"Their soul fainted in them."

What an elegant way of saying someone has no hope.

Psalms 107:5(NKJV)

5    Hungry and thirsty,     Their soul fainted in them.

Of all the human conditions, I think this is the saddest of all.  No hope.

Why do I think that?  Because there is absolutely no reason for it.  If you accept Jesus and dig into God's word; and then adjust your behaviors and beliefs accordingly, there is absolutely no reason for not having any hope.

What do I mean by adjusting behaviors and beliefs?  Let me give an example.  Let's say someone has had a tough life, they accept Jesus, start reading God's word, but make no real changes in their life.  What sort of changes?  Let's start with this Scripture to see what kind of changes.

Romans 5:3-5(NKJV)

3And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 

4and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 

5Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Well to start with have they started taking joy in their tribulations?  In other words have they changed their attitude in life?  As I've pointed out before, according to Scripture, our attitude in how we handle things is important to God.  So have they changed their attitude or are they still whining about how unfair life is and how it isn't their fault, etc.?    If not then the how in the world do they expect their life to change? 

The sad thing is, many of these people will quickly give up, blaming God when in reality it is their lack of understanding and effort that is holding them back.   Their giving up so quickly once again shows that they aren't truly listening and trying to live God's Word.  How can I say that?  Look at the progression of God's plan in Romans 5:3-5.  Glory in tribulations, tribulations produce perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character leads to hope, and hope DOES NOT disappoint. 

As you can see from the above example, "they" have already rejected not one but the first two parts of God's plan for their hope.  Again I would ask, how is that God's fault and how can they expect things to get better when they don't make any of the changes that God gives them to make? 

Sadly many of these people will continue in their ways instead of God's ways and will live out their lives with no hope.  To me that is just another way of saying they will live out their lives in hell on earth-no hope.  The sad thing is, God has given them the keys to escape their own little hell any time that they want to use them.  But they reject God's counsel.  This next Scripture tells us what to expect when God's counsel is rejected.  "Bound in affliction and irons-" 

Psalms 107:10-11(NKJV)

10    Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,      Bound in affliction and irons—

11    Because they rebelled against the words of God,     And despised the counsel of the Most High,