Month: June 2021

228. God will Give

2 Chronicles 1:7 In that night did God appear unto Solomon, and said unto him, Ask what I shall give thee.

God did not appear to us in a dream of the night upon assuming the throne, but He did give us the same promise, assurance, and encouragement. We have been promised several times in the Word of God, “Ask what I shall give thee.” God commands us to pray and he promises to hear our prayers. This is a command and a promise for us: “Ask” is the command; “I shall give” is the promise. The NT says about the OT: “These things are written for our learning, that by patience and comfort of the Scriptures we may have hope.” We learn from the Scriptures that we have a good and gracious God. We learn that we may come to God as dear children come to their dear father. Our Lord is always there, and He is always listening. His arms are open and welcoming, waiting to embrace us, to give His love, and to hear our prayers.

It is obedience to God and His Word; it is fear, love, and trust in God above things; and it is exercising our faith to pray the prayers He tells us to pray. So we pray the essence and meaning of the Lord’s Prayer, just as Jesus taught us to pray. It is our privilege to “carry everything to God in prayer.” Our response to God’s promise to give is to know God and His Word so well that we ask “in Jesus’ name,” We learn to know the Lord better and better, we learn His will and ask according to it; and when we are in the Word the Holy Spirit moves us to pray what He wants, and when we don’t know God’s specific will in a matter clearly because of sin and ignorance the Spirit turns our sighs and groaniings into articulate prayer before the throne.

Because of God’s command and promise, and because of our need and helplessness, we are motivated to pray without ceasing. Then the Lord grants not only what we ask for but also even more that we ask or think. Solomon was wise enough to ask for wisdom. God was pleased with that request, and then granted him riches and fame and strength that he did not even ask for. God promises to bless a life of prayer, trust, and obedience with spiritual treasure beyond measure.

227. God with You, not Fail

1 Chronicles 28:20 And David said to Solomon his son, be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the Lord God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord.

So many times, to so many people, in so many situations, and in so many ways the Lord God Almighty promises to be with us, that He will not fail us, and that He will never forsake us. Therefore, we can be strong and of good courage, and we need never fear or be dismayed. The promise of God that David gave to Solomon applies to each of us as believers in Jesus Christ. We also may take heart, courage and comfort because our Lord Jesus is always with us, He will never fail, and He will not leave us alone.

The promise to Solomon in context is that the Lord God will be with Solomon until he finishes the work on the temple. David says God called him to this monumental task. Don’t be afraid to do it. Do not fear failure. Do not become discouraged when the job becomes difficult and it seems impossible to finish. God is with you all the way through the work to which you have been called. He won’t let you down. He will finish what He started.

God calls you to Himself through the Gospel and gives forgiveness and life forever. You are saved to the uttermost. Then the Lord may call you to specific projects or tasks throughout your lifetime in His service. This call may be as father, husband, mother, wife, friend, neighbor, employer, employee, etc. When God calls he also qualifies and equips you for the service. And He promises to be with you until the end. The finished work comes when we are called home to be with the Lord forever. Until then He is with us always, and He will never fail nor forsake us. Our Lord has done the impossible work, making saints out of sinners, and He will continue to do this work in us, for He is always with us. Never fear. Do not worry. Take heart. Be of good courage. For our Lord God made a promise: I am with you.

226. You will Prosper

1 Chronicles 22:13 Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfill the statutes and judgments which the Lord charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.

David is charging Solomon with the building of the Temple for the Lord. The promise from God is that he will prosper in the work he is called to do. This promise follows the pattern of conditional promises in the Bible: If you obey, then you will prosper. The Deuteronomic Blessings and Curses come into effect according to how closely we follow the Ten Commandments, the Law of God given to Moses. The Mosaic Covenant is conditional.

