalms About God's Faithfulness