The Lamp That Would Not Go Out

Find a seat and take out your copy of God’s Word. If you, by the way, don’t have a Bible here at church, there’s a stack of black Bibles in the back — please help yourself to one of those. If you don’t own a Bible, just take that one home. That is this congregation’s gift to you.

Here at Piqua Baptist, we work our way through books of the Bible a little bit at a time, and we’re working through a section of Scripture called Kings — 1 Kings, to be specific. 1 Kings chapter 15 and 16, to be even more specific.

And I should just say, before we jump too much into this: this is like turning on the TV when an entire series has been going on for a little while, and you’re in the middle of it. You just weren’t there for the first episode, and you’re trying to figure out where you’re at.

So what I’ll do, if the Lord enables me, is help orient a passage like this one into the big story of Scripture. All the books of the Bible tell the story of the Lord Jesus Christ and the goodness of God that He shows to us through Jesus. And the passage we’re considering in this series happens long before the Lord Jesus took on flesh and became man. So I’ll hope to set things up for you, just to get us oriented as to where we are in God’s story.

1 Kings chapter 15. Here’s the central claim I’ll be seeking to make from the text this morning:

Place your hope in the faithfulness of God, who keeps His promises to His Son, Jesus Christ, by whom you have peace and you inherit eternal life. Place your hope in the faithfulness of God, who keeps His promises to Christ.

We are fourteen chapters deep into this book, and so far we have covered about sixty years of Israel’s history — the history of God’s people. Here in these two chapters, we’re going to cover more than forty years. It’s like the author of Kings hits fast forward for a little bit, and we survey a list of eight kings, most of whom don’t amount to much in the eyes of the Lord. That’s where we’re headed.

Let me go ahead and pray for us, and then we’ll jump right in.

To the blameless, You show Yourself as blameless. To the merciful, You show Yourself as merciful. To the pure, You show Yourself as pure. To the crooked, You make Yourself seem intolerable. You have saved a humble people, but the haughty eye You have brought down.

And so, O Lord, we ask that You would make us a merciful people, that we would see You as merciful. A blameless people, that we would see You as blameless. Make us pure, that we would see You as pure. Make us humble, and speak to us through Your Word. For the grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever. Amen.

So, as I said, we’re going to work our way through a couple of chapters where there’s going to be a list of eight kings — seven of them bad, one of them almost good. And I can’t read a section of Scripture like this without thinking — and you’ll forgive, I hope, the sports reference — of the Cleveland Browns.

Since their return to the NFL in 1999, the Cleveland Browns have famously employed forty-two starting quarterbacks. If you’re not into football, I understand, but you should know that’s not good. In the same period of time, the Green Bay Packers have employed eight starting quarterbacks. And the lesson of this is that more quarterbacks doesn’t always fix the problem.

Eight kings are catalogued in these two chapters — one kind of good, five of them bad, two of them very bad. That’s seven bad kings and one good king, and the good king, sadly, we’ll see, is not good enough.

Getting Oriented in Kings

If you’re just dropping in on this series in Kings, let me help bring you up to speed. Kings is one book split into two parts. We’re not sure who wrote this book, but we do know to whom it was written. This book was written to Jews who were languishing in exile in Babylon, wondering how in the world they got to be exiles. And Kings tells the story of how they got there.

Kings tells us that Yahweh chose a people for Himself, the descendants of Abraham, and He entered into a covenant with them — an agreement — that if they were to keep this covenant, He would bless them. He would use them to restore His kingdom on the earth, restore mankind to Himself, and bring peace. But God’s people didn’t keep the covenant, and so Yahweh narrowed the scope of the covenant. He told them: if the whole people can’t do it, give Me one man. If one man — a king, the heir of King David — keeps the covenant, then his faithfulness will be counted to the people, and God will bless the people, restore His kingdom, restore mankind to Himself, and bring peace on the earth.

At first, it seems like David’s son Solomon is that king. But then we saw a few weeks ago that, in his old age, King Solomon compromised and broke the covenant. Solomon dies. Solomon’s son takes over — we saw that a couple of weeks ago — and Solomon’s son is a wicked, prideful man. Under his leadership, the kingdom of Israel splits into two kingdoms.

