O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.
"Hope in the LORD" is addressed to Israel in a moment of collective failure — this psalm is a cry from the depths, someone waiting the way a watchman waits for morning, unsure it's actually coming. It's not written by someone who had it together. It's written by someone in the wait.
What's offered isn't a small comfort but two things stacked together: steadfast love and plentiful redemption. Not just enough love to get by, and not a partial fix — plentiful. The word suggests abundance stacked on top of a love that was already described as never-ending.
If you're in a season that feels more like waiting in the dark than standing in the light, this verse was written for exactly that position, not for people who've already reached daylight.
If waiting in the dark is where you actually are, it might help to know this verse was written from that same place.
A short video on this is coming soon — for now, read on.