Romans 4:17-18 (As it is written, I have made you a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who vivifies the dead… Where hope has a great object in view, there will always be fear. If not fear, there will always, however, be that sort of timorous fluctuation which distinguishes hope from assurance. It is thus in worldly affairs. When a great good is expected, but not yet possessed, there will always be an apprehension of losing it. It is thus, too, with every good man who views the Christian dispensation as he ought. When he contemplates the scheme of man's redemption in all its vastness — the wonderful means employed, and the immensity of the views it opens — he recoils at his own insignificance; and thinks it against hope to believe that such a creature as he feels himself can ever be the object of such Divine beneficence. On the other hand, when he considers the love of God to man in his creation, which could have no end but man's happiness — when he considers that the very act of his creation is an assurance of God's future protection — when he reflects on the numerous promises of the gospel, of the truth of which he is clearly convinced by abundant evidence — his diffidence vanishes, and he cannot help, in the language of the text, against hope, believing in hope. (John Gilpin, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. |
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