Promises come in all shapes and sizes, consisting of assurances for good, and similarly, sometimes for negative outcomes. Likewise, in God’s Word, He states many promises of both positive and negative content to different people groups. And I think it’s fair to say, that most people prefer to give their attention to pleasant promises more than the negative ones. Intrinsic to any promise is the expectation that it will be honoured. Heartbreak occurs when a wonderful promise is broken, and fulfilment dissolves into disillusionment and shattered loyalty. Such has been the sad experience of countless people over millennia of human history.
But NOT so with God! Even the questionable prophet Balaam got God’s integrity right when he told wicked Balak; God is not a man, that He should lie, …Has He said, and will He not do it? (Numbers 23:19). Here stands the foundation of all Christian belief, Holy God is faithful to His Word, whether we like what He says or not, Yahweh is trustworthy. The LORD says what He means, He means what He says, and His literal promises have literal fulfilment. We Christians base both our eternal lives, and our daily living upon this truth.
Therefore, we daily cling to the promised fact that the LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth (Psalm 145:18). Here, king David calls the recipients to respond to God’s integrity with personal integrity by calling on the LORD in truth. This is simply a call for open honesty, without false intensions, and with intentional faithfulness to the Almighty. To these ones, the LORD promises His invisible nearness. Yet, the LORD manifests His nearness in many ways as He speaks to us through His Word, convicts and affirms us by His Holy Spirit, listens to our prayers, and providentially coordinates the events of our lives.
The spectacular nature of God’s promises secure us in the knowledge that He initiated them before we were saved, before we were born, and even before He created the world. Paul reminded timid Timothy of this certainty; in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Saviour (Titus 1:2-3). God made promises to us in Jesus Christ, knowing that we were going to fail Him, yet He presently causes His promises to stand faithful. Regardless of our inconsistencies, even if we are faithless, he remains faithful – for he cannot deny himself (2 Timothy 2:13). God will never alter, break, transfer, or forget a single promise He has made to His children, to do so would be to deny His own holy character. We rest in the inalterable certainty of God’s fulfilled promises even though we know that we may fail to be the Christlike people we should be. Yahweh’s holy integrity exceeds all human definition of faithfulness, and for this we worship Him with surrendered lives.
Of course, these truths grow out of the fact that there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart (1 Kings 8:23). The LORD is loyal to His holy character first and foremost, testified to by the four living creatures… who day and night never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” (Revelation 4:8). Believers rest in the security of God’s holiness expressed, in part, through ongoing fulfilled promises.
To be continued…
