Psalm 132:1-18

The promises of God are a wonderful thing.  They provide an anchor for us in the midst of the often turbulent storm of life that we must often face.  It is easy for us to focus on the problems that often surround us in life and forget all about the promises of God; but we must not allow that to happen.  We must do whatever it takes to constantly remind ourselves of the promises of God.  Many people struggle mightily in their life because they do not know God’s promises because they have not taken time to study the Word of God.  Others who have studied the Word and know the promises become distracted and forget all about them at the first sign of trouble.  If we are going to grow in our relationship with the Lord and stand firm in the face of trials we must work hard to remember the promises of God all throughout our lives.

GOD HAS PROMISED TO REWARD OUR WORK: The fact that God rewards obedience is spread throughout all of Scripture.  We often hesitate to talk about or even think about rewards because it smacks of arrogance and selfishness to us.  We somehow convince ourselves that it is noble and humble to ignore the idea of rewards all together.  I believe this to be a trick of Satan and a false sort of humility that is actually very displeasing to the Lord.  God wants to be known as a God of rewards.  He wants us to desire His rewards because it speaks to our vision of Him.  When we are excited about His rewards; we are honoring and worshiping Him.  David points to His work to provide a dwelling place for the Ark and a house of worship for the people as evidence of His dedication to the Lord.  He understands the relationship between His faithfulness and God’s rewards.  We are uncomfortable with this concept because we are aware that any “good” we do only comes from God’s work in us and we are very much aware of the fact that we do not deserve rewards.  However, this awareness should not cause us to ignore or forget about rewards.  Rather, it should fill us with gratitude and spur us on to worship God with all of our hearts.


GOD HAS PROMISED TO REMEMBER HIS WORD: When David faced uncertain days and it looked like his enemies would overtake him; he constantly reminded himself and God about the promises that God had made to him.  God does not need to be reminded of anything nor does He need to be informed of anything.  He never forgets a promise He has made and He always knows about everything that happens to us.  But that does not mean that He does not take delight in our prayers to Him and our reminders of His promises.  We don’t pray because God needs us to pray but because we need to pray.  We don’t remind God of His promises because He has forgotten them but because we need to be reminded of them.  As we recite the promises of God we are reassured of His faithfulness and comforted in our times of distress.  The promises of God reflect the character of God and when we remember His character it is much easier for us to trust Him and be faithful to Him even in the midst of difficult circumstances.

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