“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.