The immediate context of the promise is the prosperity and success of the building of the Temple in Jerusalem. The wider context concerns the prosperity of the kingdom of Israel under the kingship of Solomon. The still wider Biblical context of the conditional promise of prosperity is generally true. Prosperity comes from the fulfilling of the statues and judgments of the Lord given to Moses. One example is Psalm 1:2, 3: “His delight is in the law of the Lord….in all that he does he prospers.” And the Lord speaks to Joshua in Joshua 1:8: “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

Prosperity, as a promise, does not necessarily mean material prosperity and wealth in this world, although worldly riches do often come to faithful Christians, and even to morally upright unbelievers. The true riches, real wealth, and success in life are promised for spiritual prosperity. This is called eternal life, or the kingdom of God. Prosperity will come for specific projects or tasks or responsibilities when they are carried out according to God’s will. But it is still the spiritual prosperity that is promised to the one who walks in the way of the Lord. Peace in the soul and wellbeing in the spirit is much more vital and long lasting than any temporary prosperity. Material riches do not last; spiritual wealth is forever.

The truth is that Jesus keep the Law perfectly for us, and we are declared righteous, and thus because of the merits of Christ we shall prosper. We are righteous by faith and that gifted righteousness gives us the power to actually behave better and live rightly, so that spiritual prosperity comes.

225. God will do the Good

1 Chronicles 19:13 Be of good courage, and let us behave ourselves valiantly for our people, and for the cities of our God and let the Lord do that which is good in his sight.

Joab is speaking to the troops of Israel before going into battle against the Syrians and the Ammonites. The encouragement is to be strong and of good courage and to fight bravely for the Lord and His people is repeated often in Scripture. When soldiers trust in the Lord during battle they may be strong and courageous. They will do what they are called to do and trust the outcome to the Lord. The promise is that the Lord will do that which is good in His sight. We do our part and God does His part. God’s part is always greater and always good.

This is a general principle for all of our daily spiritual struggles and for all of our life. We take up our work, fulfill our responsibility, and do our job according to our calling, and then we trust God to keep His promise to do what is good. Our job is not to win the victory. God does that. Our job is to repent and believe the gospel and go about our business according to which we are called. In other words, we keep the commandments, repent when we fail, believe the forgiveness, live the life, and do the good works God has prepared beforehand. We get no credit for victory, for God does what is good. That’s a promise we can believe. 

We do the service and the work that is set before us in faith and let God do the rest. We believe the promise: He will do a good job. We are often called upon to serve God by serving our neighbor in several different roles. Sometimes we are called on to be soldiers and put on the armor for spiritual warfare. We pray and obey, and leave the results, and the credit, up to the Lord.

There is a tension between what we do and what God does. Wisdom knows the difference, and it is as difficult as distinguishing Law and Gospel. But that is why we have the Word and the Spirit. We can “do all things” when we know that God will do the good.

224. Blessed Forever

1 Chronicles 17:27 Now therefore let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may be before thee for ever: for thou blessest, O Lord and it shall be blessed for ever.

The promise is that when God blesses it shall be blessed forever. When God blesses someone there is no expiration date. A true godly blessing lasts into eternity. Earthly blessings are good and we are thankful to God for every temporary blessing we enjoy during our lifetime on earth. All earthly blessings are for a time and they do run out. God blesses with health, but eventually it stops. God blesses with wealth, but eventually it runs out. God blesses with family and friends, but eventually people move on or move away. God blesses with a good reputation, but eventually that passes also.

All the blessings of life on earth that we enjoy and thank God for will pass away, just like heaven and earth will pass away. But God blesses, and it is blessed forever. Temporal blessings are wonderful, but in one sense they are not real blessings if they are not forever. A philosophical question to ponder: if a blessing is one day taken away is it a real blessing? In truth, a true blessing should last forever. If it should be taken away we would just be disappointed again. But an eternal blessing is different: we never lose it, it’s never taken away, and it never ends.

