Day 5/22 – Hope and Skepticism

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Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man by Walter A Henrichsen (“Walt”)
Hope and Skepticism
Day One Hundred Forty-two

“For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?” Romans 8:24

Skepticism destroys hope, for it questions the possibility of expectations. George Meredith once said, ‘Who can think and not think hopefully?” Only the skeptic can, for he lacks faith. Hope is the reason a person takes the risk of faith.

You would love to marry and have a family, but you are skeptical that anyone could love you. So you don’t take the risk and ask the person you love to be your spouse. Thus your hope never materializes, simply because you are a skeptic. In this we see that skepticism destroys hope.

If you become skeptical of the historicity of biblical events, you will discover that your hope in God will erode, for your hope of eternal life flows from your trust in the Revelation of God found in Scripture. If you are skeptical regarding Jonah and the fish, or the virgin birth, then on what basis do you hope in the promises of God? If you are skeptical regarding some parts of Revelation, then how can you legitimately hope in other parts?

The Bible is reasonable if you accept the assumption of its writers that the Sovereign of the Universe both acts and speaks. Thus Scripture does not seek to prove, it only declares. “For I delivered unto you that which I also received…”219 The assumption of the follower of Christ is that the Bible in its entirety is God’s revelation. If you are skeptical of its parts, how can you have confidence in its whole? And if you question the validity of one part, how can you hope in another part?

219 I Corinthians 15:3

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1 Chronicles 16-18 John 7:28-53 (New King James Version)

