Never Forsaken

June 11

I Kings 8

Psalm 71:1-8

Proverbs 15:22-23

Acts 7:51-60

Never Forsaken

“Blessed be Yahweh, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised; not one promise has failed of all His good promises, which He promised by the hand of Moses His servant.  May Yahweh our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; may He not forsake us or abandon us, that He may incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, which He commanded our fathers.”  I Kings 8:56-58 LSB 

When the Temple was completed, Solomon assembled all the people together and held a feast to celebrate. He brought the Ark of the Covenant into the Temple and he asked God to bless the temple and His chosen people.  He reminded them that God had kept all His promises He had made to them, not one promise had failed.  We live in a time when keeping your promises is not something we do well.  We may have good intentions when we make the promise, but if circumstances change or if they become inconvenient, we break the promise with little thought.  That is not the case with God.  If He makes a promise, He NEVER breaks it.  He has complete omniscience and sovereignty so He is able to know the future.  He does not make a promise He is not going to keep.  If He made a promise and did not keep it, He would be a liar and we know He is not a liar.  The promises in His word are sure and we can depend on them.

One of the promises God made repeatedly in His word is that He will never leave us or forsake us.  (Deuteronomy 31:6, 8, Joshua 1:5, 9,  I Chronicles 28:20, Hebrews 13:5, Matthew 28:20)  Just as keeping promises is not something we do well, commitment and loyalty are also in short supply in our world.  “Till death do us part” is often replaced with “till something better comes along,” or “till I change my mind.”  Too often we read about mothers and fathers abandoning their children and we all have experienced the pain of friends who do not stick by us when difficulties arise.  Thankfully, we have a Heavenly Father that we can count on no matter what because He is completely faithful.  Even if everyone else falls away, He is with us to the end.  It also means that even if we are unfaithful to Him, He will not reject us or turn away from us.  No matter what circumstances we find ourselves in, He is with us in the difficulty to lead, guide, comfort, strengthen, and support us.  His presence with and in us gives us the confidence and assurance to navigate challenges and move forward with hope and peace in a world filled with uncertainty, disappointment and heartache.  God’s unwavering commitment and love for us is beyond our comprehension and He will not let us down.   Lean into Him!