Now the author of Kings is going to bounce between these two kingdoms. First Kings 15 and 16 take place after the split: one kingdom in the north, called Israel, and another kingdom to the south, called Judah. In this couple of chapters, it sure seems like God’s plan for His people is on the verge of collapsing — yet the faithfulness of God preserves a lamp, preserves a remnant. God keeps His promise to David and to David’s sons.

This is the story of the faithful God who endured many unfaithful kings, who led an unfaithful people into false worship and to war — and the one man who tried to right the ship but couldn’t. That’s the summary of 1 Kings 15 and 16. Let’s get to work. Let’s have a look.

Abijam: No Better Than His Father (15:1–8)

Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah. He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom. And he walked in all the sins that his father did before him, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father. Nevertheless, for David’s sake, the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him and establishing Jerusalem, because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. Now there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. The rest of the acts of Abijam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. And Abijam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place.

Two kingdoms, two kings. We start in the south, the kingdom of Judah, the city of Jerusalem. The first king for our examination is a king called Abijam. He’s the grandson of Solomon, the great-grandson of King David, heir to the throne of Judah.

Abijam’s father was Rehoboam. You may remember Rehoboam — old pinky-finger — the arrogant jerk who refused to serve God’s people, and under his leadership the kingdom split. The Egyptians plundered Jerusalem and the temple of God. Rehoboam dies. Good riddance. And now his son Abijam sits on the throne in Judah. Here we read in verse 3: he is no better than his father. He walked in all the sins that his father did before him. His heart was not true to the Lord, as was the heart of David his father.

We’re entering into a very dark time in the history of God’s people. We’re three generations removed from David, and it seems that God’s purposes for His people, God’s promises to His people, are all but lost. During Abijam’s reign, God’s people are at war with one another. According to the Book of Chronicles, the war between the north and the south caused half a million of the men of God’s chosen people to die on the battlefield. It’s dark.

But if we come to verse 4, we find one of the main reasons the Book of Kings was written: that no matter how dark the dark, God preserves a light. Let God be true, though everyone were a liar. The success of God’s purposes is not built on the righteousness of any man, but on the faithfulness of God Himself. The light of David survives by divine grace — not because David or David’s sons were righteous, but because God Himself is faithful.

The Lord entered into a covenant with David seventy years prior to the text we’re reading today, and so far the human partner in this covenant has been unfaithful. And yet here we see God will remain faithful in spite of — despite — the unfaithfulness of the human partner in the covenant. This is demonstrated for us in the example of the next king in our survey, a man called Asa.

Asa: A Glimmer of Hope, But Not Enough (15:9–24)

In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah, and he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom. And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as David his father had done. He put away the male cult prostitutes out of the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother, because she had made an abominable image for Asherah. And Asa cut down her image and burned it at the brook Kidron. But the high places were not taken away. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true to the Lord all his days. And he brought into the house of the Lord the sacred gifts of his father and his own sacred gifts — silver and gold and vessels.

With the northern kingdom and now the southern kingdom circling the drain, warring with one another, Asa provides us a glimmer of hope. The light of David survives by divine grace, and this is divine grace. Notice Asa’s family is a mess. Just consider: his great-great-grandfather was unfaithful as a king. His great-grandfather was unfaithful as a king. His grandfather was unfaithful as a king. His father was unfaithful as a king. And either his mother died young and he was raised by his grandmother, or his grandmother is his mother — which is gross, but it’s a possible reading of this text. Either way, she is an idolater.

Asa comes from a screwed-up family. And Asa shows us that, by God’s grace, destructive family patterns can be broken.

Brothers, your daddy may never have cracked open a Bible and led your family in family worship, but you sure can. Your daddy may have never told you that he loved you or was proud of you, but by God’s grace you can sure tell your kids you love them and are proud of them. Your daddy may have been a slave to the bottle and harsh with his wife, but that doesn’t mean you have to be.

