Romans 15:7-13, A Prayer for Abundant Hope (1)

This is likely my wife’s favorite verse in the entire Bible.  The reason?  A few years ago, when we were in one of the darkest times of our lives, we went for a ride over the Going to the Sun Highway in Glacier National Park, to a little café in St. Mary, Montana.  While quietly sitting there, we were attracted to a family at another table who had prayed over their meal; we had a brief conversation with them, admiring their children.  As they got up to leave, the dad came over to our table, said he sensed we were struggling, and quoted Romans 15:13 to us.  It could not have been a better thing to do.  It had never made it onto my list of favorite Scriptures for some reason.  But for both of us, God really ministered to us in a way that is still unique in our 50+ years together.

For whom is Paul praying?  Again, the Roman Christians.

In this case, what is important is that the church at Rome was primarily Gentile.

To whom is Paul praying? “the God of hope”

He is the Hope of Israel, his Savior in time of trouble (Jer. 14:8).  The Lord Jesus Christ is also called our hope (1 Tim. 1:1).  Hope comes to the forefront when we are in difficulty; and if things seem hopeless, even more we look to the Lord for a reason to press on in our pilgrimage.  Which leads to the next question …

What moves Paul to pray?

It is the preceding context, culminating in the last word in v12!  The issue Paul is speaking about to this group of (primarily) Gentile believers is that the gospel and the New Covenant blessings have come to the Gentiles.  Rom. 15:8 says that Jesus was the Servant to the circumcision, the Jews, with the intent in His earthly ministry of confirming the promises made to the Fathers.  The promises he speaks of I don’t believe involve the Abrahamic Covenant, but rather have to do with the New Covenant.  The New Covenant was promised to Israel, and involved …

·       Deut. 30:6: Even before Israel entered the land, God knew and warned them that they still did not have a heart to know Him (Dt. 29:4).  He promised hard times would come, even removal from the land.  But a time would come when He would bring them back to the land, and in the process, would circumcise your heart … to love the LORD your God.

·       Isa. 59:21: The Lord promised His Spirit to be upon them, and His words in their mouth, not to depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants.  This eternal covenant would involve the sure mercies of David (Isa. 55:3; Acts 13:34), referring to the mercy God promised David when He promised to always have a king on the throne.  It refers to Christ, the One through whom those mercies come.

This is such a joyful theme we are going to continue it in our next post.