April 21

 

Psalm 89

The books of the great Dr. Seuss are favorites of many children . One of his most notable characters has got to be Horton the elephant. It's impossible not to love that guy. Remember that flaky duck mother who leaves her egg with Horton and said, "Would you watch this egg please?" She disappears and never comes back. Horton the elephant stays with the egg until it hatches and then he becomes a wonderful mother. Remember that great line Dr. Seuss gives to Horton

"I meant what I said, and I said what I meant.

An elephant's faithful 100 percent."

A promise kept is one of the great experiences of human life. Do you know what I am talking about?  Have you ever experienced the exhilaration of someone keeping a promise? Do you know how exciting it is to meet a Horton or someone who tells you the truth?

In Psalm 89 we meet the greatest promise keeper of all time, God.  Look at these great promises:

I will maintain my love to him forever, and my covenant with him will never fail.

I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure.

If his sons forsake my law and do not follow my statutes, if they violate my decrees and fail to keep my commands,  I will punish their sin with the rod, their iniquity with flogging;  but I will not take my love from him, nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.

His line will continue forever and his throne endure before me like the sun; it will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky.

There you have it. As long as the sun is shining by day and the moon is reflecting by night, God is going to keep his promise to David.  

The immediate impact of these great statements is to show how superior God's promise keeping is to ours. A lot of times we think God responds like us when people let us down. But God is always faithful. He doesn't act like we do. Even if David's descendents turn their backs on God, He will never turn His back on them.

God is loyal! God is faithful! God remains true! God doesn't go back on His word! When God promises, God fulfills, always!

There are two applications I suggest we take away from this passage:

The first is we need to know the promises of God and then live by them. If God always keeps His promises, that means we can always count on them no matter how dark the storm. There are over 7000 promises in the Bible. Count on those promises.

Second, if God is such a faithful promise keeper, we should imitate Him and be faithful promise keepers too. When you make a promise, keep it. So make your promises carefully and sparingly. But when you make one, remember "I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. A Christian's faithful 100 percent."