Psalm 31:24 is a rallying cry for weary souls. David isn’t talking to the naturally brave or the spiritually elite; he’s talking to “all” who are clinging to God in the middle of fear and uncertainty. He urges us to be strong and let our hearts take courage because our hope is anchored, not in circumstances, but in the LORD Himself. This verse is God’s gentle but firm hand on your shoulder, lifting your chin when everything in you wants to look down.

Courage Is a Command, Not a Personality Type

God doesn’t frame courage as a suggestion for the unusually bold; He gives it as a command to ordinary, trembling people. “Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the LORD” (Psalm 31:24). That sounds a lot like what God told Joshua on the edge of the Promised Land: “Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9). Courage is not about how you feel—it’s about who is with you.

This means your temperament, your past, and your present fears do not disqualify you from living courageously. The Lord commands you to be strong precisely because He knows your weakness. He never says, “Muster something you don’t have.” He says, “Lean on what I AM.” The presence of God with you is the solid ground under the shaky feet of your heart. When you feel like hiding, that command to “take courage” is really an invitation: step into My strength; I will go with you.

Hope That Looks Beyond What You Can See

Notice who this promise is for: “all you who hope in the LORD” (Psalm 31:24). Real hope is not optimism that things will simply work out; it is confidence that God is who He says He is, even when nothing looks like it yet. Scripture keeps pressing this point: “Wait patiently for the LORD; be strong and courageous. Wait patiently for the LORD!” (Psalm 27:14). Hope and waiting belong together. You set your heart on God’s character while the clock keeps ticking and prayers seem unanswered.

This kind of hope is active, not passive. “But if we hope for what we do not yet see, we wait for it patiently” (Romans 8:25). You keep praying, keep obeying, keep showing up where God has placed you, even when you feel nothing. “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Your courage grows not by staring harder at your situation, but by fixing your gaze on the unchanging faithfulness of your Lord.

Living Today Like the Promise Is Already True

So how do you actually live this out today? Start by talking back to your fears with God’s own words. When anxiety whispers, “You’re not going to make it,” answer with truth: “But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31). Fear says you are alone; Jesus answers, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!” (John 16:33). Courage is choosing which voice you will agree with.

Then, take one concrete step of obedience that lines up with your hope. Make the hard phone call, confess the hidden sin, open your Bible when you’d rather scroll, encourage someone else when you feel empty. “Let us hold resolutely to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23). As you act on what God has said, the Holy Spirit works within you: “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13). Your heart taking courage is not wishful thinking; it is the Spirit of God applying the promises of God to the child of God—today.

Lord, thank You that You are my unshakable hope. Today, help me to take courage and act in faith on Your Word, trusting You more than my fears.

We would make a clear distinction here between moral action and mere religious activity. In truth there is already too much of that popular type of activity which does little more than agitate the surface of religion. Its never-ending squirrel-cage motion gives the impression that much is being done, when actually nothing really important is happening and no genuine spiritual progress is being made. From such we must turn away.

By moral action, we mean a voluntary response to the Christian message: not merely the acceptance of Christ as our personal Savior but a submission to the obligation implicit in the doctrine of the Lordship of Jesus. We must free ourselves from the inadequate concept of the gospel as being only "good news," and accept the total meaning of the Christian message centering in the cross of Christ. We must restore again to the church the idea that the offer of salvation by faith in Christ carries with it the condition that there must be also a surrender of the life to God in complete obedience.

Anything less than this puts the whole thing in the passive voice. A lifetime of passive listening to the truth without responding to it paralyzes the will and causes a fatty degeneration of the heart. The purpose of Bible teaching is to secure a moral and spiritual change in the whole life. Failing this, the whole thing may be wasted.

But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They shall be given over to the power of the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes. But the king shall rejoice in God: every one that sweareth by Him shall glory: for the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped. - Psalm 63:9-11

This last portion of the psalm describes one consequence of pressing after God. The soul thus cleaving and following is gifted with a prophetic certainty. " Those that seek my soul are destined for destruction" (so is the probable rendering); "they shall go into the lower parts of the earth " - swallowed up like Korah and his rebellious company. "They shall each be given up to the power of the sword" (as the words might be rendered); "they shall be a portion for foxes" (or jackals as the word means). Their unburied bodies shall lie in the wilderness, and the jackals shall tear and devour. David regarded his enemies as God’s enemies. David’s point of view permitted him to exult with a stern but not unrighteous joy in their destruction. But these words are not prayer nor imprecation, but prophecy and the insight of a soul conscious of union with God, and therefore assured that everything which stands in the way of its possession of the God whom it loves is destined for annihilation.

And, disengaging the words from the mere husk and shell of Old Testament experience, all of us, if we cleave to God, may have this confidence, that nothing can hinder our fellowship with God, and that whatsoever stands in the way of our closer union with Him shall be swept out of the way. David’s certainty of the destruction of his foes is the same triumphant assurance, on a lower spiritual level, as Paul’s trumpet blast of victory: " Who shall separate us from the love of God? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" "Nay, in all these things," - and overall these things, - "we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us."

There is the other side of this prophetic certainty here. "The King shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by Him shall glory." He and his faithful followers shall realise a Divine deliverance, which shall be the subject of their praise; and the adversary’s lips shall be sealed with silence, their vindication shall stick in their throat, and they shall be dumb before the judgment of Almighty God. That confidence, too, may stand as a symbol of the certainty of hope which refreshes the soul which seeks and possesses God, even in the wilderness, and while compassed with sorrows and fears. We, too, may find in our present union with God a prophecy, fixed and firm as the pillars of His throne, of our future kingly dignity, and rapturous joy in Him. It is reserved not for us only, but for all whose lips confessed Him on earth and shall therefore be opened to lift up before Him triumphant praise, which shall drown the discords of opposing voices, and no more be broken by sobs or weeping.

My brother! we are all thirsty. Do you know what it is that makes you restless? Do you know who it is that you need? Listen to Him that says, "If any man thirst, let Him come to Me, and drink." Choose whether you will thirst with mad and aimless cravings, and perish in a dry land; or whether you will come to the " Fountain of Life in Christ your Saviour, and slake your thirst at God Himself."