This believer writes as a man whose troubles increase as the days pass, whose grey hairs have brought great woes. His response, as he considers the faithfulness of God, is to say, -But I will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more.- Here there is a statement of deliberate faith giving rise to a note of sustained hope leading in turn to the expression of increasing praise. It is a good trajectory from which to learn, and a good path for us to follow.

After our Lord's sweeping response to the slander of the Pharisees and the murmuring of the sign-seekers, a woman in the crowd cries out, -Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts which nursed you-- Christ does not deny the truth of it, but he points to a greater blessing still- -More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it-- Here we simply consider what the woman heard the provoked her cry, what she said, and how Christ responded with a benediction of his own.

Paul presses home upon the Colossian believers the blessings of their hope- it is glorious, characterised by all the joys of heaven in the presence of God- it is gracious, bestowed upon them though they were by nature in the dominion of darkness- it is guaranteed, being both securely reserved and reliably declared- it is a gospel hope, coming to us only in the declaration of the saving work of God's Son- it is a hope that makes us to glorify God for the bestowing of such mercies upon us, in Christ.--So, are you a hopeful person- Not merely optimistic, certainly not deluded, but possessed of this absolutely certain gospel hope, of life now and forever in and with Christ Jesus-