1 Chronicles 16-18
The Ark Placed in the Tabernacle
16 So they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. 2 And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. 3 Then he distributed to everyone of Israel, both man and woman, to everyone a loaf of bread, a piece of meat, and a cake of raisins.
4 And he appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to commemorate, to thank, and to praise the Lord God of Israel: 5 Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, and Obed-Edom: Jeiel with stringed instruments and harps, but Asaph made music with cymbals; 6 Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests regularly blew the trumpets before the ark of the covenant of God.
David’s Song of Thanksgiving
7 On that day David first delivered this psalm into the hand of Asaph and his brethren, to thank the Lord:
8 Oh, give thanks to the Lord!
Call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples!
9 Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him;
Talk of all His wondrous works!
10 Glory in His holy name;
Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!
11 Seek the Lord and His strength;
Seek His face evermore!
12 Remember His marvelous works which He has done,
His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth,
13 O seed of Israel His servant,
You children of Jacob, His chosen ones!
14 He is the Lord our God;
His judgments are in all the earth.
15 Remember His covenant forever,
The word which He commanded, for a thousand generations,
16 The covenant which He made with Abraham,
And His oath to Isaac,
17 And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute,
To Israel for an everlasting covenant,
18 Saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
As the allotment of your inheritance,”
19 When you were few in number,
Indeed very few, and strangers in it.
20 When they went from one nation to another,
And from one kingdom to another people,
21 He permitted no man to do them wrong;
Yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes,
22 Saying, “Do not touch My anointed ones,
And do My prophets no harm.”
23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth;
Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.
24 Declare His glory among the nations,
His wonders among all peoples.
25 For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised;
He is also to be feared above all gods.
26 For all the gods of the peoples are [a]idols,
But the Lord made the heavens.
27 Honor and majesty are before Him;
Strength and gladness are in His place.
28 Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
Give to the Lord glory and strength.
29 Give to the Lord the glory due His name;
Bring an offering, and come before Him.
Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!
30 Tremble before Him, all the earth.
The world also is firmly established,
It shall not be moved.
31 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
And let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”
32 Let the sea roar, and all its fullness;
Let the field rejoice, and all that is in it.
33 Then the trees of the woods shall rejoice before the Lord,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
34 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
35 And say, “Save us, O God of our salvation;
Gather us together, and deliver us from the Gentiles,
To give thanks to Your holy name,
To triumph in Your praise.”
36 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel
From everlasting to everlasting!
And all the people said, “Amen!” and praised the Lord.
Regular Worship Maintained
37 So he left Asaph and his brothers there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister before the ark regularly, as every day’s work required; 38 and Obed-Edom with his sixty-eight brethren, including Obed-Edom the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah, to be gatekeepers; 39 and Zadok the priest and his brethren the priests, before the tabernacle of the Lord at the [b]high place that was at Gibeon, 40 to offer burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of burnt offering regularly morning and evening, and to do according to all that is written in the Law of the Lord which He commanded Israel; 41 and with them Heman and Jeduthun and the rest who were chosen, who were designated by name, to give thanks to the Lord, because His mercy endures forever; 42 and with them Heman and Jeduthun, to sound aloud with trumpets and cymbals and the musical instruments of God. Now the sons of Jeduthun were gatekeepers.
43 Then all the people departed, every man to his house; and David returned to bless his house.
God’s Covenant with David
17 Now it came to pass, when David was dwelling in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under tent curtains.”
2 Then Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.”
3 But it happened that night that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, 4 “Go and tell My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: “You shall not build Me a house to dwell in. 5 For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought up Israel, even to this day, but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another. 6 Wherever I have moved about with all Israel, have I ever spoken a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’ ” ’ 7 Now therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “I took you from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be [c]ruler over My people Israel. 8 And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have [d]made you a name like the name of the great men who are on the earth. 9 Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously, 10 since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel. Also I will subdue all your enemies. Furthermore I tell you that the Lord will build you a [e]house. 11 And it shall be, when your days are fulfilled, when you must [f]go to be with your fathers, that I will set up your seed after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. 12 He shall build Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. 13 I will be his Father, and he shall be My son; and I will not take My mercy away from him, as I took it from him who was before you. 14 And I will establish him in My house and in My kingdom forever; and his throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”
15 According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.
16 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord; and he said: “Who am I, O Lord God? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far? 17 And yet this was a small thing in Your sight, O God; and You have also spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have regarded me according to the rank of a man of high degree, O Lord God. 18 What more can David say to You for the honor of Your servant? For You know Your servant. 19 O Lord, for Your servant’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have done all this greatness, in making known all these great things. 20 O Lord, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 21 And who is like Your people Israel, the one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people—to make for Yourself a name by great and awesome deeds, by driving out nations from before Your people whom You redeemed from Egypt? 22 For You have made Your people Israel Your very own people forever; and You, Lord, have become their God.
23 “And now, O Lord, the word which You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house, let it be established forever, and do as You have said. 24 So let it be established, that Your name may be magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, is Israel’s God.’ And let the house of Your servant David be established before You. 25 For You, O my God, [g]have revealed to Your servant that You will build him a house. Therefore Your servant has found it in his heart to pray before You. 26 And now, Lord, [h]You are God, and have promised this goodness to Your servant. 27 Now You have been pleased to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue before You forever; for You have blessed it, O Lord, and it shall be blessed forever.”
David’s Further Conquests
18 After this it came to pass that David [i]attacked the Philistines, subdued them, and took Gath and its towns from the hand of the Philistines. 2 Then he [j]defeated Moab, and the Moabites became David’s servants, and brought tribute.
3 And David [k]defeated [l]Hadadezer king of Zobah as far as Hamath, as he went to establish his power by the River Euphrates. 4 David took from him one thousand chariots, [m]seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand foot soldiers. Also David [n]hamstrung all the chariot horses, except that he spared enough of them for one hundred chariots.
5 When the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David killed twenty-two thousand of the Syrians. 6 Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus; and the Syrians became David’s servants, and brought tribute. So the Lord preserved David wherever he went. 7 And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 Also from [o]Tibhath and from [p]Chun, cities of [q]Hadadezer, David brought a large amount of bronze, with which Solomon made the bronze [r]Sea, the pillars, and the articles of bronze.
9 Now when [s]Tou king of Hamath heard that David had [t]defeated all the army of Hadadezer king of Zobah, 10 he sent [u]Hadoram his son to King David, to greet him and bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and [v]defeated him (for Hadadezer had been at war with Tou); and Hadoram brought with him all kinds of articles of gold, silver, and bronze. 11 King David also dedicated these to the Lord, along with the silver and gold that he had brought from all these nations—from Edom, from Moab, from the people of Ammon, from the Philistines, and from Amalek.
12 Moreover Abishai the son of Zeruiah killed eighteen thousand [w]Edomites in the Valley of Salt. 13 He also put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David’s servants. And the Lord preserved David wherever he went.
David’s Administration
14 So David reigned over all Israel, and administered judgment and justice to all his people. 15 Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; 16 Zadok the son of Ahitub and [x]Abimelech the son of Abiathar were the priests; [y]Shavsha was the scribe; 17 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were [z]chief ministers at the king’s side.
Footnotes:
• 1 Chronicles 16:26 worthless things
• 1 Chronicles 16:39 Place for pagan worship
• 1 Chronicles 17:7 leader
• 1 Chronicles 17:8 given you prestige
• 1 Chronicles 17:10 Royal dynasty
• 1 Chronicles 17:11 Die and join your ancestors
• 1 Chronicles 17:25 Lit. have uncovered the ear of
• 1 Chronicles 17:26 Or You alone are
• 1 Chronicles 18:1 Lit. struck
• 1 Chronicles 18:2 Lit. struck
• 1 Chronicles 18:3 Lit. struck
• 1 Chronicles 18:3 Heb. Hadarezer
• 1 Chronicles 18:4 seven hundred, 2 Sam. 8:4
• 1 Chronicles 18:4 crippled
• 1 Chronicles 18:8 Betah, 2 Sam. 8:8
• 1 Chronicles 18:8 Berothai, 2 Sam. 8:8
• 1 Chronicles 18:8 Heb. Hadarezer
• 1 Chronicles 18:8 Great laver or basin
• 1 Chronicles 18:9 Toi, 2 Sam. 8:9, 10
• 1 Chronicles 18:9 Lit. struck
• 1 Chronicles 18:10 Joram, 2 Sam. 8:10
• 1 Chronicles 18:10 Lit. struck
• 1 Chronicles 18:12 Syrians, 2 Sam. 8:13
• 1 Chronicles 18:16 Ahimelech, 2 Sam. 8:17
• 1 Chronicles 18:16 Seraiah, 2 Sam. 8:17, or Shisha, 1 Kin. 4:3
• 1 Chronicles 18:17 Lit. at the hand of the king

