A Sure Promise

“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will fulfil the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah. ‘“In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land.” (Jeremiah 33:14–15 NIVUK)

Have you ever been the recipient of a broken promise? Perhaps a parent said they would buy you the toy you’ve always wanted but they never did. A classmate at school says they will let you play football with their mates but never does. Maybe you’ve arranged to meet a friend for a date, and they failed to show up.

Have you ever broken a promise you’ve made? ‘I’ll call you next week,’ but you never do. If you’re like me it will be ‘I’ll do the washing up,’ and it’s still waiting to be done in the morning. How about ‘I’ll pray for you’ and then you’ve failed to do it?

Some promises are made at the drop of a hat with no real intention of keeping them, like ‘I’ll be ready in five minutes.’ Other promises are more serious, such as ‘till death do us part.’ But whether our promises are casual and flippant or hugely significant the sad thing about human beings is that we all break promises and have been let down by broken promises.

Being the brunt of broken promises can leave us feeling disappointed, frustrated, and deceived. Sometimes we can become cynical or develop significant trust issues with people which can spill over into our relationship with God. Can he be trusted? Will he let us down? Are his promises reliable?

As human beings we might make promises and have promises made to us that are not followed through, but the good news is God will never let us down. As the Psalmist says, ‘For the word of the LORD holds true, and we can trust everything he does.’ (Psalm 33:4 NLT)

This is the case regarding the promise made in our header scripture that a righteous branch will sprout from David’s line doing what is just and right. This promise was fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

He came from the lineage of King David (Matthew 1:1), is our righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30)and proclaimed justice for the poor and marginalised (Luke 4:18–19; Matthew 12:18).

What God says comes to pass because he is the God of the sure promise not the broken one.

We mustn’t allow our negative human experiences to adversely affect our relationship with God. He is willingly and able to do what he says he will do, so let’s trust him and live in the belief that his promises are sure and secure. What a blessing that will be when difficult times come our way.

Have a good week standing on the promises of God.

Pastor Barry