God blesses with eternal life, and with all the wonderful things that life gives, like love, joy, peace, goodness, wellbeing and just feeling good. And the real blessing is that these things never end. It just keeps getting better forever. We look not at the things that are seen, but the things that are unseen, for they are eternal. What God gives He never takes away: we enjoy His blessings forever. During this earthly life all earthly, physical, material and visible blessings are taken away again. Sin takes it all away; sin brings death, the end of all blessings. But God found a way to take away sin and death, which rob us of life and stop the blessing, and replace them with righteousness and life forever. And nothing can stop the blessings of eternity.

223. Establish God’s Name and His Church

1 Chronicles 17:24 Let it even be established, that thy name may be magnified for ever, saying, The Lord of hosts is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel: and let the house of David thy servant be established before thee.

“Hallowed by Thy name.” May the name of God be magnified forever. God’s name is already holy and it is already magnified and bigger than anything else, but we still pray for it and believe the promise that it may be holy and big among us where we live in this world. God promises to answer our pray to bring His Name, His Presence, and His “Godness” into our hearts and our lives. God will establish His Name in us, in our families, in our churches, and in our communities. We pray that the Name and Presence of God will be so large among us that everything else, ourselves included, will be small in comparison. We pray that we might be able to let God be everything. We pray that the name of God will be as established among us in our own conscious awareness as it already is in reality. We pray that we might believe and live according the awesomeness of that truth. And God promises to hear our prayer.

The Lord is our God, whether we acknowledge it or not, but we need to pray that we might be aware of it: we make our selves and our sins small through repentance and humility, and we make God as holy and as big as He is through faith in the Gospel of Grace. God will establish His Name.

We also pray according to the promise that the house of David will be established before the Lord. The house of David is the Son of David, the Messiah of God, who will be established as king of the kingdom forever and ever without end and without fail. The kingdom of God, the Church on earth and the Church in heaven, is established forever through the work of the Christ. Such is the truth, such is our prayer, and such is the promise. The Kingdom of God is established in our hearts today and into the eternal future. We pray for its manifestation and reflection through us.

222. His People, Our God

1 Chronicles 17:22 For thy people Israel didst thou make thine own people for ever; and thou, Lord, becamest their God.

This constant theme runs through the Scriptures: “You shall be my people and I shall be your God.” There are two promises included here that are two sides of the same coin. God promises that all the believers in Christ, in both OT times and NT times, both Jews and Gentiles, will always and ever be God’s own people. And God promises that He will always and ever be our God.

We are God’s people. That promise is the basis of the eternal covenant. God makes me, and all believers in Christ, His responsibility. God is responsible for me as a dependent and helpless child. It is like a man and a woman who have a child together. Each takes on a responsibility for the new life that is born to them. At least, that is how it should be. We take it as a destructive sin when one or the other parent does not take responsibility for his or her children. Assuming this responsibility is a vital necessity for that new life to grow up to become a mature, responsible, happy, useful and productive adult person. A baby or young child’s only job is to obey his or her parents so that they can responsibly do a good job of nurturing, protecting and providing. The child is free to play and enjoy life under such care. So it is with us as children of God.

God is our God. That promise is on our side of the equation. We will have no other gods before the Lord (in place of Him). We will have no other gods beside the Lord, (alongside of Him). This is our responsibility, as dear children, to fear, love, and trust In God above all things. This “thou shalt” is both a command and a promise. God commands us to make the Lord alone our only God, and to the degree that we do so it will go well with us. And God promises us (“you shall”) that we will do this. The promise is fulfilled when we believe the Gospel and the Spirit makes Jesus our Lord and our God and Him only do we serve and obey. But just as human children sin and disobey parents, so do the spiritual children of the heavenly Father; however, God promises that He will always be our Father and our God, even though we fail Him.

221. The King is Settled

1 Chronicles 17: 14 But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore.

The covenant with David and the promise to us continues with the word “settle,” or “confirm.” The Lord will settle or confirm the Descendant in God’s House and in His Kingdom forever, and the throne of this Descendant will be established forever. The promise is for us in that Jesus is the Son of David and the Son of God for us. The Lord will confirm Him in the Church of God forever. Jesus shall reign as Lord of lords and King of kings forever, world without end. His throne, authority and rule are firm for eternity. Nothing shall ever shake it.