Sisters, your mama may have taken many men into her bed, but by God’s grace you don’t need to. Your mama may have been a bitter, legalistic, harsh woman, but by God’s grace you can be joyful and kind, quick to forgive, and rich with grace. Your parents may have become mean and vindictive grumblers in their old age, but by the power of Christ in the gospel — with time and maturity, let it ripen in you — into Christian beauty, making you warm, happy, contented, quick with a word of encouragement.

By the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, PBC, destructive family patterns can be broken and new patterns can begin. Years bathing under the waters of God’s grace in the gospel will enable you to build healthy, biblical patterns in your life and in your family — patterns of peace and joy, language infused with grace, a home filled with laughter.

Asa is evidence that God has not given up on His people. Asa is evidence that God is faithful and gracious. He is a lamp shining in a dark place. He institutes religious reforms: he puts away male cult prostitutes from the land, most of them anyway; he puts away filth from idols; he deposes his own mother — or grandmother — for her idolatry and burns her detestable graven images; he raises money for the right worship of God in Jerusalem. He brings about reformation and revival in the land of Judah, and under Asa, God’s people flourish. On the whole, comparatively speaking, Asa is a good king. He bails a lot of water out of a sinking ship. He plugs a lot of holes that were drilled in the hull by his fathers.

But all the good that Asa did, regrettably and sadly, it’s not enough. At the end of his life, even a good king like Asa came up short. For the sake of time we can’t read it all, but according to another part of the Bible, early in Asa’s reign he trusted the Lord. The Bible tells us the Ethiopians came against Judah with a million-man army, and Asa cried out to the Lord, and the Lord delivered him and gave him victory over the invaders.

But then, in his later years, facing war against his cousins to the north, Asa did not rely on the Lord. Instead, Asa trusted in princes of men. He took gold and silver and money from the temple of God — money that was dedicated to the worship of God — and used it to bribe the king of Syria in order to win the battle against his cousins to the north. In so doing, he did not act in faith but in sin. The Lord sent a seer against him to speak against him, and Asa had that man arrested. In his latter years, Asa became a hard and harsh ruler over God’s people.

But yet still, God remained faithful to the covenant He made with David and David’s sons. A lamp was preserved in Judah.

Nadab and Baasha: The Legacy of Jeroboam Collapses (15:25–16:7)

Now at this point in the book of Kings, the camera pivots north — and for pretty much the rest of 1 Kings, it is focused entirely on the kingdom of Israel in the north. The author speeds through six more kings, every one of them bad, the last of them the worst of all. When we get to him, the narrative slows way down.

Skip ahead to verse 25, 1 Kings 15:25. We’re back in the north, and we’re back in time. We’re back in the lineage of Jeroboam. Do you remember Jeroboam from a couple of weeks ago? He’s the blue-collar, ball-cap king — the king who took the northern kingdom and created his own religion. We’re going to read about what happens to him.

So first we saw the lamp of David surviving by divine grace. Now we see the legacy of Jeroboam collapsing under divine judgment.

Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin which he made Israel to sin. Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him. And Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, for Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon. So Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place. And as soon as he was king, he killed all the house of Jeroboam. He left to the house of Jeroboam not one that breathed, until he had destroyed it, according to the word of the Lord that He spoke by His servant Ahijah the Shilonite, because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he made Israel to sin, and because of the anger with which he provoked the Lord, the God of Israel. Now the rest of the acts of Nadab and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

Two kingdoms, two kings — and now we’re in the north. When the people seceded, Jeroboam — blue-collar, ball-cap guy — took most of the people and started his own kingdom called Israel. Not only did Jeroboam start his own kingdom, but he also started his own religion, and he led God’s people away from the worship of God. You’ll remember from back in chapter 14 that Yahweh spoke against Jeroboam through a prophet, saying: You, Jeroboam, have done evil. You have made for yourself other gods. You’ve cast Me behind your back, and therefore I will bring harm upon the house of Jeroboam, and I will cut off from Jeroboam every male, and will burn up the house of Jeroboam as a man burns up dung, until it is all gone. Harsh and heavy words against a sinful king.

Jeroboam dies, and Nadab his son takes the throne. Verse 26 tells us plainly that even Nadab did evil in the sight of the Lord — Nadab was like his father in the sin that he committed. And now here is the account of how the Lord fulfilled His promise of judgment against the house of Jeroboam, through a man called Baasha.

