Saturday December 9, 2023
Psalm 71:14
I will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more.
See if you can find one Christian, just one, who is filled with praise for the Lord—but is hopeless. Or see if you can find one who is hopeful about the present and future but never praises the Lord. Hope and praise seem to go together in the Christian life—and why shouldn’t they? For the Christian, to have hope is consistent with having faith in a gracious God, meaning He is worthy of praise. One flows naturally from the other.
The psalmist combines these two elements when he finds himself in the hand of “the wicked . . . the unrighteous and cruel man” (Psalm 71:4). In spite of his dire situation, he says he will continue to hope and will praise the Lord “more and more.” The more the psalmist hopes, the more he praises; and the more he praises, the more he hopes! It is a self-perpetuating cycle, with each virtue stimulating the other. What about you? If you find yourself hopeful but lacking praise, check the object of your hope. If you’re praising but lacking hope, check the object of your praise.
Praise keeps hope alive while hope becomes a reason for praise.
Be not afraid of saying too much in the praises of God. . . .
All the danger is of saying too little.
MATTHEW HENRY
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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