John 7:28-53
28 Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, “You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. 29 [a]But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me.”
30 Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. 31 And many of the people believed in Him, and said, “When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?”
Jesus and the Religious Leaders
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him. 33 Then Jesus said [b]to them, “I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me. 34 You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.”
35 Then the Jews said among themselves, “Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him? Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36 What is this thing that He said, ‘You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come’?”
The Promise of the Holy Spirit
37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those [c]believing in Him would receive; for the [d]Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Who Is He?
40 Therefore [e]many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, “Truly this is the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Christ.”
But some said, “Will the Christ come out of Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?” 43 So there was a division among the people because of Him. 44 Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.
Rejected by the Authorities
45 Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why have you not brought Him?”
46 The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!”
47 Then the Pharisees answered them, “Are you also deceived? 48 Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? 49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”
50 Nicodemus (he who came to [f]Jesus [g]by night, being one of them) said to them, 51 “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?”
52 They answered and said to him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet [h]has arisen out of Galilee.”
An Adulteress Faces the Light of the World
53 [i]And everyone went to his own house.
Footnotes:
• John 7:29 NU, M omit But
• John 7:33 NU, M omit to them
• John 7:39 NU who believed
• John 7:39 NU omits Holy
• John 7:40 NU some
• John 7:50 Lit. Him
• John 7:50 NU before
• John 7:52 NU is to rise
• John 7:53 NU brackets 7:53 through 8:11 as not in the original text. They are present in over 900 mss. of John.

Mark 11:24 ²⁴Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in Prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Colossians 4:2 ²Devote yourselves to Prayer, being watchful and thankful.

James 5:16 ¹⁶Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The Prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.