Who is Baasha? He’s nobody. He’s not royalty, not of royal lineage. He’s a conspirator. He leads a conspiracy against King Nadab. While the king and the army are fighting to take back one of their cities from the Philistines, Nadab discovers that the greater threat to his kingdom is not the Philistines — it’s the people inside his kingdom. Baasha murders Nadab and makes himself king in Israel. He’s not going to be the last man to do this. As soon as Baasha becomes king, he kills the entire house of Jeroboam, just in case any one of Jeroboam’s other sons gets the bright idea that he would be king. Baasha makes sure the house of Jeroboam will not survive. No one is left breathing. God’s judgment on Jeroboam is swift and certain and absolute and sobering.

Everyone Worships Something

Jeroboam serves as a case study, as a warning, for all who reject the worship of the one true God and substitute it with a religion of their own making.

If you’re a guest with us, you may not consider yourself an overly religious person. But there’s something you ought to know, friend: religion is simply devotion to that which you believe will give you peace, safety, control, success — the good life. You worship what you believe will give you the life you want, which means, friend, you’re actually quite religious. We all are.

It’s just that your religion, can I be honest with you, is like Jeroboam’s — it’s self-made. Ask yourself this morning: what is it that I look to, to give me the good life? Friend, that’s your religion.

For a lot of us — Midwestern Americans, a lot of us — we look to our hard work, our talents. And hard work is a good thing. Hard work is what we look to, to give us the good life, the thing that we want. And so you might say, “I don’t worship hard work.” Really? Then why does it bother you so much when someone says you’re not doing a good job, that you’re kind of lazy, that you’re cutting corners? Why do you campaign in defense of this god of yours like any other religious devotee?

Hard work is good, but self-made religions all suffer the same systemic problem: they never address the root problem, which is sin. Sin out there, sin in here. Sin is any thought or word or deed that is contrary to God in His Word and God in His nature. And it is sin that keeps us from enjoying the life God made for us to enjoy.

Because of sin outside, sometimes hard work doesn’t pay off. Sometimes you get sick. Sometimes situations outside your control — the company goes under, the economy takes a downturn — and hard work doesn’t give you the life you want.

Because of sin inside, self-made religion can’t deliver on its promises, because peace, comfort, and safety come from being right with God. And sin — disobedience of God’s commandments — is what separates us from God. So sin must be removed. And there’s only one way for sin to be removed, and that is through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Bible teaches that God has dealt with sin on the inside of you. God became man. He took on flesh. Jesus Christ came into the world to put away sin. His death on the cross was the suffering of the penalty of your sin and mine. And when we turn to Jesus Christ, confessing our sin to Him, God promises to forgive us of our sin, remove sin from the inside, cleanse us of unrighteousness, unite us to His Son, grant to us the righteousness of God, restore us to God, and give us peace with God.

Jeroboam created his own religion, led Israel away from right worship of God, and the judgment of God therefore fell, and his entire household was erased from memory. The legacy of Jeroboam collapsed and was lost. So friends, if you want your life to count for anything, turn to the Lord Jesus Christ today. Repent of your sins. Trust in Him.

When a man abandons the Lord, a cascade of evil follows: covetousness, malice, envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. Men become foolish and faithless and heartless and ruthless. Not only do they practice evil themselves, but they give endorsement to others who practice evil as well. And this is what we see in the pages to follow — that more kings only make matters worse.

So first we saw the light of David surviving by divine grace, and then we saw the legacy of Jeroboam collapsing under divine judgment. And now, finally, we see the folly of trusting in princes — that more kings only make matters worse.

The Folly of Trusting in Princes (15:33–16:28)

That brings us to the next king in our survey: Baasha. Let’s pick up reading in verse 33.

In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah began to reign over all Israel at Tirzah, and he reigned twenty-four years. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he made Israel to sin. And the word of the Lord came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying: “Since I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over My people Israel, and you have walked in the ways of Jeroboam and have made My people Israel to sin, provoking Me to anger with their sins, behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city, the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the field, the birds of the heavens shall eat.”

