EXPECTATION - Louis Gervais

EXPECTATION

Hello and greetings in the Name of the Son of Him Who is our Expectation, Jesus Christ! As I was making my way through half the Psalms this week in the Afrikaans 1933/53 translation for the first time, I realized that they had chosen to use the word “expectation” more than once where the NIV ’84 used the word “hope.” The NAS, KJV and Geneva Bible all translated Psalm 71:5 as “hope” as you can see; “For You are my hope; O Lord GOD, You are my confidence from my youth.” –Psalm 71:5 NAS. “YHWH” was translated as “GOD” (here and in the KJV) where it is usually translated as “LORD.” According to Strong’s dictionaries, the word translated as “hope” could figuratively mean “expectancy” or “thing that I long for.” Truly, our hope and our expectation of the future should both firmly be grounded in God; in Who He is and in what His Word says. In the case of Psalm 62:5 things are less uniformly translated. Although it is the exact same word used in Psalm 71:5, it is translated as “expectation” in the KJV, NKJV and ASV, but as “hope” in the 1599 Geneva Bible, NIV and NAS: “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him.” –Psalm 62:5 KJV. Beautiful, isn’t it?

In light of these and other Scriptures, I have thus concluded that both our hope and our expectation can originate in God. When troubles come (and who escapes troubles?) we need not grow discouraged and downhearted. My expectation and my hope are found in the Lord. “For Thou art my hope, O Lord GOD: Thou art my trust from my youth.” –Psalm 71:5 KJV Please do pray for the persecuted family for their personal safety. It’s important. My grandmother, Mr. Kussman and Mr. Van Niekerk have yet to find the joy of their salvation. Jan, Daniël and I had a wonderful time in Standerton this week! We got to preach the Gospel at two primary schools, four high schools, a government office, a home for down-and-outs and at the retirement home; praise the Lord! God provided that we got into a few schools where we had never been before and the people listened attentively. Thanks for your prayers! If you’d like to, you could also pray for the Gospel tracts which I hand out every week; a few here, a few there. As was the opinion of one pastor, a community should regularly be seasoned with the salt of the Gospel. It went well with Jan and Daniël’s sermons this morning! Lord-willing, we will now move on to the next two towns on our 3 Horsepower Tour =^D May our hope, trust and expectation in life be found securely anchored in Him Who loves us. Amen. –Louis Gervais “The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.” –Proverbs 10:28 KJV