Like a political promise, they’ve disappeared. The Roseate Spoonbills I’ve seen on my walk the last two days have flown away. Psalm 105 reveals the only true source of unbroken promise and unfailing words, and it is God.
“He is mindful of His covenant and forever it is imprinted on His heart, the word which He commanded and established to a thousand generations.” Verse 8
The rest of the Psalm describes the covenant pledge God gave to Abraham and how it was kept unbroken throughout the lives of Isaac, Jacob, and Israel. Even when they messed up, God did not abandon His covenant agreement.
For example….
In spite of brothers who sought to abandon and murder Joseph, God rescued him and preserved His pledge to Israel through him.
Then….
When the people became slaves of the Egyptians, God intervened and sent Moses and Aaron along with plagues of darkness, bloody water, frogs, beetles, flies, lice, hail, lightening fires, locusts, grasshoppers, and loss of life.
Also….
On the way to the Promised Land, God gave direction to His people with a cloud by day and a fire at night. From rocks and sky He fed and watered His own, His people.
Even today, although men often chose against His intentions, God clearly accomplishes His purposes. He keeps His word.
He keeps His word about His plans, but we must remember the designs are His and not ours. Therefore, He doesn’t necessarily promise to grant our wish list. He’s promoting what will bring His best out of us.
We are like a plot of land, and if we let Him into our life, God becomes our gardener, envisioning and cultivating our life. He may be planning a thick grove of fruit trees on our borders, yet we often fret about a petunia patch we want to have.
God is not a killer of joy. In fact, Jesus gave us this message.
“The thief comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance.” John 10:10
Jesus is also the herald for the New Covenant. The night before He was crucified He told his disciples, “This is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” Matthew 26:28
“Behold the days will come, says the Lord, when I will make and ratify a new covenant…. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers on the day when I grasped them by the hand to help and relieve them and lead them from the land of Egypt, for they did not abide in My agreement….” Hebrews 8:8 & 9
Human promises take flight like birds, but God’s covenant promise will last forever.
My Prayer
“How amazing you are, God, to make a covenant with creatures that on some days can’t even get to work on time! Thank You for keeping Your covenant with us and for the eternal life You offer through Jesus. May many more say, “Yes” to You this day! Amen.”