In 1886 a hymn called “Standing on the Promises” was written that talks about the promises of God. Yes this song has great words but the tune is not so great but thanks to groups like Selah it is much better. Here are the words:
1. Standing on the promises of Christ my King, Through eternal ages let His praises ring, Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing, standing on the promises of God.
Refrain: Standing, standing, Standing on the promises of God my Savior; Standing, standing, I’m standing on the promises of God.
2. Standing on the promises that cannot fail, When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail, By the living Word of God I shall prevail, Standing on the promises of God.
5. Standing on the promises I shall not fall, List’ning every moment to the Spirit’s call. Resting in my Savior as my All in all, Standing on the promises of God.
Scripture tells us we can stand firm on the promises of God but we must hold fast and obey. Hebrews 10:23 “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” 2 Peter 1:2 “Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”
God has promised Abraham and David that we would take the land and have the power to do it. These are eternal promises that we draw strength from. Genesis 12:2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” 1 Kings 8:25 “Now Lord, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me faithfully as you have done.’ Jeremiah 33:17 “For this is what the Lord says: ‘David will never fail to have a man to sit on the throne of Israel, 18 nor will the Levitical priests ever fail to have a man to stand before me continually to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to present sacrifices.’”
Notice 1 Kings 8 said, “if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me faithfully.” In our faithfulness to God’s word we have great hope and we draw strength from these promises no matter what we are facing. We have seen that giants will fall and the land will be taken in the power of God. 2 Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” As we commit to God we will get stronger. We saw yesterday that King Asa failed to remain in Him and tried to draw strength from man. All through Judges you also see “again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord.” If you look at the kings you will see that most of them did evil in the eyes of the Lord. Deuteronomy 4:25 “After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time—if you then become corrupt and make any kind of idol, doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God and arousing his anger, 26 I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed. 27 The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the Lord will drive you.” King Asa’s father Abijah 1 Kings 15:3 “was committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been.”
The ones who were obedient followed in the way of David 1 Kings 15:5 “For David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord and had not failed to keep any of the Lord’s commands all the days of his life—except in the case of Uriah the Hittite”. King Josiah 2 Kings 22:2 “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed completely the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.” We also must obey. God is still looking to strengthen the wholehearted. Nothing has changed. If we disobey, we will miss out on God’s promises. We can see those blessings and curses listed in Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26. Yes Jesus became a curse for us but if we choose not to obey it will be no different for us as it was for Israel when they disobeyed. Galatians 3:13 “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” Earlier in this chapter Paul said, Galatians 3:1 “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? 7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” So we hold on to God’s promises and we persevere until we are once again are blessed by God turning His face back to shine upon us. Daniel 9:17 “Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate.”
As we wait be strengthened in the promises God has given us. Even though the sanctuary is desolate we have great hope when we turn back to Him. 2 Chronicles 15:2 “The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 3 For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law, 4 but when in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them.” So we return to the prayer of David when he said, “1 Chronicles 17:19 “For your servant's sake, O Lord, and according to your own heart, you have done all this greatness, in making known all these great things. 20 There is none like you, O Lord, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 21 And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making for yourself a name for great and awesome things, in driving out nations before your people whom you redeemed from Egypt? 22 And you made your people Israel to be your people forever, and you, O Lord, became their God. 23 And now, O Lord, let the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house be established forever, and do as you have spoken, 24 and your name will be established and magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, is Israel's God,’ and the house of your servant David will be established before you. 25 For you, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build a house for him. Therefore your servant has found courage to pray before you. 26 And now, O Lord, you are God, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. 27 Now you have been pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever before you, for it is you, O Lord, who have blessed, and it is blessed forever.”
So as we wait we hope and trust in God’s word. We don’t look around us at what our eyes can see, but we look to the word of God, the way, the truth and the life and we know that we too can see these promises fulfilled in our lives. As you read this verse stand firm in the promises of God. Joshua 21:43 “So the Lord gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their ancestors, and they took possession of it and settled there. 44 The Lord gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their ancestors. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the Lord gave all their enemies into their hands. 45 Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.” Joshua 23:5 “The Lord your God himself will push them out for your sake. He will drive them out before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the Lord your God promised you. 6 “Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left. 7 Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve them or bow down to them. 8 But you are to hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have until now.” The Joshua says 14 “Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed. 15 But just as all the good things the Lord your God has promised you have come to you, so he will bring on you all the evil things he has threatened, until the Lord your God has destroyed you from this good land he has given you. 16 If you violate the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you.” Joshua 24:15 “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
