Keeping Our Promises

Psalm 66

Promises.  We all make them, and unfortunately many people break them. Children promise to clean their rooms after school. Husbands promise to mow the lawn after work, wives promise to sew the buttons on the suit.  At the end of the day, even the week, the task is still left undone. Even more serious promises are often left unfulfilled. Vows are more solemn promises.  We make vows on our wedding day to our spouses. We also often make vows to God, promising Him that we’ll do this or that, if only He will do what we so desperately wish.  So often, though, as soon as we get what we want, we forget all about what we promised God.

Our psalmist today has not forgotten what the Lord God has done for him, nor has he forgotten what he has promised to the Lord.  Today’s psalm is a song of tribute to God for all of His awesome works and deeds. He wants everyone to know and remember, and he publicly makes sure that he will fulfill to God what he has promised Him he would do.

The first half of this psalm is a recounting of many of the wonderful deeds the Lord has done for His people (vs. 1 - 9), particularly when He brought the people out of captivity in Egypt, and led them through the Red Sea on dry ground.  He remembers that there were times when the people were going through some difficulties, some hard times, but God brought them through, as well (vs. 10 - 12). He pictures them being put through a refiners fire. Fire refines silver when it is being smelted.  It removes all of the impurities. In the same way trials refine our character. It helps in bringing wisdom, in discerning truth and falsehood, and in disciplining us to do right. Verse 12 is reminiscent of Isaiah 43:2, where God promises to walk with us through the waters and fires, and we will not be harmed.

It is often in these difficult times that people make promises and vows to God. “Please help me get through this, and I promise that I will do such and such for you, God!”  God takes vows and promises seriously. The keeping of promises is a sign of one’s character and integrity.  When someone continues to make promises, and then fails in fulfilling them, we soon lose trust in them. God always keeps His promises to us.  He is a God that we can trust to the uttermost.   Our psalmist had made some vows to God when he was in some sort of trouble.  God delivered him, and now he is fulfilling the promises that he made to Him (vs. 13-17).  If we make God any promises, we should be people of our word, and be just as diligent in keeping those promises.

Our psalmist closes his psalm with a reminder that sometimes there are times when our prayers are not answered (vs. 18 - 20).  He reminds us that if we have deliberate and unconfessed sin in our lives, God will not regard our prayers. Deliberate and unconfessed sin in a believers life puts up a barrier between that individual and the Lord.  Just as a parent who punishes their child and “does not listen” to the child when they protest and throw tantrums, so God “does not listen” when we sin and then attempt to pray. Since as humans we will continue to sin after we have been saved, we must continue to confess. When we do sin, we must repent and avoid repeating it. Refusal to confess sins hinders our prayers.

Our psalmist has kept his prayer line unobstructed by deliberate and unconfessed sin.  He has made sure that he keeps a repentant heart, so he knows God will hear his prayers (vs. 19-20).  Our desire and aim should be the same. When we know that we are in a right relationship with the Lord, we can be assured that He does hear our prayers.  As our psalmist has given the example, we should always continue to pray and to give thanks to the Lord (Colossians 4:2).