This promise is good for us in that the reign of God in the spiritual kingdom endures under King Jesus for all time and eternity. All the kingdoms and authorities of this present world come and go and pass away, but the king and the kingdom and the word of the Lord endures forever. And since I am in the kingdom by the grace of God in Christ Jesus, I will live and reign forever. Ultimately, everything, everything we have seen and known about in the earthly realm of history and geography, even the present heavens and the earth will pass away. In its place the New Heaven and New Earth will be established, and that kingdom will never end. We are in that kingdom that will never end. Under the authority and rule of the Seed of David we may rest secure and comfortable, joyful and happy, finally at peace and rest.

We can only and always live thankfully in the peace and joy of the Lord, for God made a promise, and the promise is sure. There is nothing like living at peace and in joy in the eternal kingdom of God under the Good King. It is settled.

220. House, Kingdom, Throne

1 Chronicles 17:10, 11, 12 The Lord will build thee an house…I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom…He shall build me an house, and I will establish his throne forever.

The Covenant that the Lord made with David in 2 Samuel 7 is recorded also in 1 Chronicles 17. The Covenant says that the Lord will build a house for David, that is, a dynasty of kings; that He will raise up his seed, which is the Messiah, from his descendants; that this Descendant, the Messiah, will build a house for the Lord God, which is the Church of all believers; and that the Lord will establish the throne of the Messiah, the Son of David, to last for all eternity. This is clearly a Messianic Prophecy of Jesus: He would be a son of David, a king of God’s people, and his throne, royal authority, would be established forever; this Son would rule the people of God in the Kingdom of God forever.

This prophecy came true and God kept His covenant promise to David when Jesus was born, lived, died, rose again, and ascended to rule the eternal kingdom. The word “forever” makes this a prophecy that could only come true spiritually through the person of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David and Son of God. No other person in history, or outside of history, fulfills the prophecy.

The promise for us is that Jesus is our King forever and we are in His Kingdom now and for eternity. God the Creator is the first King of Creation and all creatures, the first Ruler of our lives, and He had absolute authority over mankind from the beginning. Satan and Death usurped the authority over our lives by our Sin and disobedience to God and became the legitimate Ruler over our lives as the Prince of the power of the air. Then Jesus, Himself God, became human, and took back the kingdom of God and took over the Kingship of our lives. This Man is now sitting at the right hand of God ruling our lives for good forever. We, who believe in Jesus, have God’s life in us now and forever, under the beneficent rule of Christ. In the Son of David, the Good “Empire Strikes Back.” And we are in good hands. Our King and Lord is good, kind, and wise and He knows what to do for us.

219. Faithful Love is Forever

1 Chronicles 16:34 O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth forever.

This is a stated truth by David about the Lord, and it contains a promise: the mercy of God toward us lasts forever. That is a promise we can live eternally with. This verse is a common refrain in the Scriptures, especially the Psalms. Christians use this formula throughout history as a common prayer. Every Christian knows this praise prayer by heart. But look at the promise it contains, and which we confess to believe: The Love of God is faithful toward us and it lasts forever. The Love of God cannot be thwarted or defeated or stopped; it will ever endure; it will withstand every power in the universe, even death. The Love of God plows right through everything, Song of Songs 8:6; “Love is strong as death…the very flame of the Lord.” 

The word in Hebrew is “chesed.” This word is untranslatable into direct English. The KJV uses “mercy” and “lovingkindness.” Other version us “steadfast love” or “love that is faithful to the covenant.” It means God made a promise to love us and He will absolutely, unconditionally, and for sure do so forever and ever, world without end. This is how God is good: He loves you and you can live and die in that love. This is how God loves us: He gave us His Son that by faith in Him we have eternal life.

Do not just lightly and blithely let this prayer roll off your tongue. Think about its deeper and eternal meaning. Let the weight of its truth sink into the depths of your soul. God is good, and He loves you forever.