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Our Source of Hope – God’s Remembrance
“For He remembered His holy word
To Abraham His servant.”
(Psalm 105:42)
We return to the theme of remembrance. In verse 5, God’s people are called upon to remember the faithful things that God has done; now, we are reminded that God remembers his holy Word to Abraham. In a world where people like to present God as changing and unpredictable, the Scriptures remind us over and over again that God is unchanging, and because God is unchanging, we have hope. Furthermore, because God is unchanging, He is worthy of our worship, for He will lose none of His elect ones through the ages. Indeed, God is resolute in His promises and in that we can find great hope for the future.
Many translations will make an inference here and translate אֶת־דּבַר קָדְשׁוֹ (eth-dabar qadesho) as “His holy promise” instead of “His holy word.” The inference is a natural one because all of God’s Word is given as truth and a promise. In particular, they are looking toward the covenant promise that was given to Abraham and fulfilled as the people entered Canaan (of which the psalmist speaks). That said, it is worth reminding ourselves that the promise of God that is connected to the covenant is not the only aspect of His Word that “God remembers.” No, it is the totality of all He has spoken that stands unwaveringly before God as a neon-sign in the heavens declaring what God has done and what God has yet to do. This is part of God’s eternal Counsel (think Ephesians 1:11) and nothing can shake it. What God has said will come to pass for the joy of the believer and to the dread of the reprobate. What God has said, God will do. Not one “jot or tittle” will ever be lost or forgotten. And once again, in that, we can take hope.
A Covenant Forever
“This he made with Abraham and His sworn oath to Isaac;
Which he established with Jacob to be a statute,
To Israel as a Covenant forever.”
(Psalm 105:9-10)
David circles back in these verses to add clarity as to the nature of this Covenant. It is the covenant that God made with Abraham, which he renewed with Isaac and then again with Jacob. It is everlasting and it came along with an oath. As Paul writes:
For when God was making a promise to Abraham, since he had nothing greater against which to swear, he swore against himself! Saying, ‘I will indeed bless you, and I will surely multiply you.’ In this way, remaining patient, he obtained the blessing, for men swear against that which is greater and, for all of them, an oath is taken for the final validation of a lawsuit — in which he abundantly desired to exhibit to the heirs of the promise his unchangeable purpose, so he guaranteed it with an oath.
(Hebrews 6:13-17)
Too often people in churches act as if the New Testament is the only thing of any value to them. I have even heard people call themselves “New Testament Christians” or speak of attending “New Testament Churches.” This phraseology is nonsensical at best. Without the Old Testament, we do not have the New Testament. God’s promise to his church is meaningless unless we find that promise grounded in the promise that he made to Abraham. As noted already, the church is the fulfillment of the promise that God made all of those years ago, when he swore an oath to Abraham (Galatians 3:29).
Thus, who is true Israel? Christ’s church. Such is the error of many dispensational writers, who wish to see Israel and the church remain as separate entities. Yet, how can they be, when Paul makes a direct connection between Christian faith and the promise of Abraham? No, the church began in Eden, continued through Abraham and through Israel and found its fullness in the church of Jesus Christ. Remember, not all Israel is true Israel, only those with faith in Jesus Christ through whom the promise of election has been worked out (Romans 9:6-8). To believers, it is a covenant forever.
The Sending …
“But to the sons of the concubines of Abraham, Abraham gave gifts. And he sent them away from Isaac during his life — eastward, to the land in the east.”
(Genesis 25:6)
Before Abraham sends his sons (those not of Sarah) away, he gives to each gifts — a practice that is remarkably ahead of his time. Many today seek to give a portion of their estate to their children while they are still living — this has tax benefits and gives you control over the disbursements — but Abraham’s purpose is rather different. Isaac will inherit his estate — he will be the one to assume responsibility for this great and wonderful promise that God has given to Abraham in terms of the covenant and the wealth that has been given in the context of the covenant. Upon Abraham’s death, there will be no squabbles over nick-knacks, but all will fall to Isaac.
Yet, Abraham still provides for his other sons. They are his children and this is a fulfillment of the covenant that God made to him at the very time of his calling — I will make you a blessing (Genesis 12:1). Thus, the account of Abraham’s life ends the way it began … with a focus on the nations finding their hope and blessing in the line of Abraham. And Paul writes that we who find our hope in Jesus Christ are counted as children of Abraham and thus heirs to the promise (Galatians 3:29). Again, while we tend to react to the sparkle of gold and wealth; those who are found in Christ have discovered what wealth truly is.
Thus, with their wealth, the descendants of Abraham head to the east and form many of the Arab tribes that will end up coming back to haunt the people of Israel, but that is an account for another day. Now, once all things are settled and each son is provided for and sent off to the east to find his own fortune, Abraham will finally be ready to lay down and rest, shuffling off this mortal coil and joining Sarah in the presence of the Almighty God who called him out of his homeland and would establish his line in Canaan — a God whom he called, “Friend” (James 2:23).
Found in Christ
“When Christ should be revealed—who is your life—then, also you will be revealed in glory.” (Colossians 3:4)
Beloved, not only is our life, that is our true life, tied to Christ, but the glory that we will one day experience is tied to Christ as well. Everything we are and everything we do is dependant on the one whom we serve. We have no life apart from Christ, but only know death and sin. In Christ there is life and as Christ was raised in glory, so too, will believers be raised up in glory when Christ returns in the skies. What a wonderful promise that God has given us; not only does he justify us and redeem us from our sins, but in time he will glorify us with his Son!
Friends, dwell on that picture. Let it sink into your soul. This is not a lame promise of sitting on the clouds playing a harp for eternity, but this is a real and concrete promise that we will be remade according to the image of Christ—free of all of the difficulties and problems that are associated with these mortal bodies that we have now. And, in the glorious resurrection, we will be free from sin. St. Augustine called not being able to sin the greatest freedom. What a wonderful promise and hope we have.
The problem is that we often do not live our lives like a people of hope. Instead, we live our lives in the world just as the rest of the world does. So often we fear death and seek to flee from it; so often we cling to the things of this world, when the next world beckons us. Beloved, if you have been born again in Jesus Christ, you have a blessed hope, and that hope is the glorious resurrection alongside of the Lord Jesus Christ when he returns to judge the world and condemn his enemies. Trust in that promise, for it is sure and true.
Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
Risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
Born that man no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new-born King.”
-Charles Wesley
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