Mornings with the Word "Promise"
Mornings spent at our kitchen table in prayer and study were common throughout 2016. I would wake a little earlier than James and head downstairs to let Layla out, start heating the water for coffee, and pull out my Bible and commentaries. One day, I know I will miss days like those. I'll beg for a few minutes of quiet. And then I'll remember how much I longed for the noise. For my home and arms to be filled with baby sounds.
On an August morning over three years ago, I began to study verses that contained the word “promise” and I made a note of them on my prayer journal pages.
God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? (Numbers 23:19)
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. (Joshua 23:14)
And now, Lord God, keep forever the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house. Do as you promised. (2 Samuel 7:25)
I loved how David prayed here. So bold! Like he's holding God to what He said. "Do as you promised. Remember me."
The Lord has kept the promise he made: I have succeeded David my father and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised, and I have built the temple for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. (1 Kings 8:20)
You have kept your promise because you are righteous. (Nehemiah 9:8b)
And then I came across the writings of Asaph in Psalm 77:
I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me. When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands, and I would not be comforted. I remembered you, God, and I groaned; I meditated, and my spirit grew faint. You kept my eyes from closing; I was too troubled to speak. I thought about the former days, the years of long ago; I remembered my songs in the night. My heart meditated and my spirit asked: “Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again? Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?” (Psalm 77:1-9)
There was so much feeling and vulnerability in his words that I found myself saying "Yes God, me too!" So I went to the Believer's Bible Commentary by William MacDonald to dig in. Much of what is shared below is from that study, with my own thoughts interjected here and there.
This psalmist was pouring his heart out to God. His distress was deeply personal as he moved from anguished bewilderment to comforting recollection. This was a person being encouraged in his inner man as he remembered God's good deeds and miracles.
MacDonald notes the flow of his thoughts across the Psalm:
sighing (vv. 1-6)
sinking (vv.7-10)
singing (vv. 11-15)
soaring (vv. 16-20)
Asaph poured out his woes to God. In his misery, he could think of no one and nothing but himself. In spite of his unceasing prayer, comfort eluded him. In verse 3, he moaned instead of rejoiced when thinking about God. The more he meditated, the more melancholy he became.
He then moved on to blaming God for his insomnia. Words failed to express what he felt. He seeks comfort in remembering the good ole days when everything went smoothly for him, but the more he is occupied with himself and looks for victory from within, the more he begins to doubt the kindness of the Lord. He is assailed by doubts that find expression in 5 unbelieving questions:
Will You reject me forever and never show Your face again?
Has Your unfailing love vanished forever?
Has Your promise failed for all time?
Have you forgotten to be merciful?
Are you withholding compassion in Your anger?
In the rawest sense, he was asking: Are You finished with me for good? Don't You love me anymore? Did You scrap Your promises? Are You forgetting to be gracious? Has Your anger cut off the flow of compassion?How many of these questions have filled my heart and mind? And currently those of dear friends.
Asaph attempts to answer his own questions with the determination that the right hand of the Most High has changed. That all his grief can be traced to a change in God's attitude toward him.
But there is a turning point. After introspection, he turns his eyes heavenward and resolves to reflect on God's past interventions for His people. This leads him at once to the acknowledgement that God is holy. That everything He does is perfect, righteous, and good. He makes no mistakes.
As the psalmist thinks of the specific marvelous and miraculous displays of God's strength, the personal pronouns disappear from his vocabulary. Self-centeredness has given way to God-centeredness.
He marvels at how God himself in all power split the Red Sea. And there were other abundant evidences of His presence and power, though He concealed Himself in the shadows. The psalmist closes on a peaceful note. The Shepherd-God leading Israel through the wilderness to Canaan in the care of Moses and Aaron.
MacDonald's commentary closed with these thoughts:
Occupation of self brings stress.
Occupation with others bring discouragement.
Occupation with Christ brings delight.
Lord, occupy my mind with Christ. Let Your praise be on my lips. Instead of having doubt in my heart, fill my mind with personal thoughts of You and ALL You've already done in my life. Let me fix my eyes and resolve to reflect on You.
Thank You in advance for going before me today. Thank You for encouraging me with this Psalm. It's honesty couldn't have been any more timely.
I found so much encouragement in the chapter's summary. This Psalm is about "faith's decision to look beyond the present troubles—and God's bewildering inactivity—to draw hope anew from His saving acts of old."
It's a decision of FAITH.