‘He Is Risen!’ (22)
AS we contemplate His daily presence, we will find contentment. As we understand the future He has for us, we will experience joy. Don’t base your life on circumstances, but on God.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ assures us that God will bring us to life again to live with Him forever “For you will not leave my soul in sheol, nor will your Holy one to see corruption .” (Ps 16:10)
“Hell” (Heb Shoel) here means the grave. A personal relationship with God will gave believers confidence in a future life with God and the certainty that He will not abandon them to the grave (cf. 73:26). The apostles Peter and Paul both applied this verse to Christ and His resurrection (Acts 2:25-31; 13:34-37).
(1) Sheol, found 65 times in the OT, is translated 31 times as “the grave,” 31 times as “hell” and 3 times as “the pit.’ When the NT quotes these passages, it generally translates it with the Greek word Hades. (2) In general, the OT views Shoel as a shadowy place associated with some degree of negative foreboding.
(a) David clearly indicated that Shoel was the place where “the heathen” would go (Ps 9:17), and Isaiah said the heathen king Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, when he died, would meet in Shoel the kings he conquered (Is 14:9-10). (b) There are several passages that indicate the Israelites did not expect to go to sheol at all at death, but would instead go where they could enjoy the blessing of God’s presence. When David died, he anticipated dwelling in the house of the Lord forever (Ps 23:6). Another psalmist believed that God would redeem his life from the hand of Sheol and receives him to himself in heaven (49:15; cf. 73:14-15). And Solomon testified that the wise, God-fearing person’s path leads upward (i.e., to the place above) “That he may depart from hell beneath” (Prov. 15:24).
David stated confidently that God would not leave him in the grave (v10). Many people fear death, because they can neither control nor understand it. As believers, we can be assured that God will not forget us when we die. He will bring us to life again to live with Him forever. This provides real security. For other passages about resurrection, see Job 19:25, 26; Isaiah 26:19; Daniel 12:2, 13; Mark 13:27; 1 Cor 15:12-58; 1 Thess 4:13-18; Rev 20:11-21:4. Biblical Hope: An Overview “Blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ, who according to his abundant mercy has be gotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus christ from the dead .”(1 Pet 1:3) Definition of biblical hope. By its very nature hope concerns the future (cf. Rom 8:24- 25). Naturalistically, hope is wishful thinking about something good happening in the future. Biblically, hope is a firm confidence from God about future issues, because they are based on God’s promises and revelation. In other words, Biblical hope is linked inseparably with a firm faith (Rom 15:13; Heb 11:1) and a confident trust in God (Ps 33:21-22). The psalmist puts it most clearly, when he parallels “trust” with “hope”: “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help… Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God” (Ps 146:3-5; cf. Jer 17:7). Consequently, the sure hope of the believer is a hope that “maketh not ashamed” (Rom 5:5; cf. Ps 22:4-5; Is 49:23); it is an anchor for the believer in the midst of life (Heb 6:19-20). Email:mercyolu-mide2004@yahoo.co.uk; yetundemercyolumidewww.christiscoming-soon.netmobile:+234803 3446614;+2348081237987.