God Keeps His Promises

Nevertheless, because of the covenant the Lord had made with David, the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David.  He had promised to maintain a lamp for him and his descendants forever. --2 Chronicles 21:7

 We all remember the story of Noah's Ark, and the promise of the rainbow.  That may be one of the earliest Bible stories we heard as children growing up.  Some may call it a myth, but the world has not been destroyed in a flood, has it?

God is faithful.  "What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness? Not at all!  Let God be true, and every man a liar." (Romans 3:3-4)  In other words, your lack of faith in my God does not mean that my God does not exist, or that he cannot or will not do all that He has promised.

In the books of Chronicles in the Old Testament, there are successions of kings, some good, some evil.  In the verse cited above, the king was Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat.  Dad was a good king, following the laws of God.  Son was a bad king, leading the people of Israel into idolatry, following in the steps of Ahab (whose wife, you may remember, was Jezebel).

God's patience must have been running thin, because he considered wiping out the entire family of Jehoram.  Yet the youngest son, Ahaziah, was spared.  Even though God knew beforehand that Ahaziah would also be wicked and not follow in His ways, his very life was spared because of a promise that God had made to King David.  I wonder if Ahaziah ever thought about that?  Probably not.  Even today, the promises of God are kept, and some of us enjoy the fruit of God's hand even if we don't recognize it.  "God works in mysterious ways."

The promise to "maintain a lamp for him (David) and his descendants forever" was prophetic.  In the first chapter of John, Jesus is described as the Word made flesh, and the Light of the World. "In Him (Jesus) was life, and that life was the light of mankind.  That light still shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out." (John 1:4-5, Phillips Paraphrase).

Think about that.  God promised to have a descendant of David as ruler over Jerusalem and the Nation of Israel forever.  Whenever Israel sinned against God, and the people were taken into exile, there was always a princely descendant of David ready to assume the throne once the people were restored to their homeland.  But who is the king of Israel today?  It is Jesus, the Son of God, whose human family was of the house and line of King David.  And Jesus is our Light.  "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." (Psalm 119:105).  Who did John say was the Word made flesh? Who did the writer of Chronicles say was the Lamp maintained by God?  They are one and the same.

Light of the world, You stepped down into darkness.
Opened my eyes, let me see.
Beauty that made this heart adore you, hope of a life spent with you.

[Chorus]
And here I am to worship,
Here I am to bow down,
Here I am to say that you're my God,
You're altogether lovely,
Altogether worthy,
Altogether wonderful to me.

King of all days,
Oh so highly exalted, Glorious in heaven above.
Humbly you came to the earth you created.
All for love's sake became poor.

[Chorus]
Here I am to worship,
Here I am to bow down,
Here I am to say that you're my God,
You're altogether lovely,
Altogether worthy,
Altogether wonderful to me.

I'll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross.
I'll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross.
And I'll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross.
No I'll never know how much it cost to se my sin upon that cross.

[Chorus]
Here I am to worship,
Here I am to bow down,
Here I am to say that you're my God,
You're altogether lovely,
Altogether worthy,
Altogether wonderful to me.
So Here I am to worship,
Here I am to bow down,
Here I am to say that you're my God,