Remember, Baasha was a nobody — “since I exalted you out of the dust.” Baasha did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and Yahweh sent a prophet against him with a word of judgment. He carried out God’s judgment against Jeroboam and his family, but because he himself did not submit to God’s word, God’s judgment was then carried out against him and his family.

If you keep reading in the verses that follow, Baasha dies, and his son Elah takes over — another king. Will that make the situation better? No, because Elah is wicked just like his father. He’s two years into his reign, and guess what happens to him? His father became king when he conspired and murdered the king before him, and now Elah’s own servants conspire against him and murder him. He’s at a party in the city of Tirzah, getting drunk, and his servant — a military commander of some kind, named Zimri — murders him and takes over.

Zimri is a military guy, so he gets straight down to business. He kills Elah, and then he kills all of Elah’s brothers — all of Baasha’s sons, the rest of his family. What Baasha did to the household of Jeroboam is now done to his own household. Zimri becomes king in Israel for a little bit, because it seems Zimri and his co-conspirators didn’t quite have the backing they expected they would have. When the rest of Israel learns that the king is dead, they decide to choose a different military commander to be their king — a fellow called Omri.

Skip down to verse 17, chapter 16.

So Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. And when Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the king’s house and burned the king’s house over him with fire and died, because of his sins that he committed, doing evil in the sight of the Lord, walking in the ways of Jeroboam, and for his sin which he committed, making Israel to sin. Zimri was king over Israel seven days.

Those who live by the sword will die by the sword. In his wickedness and in his violence, Zimri brought God’s judgment down on his own head — literally and figuratively. He burned the king’s house over his own head and died. Here we see another sobering picture of the effects of unrepentant sin: if you turn away from God, it’s like setting fire to your own home with yourself and your family locked inside.

And so now we’re on to the next king in Israel — a fellow called Omri, who establishes his throne in Israel. To be honest, he has a pretty good run. All things considered, Omri reigns for twelve years and does a lot of great and mighty things. Ironically, if you read through this text, you’ll see Omri does a lot of things that David does. He battles the Philistines, like David. He comes to the throne after the previous king kills himself, like David. He reigns in two capitals before establishing his own city, which becomes the capital, like David. He purchases a hill from a non-Israelite, like David. His son goes on to take foreign wives, like David. So he’s David — but he’s not David — because we read in verse 25: Omri did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did more evil than all who were before him. It’s not a competition, but these guys are trying to outdo one another in doing evil. More kings only makes matters worse.

And Omri is the worst king yet — but he’s not the worst king in the passage. That honor goes to the last king in our survey, one with whom we will become quite familiar in this series: a king called Ahab. The author stops the fast-forward and devotes the rest of 1 Kings to the reign of King Ahab. I figured it out this week: nearly 45% of 1 Kings is devoted to this king. We’ll see why in the weeks ahead.

Ahab: Another King Who Only Makes Matters Worse (16:29–34)

Let’s pick up reading in verse 29.

In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him. And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal which he built in Samaria, and Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

The northern kingdom continues to unravel. Ahab does more to provoke God’s judgment than any king had done before him, and pretty well guarantees that this ship is going down. What God did through Israel in the Promised Land is being undone.

Those of you who know a little bit about your Bible — when Israel crossed the River Jordan into the Promised Land, what was the first victory God gave them under Joshua? What city? Jericho. That’s right — Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, and the walls came tumbling down. They marched around the walls of Jericho seven days, blew the trumpets, and God caused the walls of Jericho to fall. After that victory in Joshua chapter 6 — you can read this afternoon if you’d like — Joshua lays an oath on the people. Here’s what he says: Cursed before the Lord be the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho. At the cost of his firstborn shall he lay its foundation, and at the cost of his youngest son shall he set up its gates.

Now let’s finish out chapter 16, shall we?

In his days, Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son, Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.

In the days of Ahab, Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation — at what cost? The cost of Abiram, his firstborn. You know what that means? He killed his son. And he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son, Segub. You know what that means? He killed his son — an offering of worship to a demon god, to gain favor to build.

You see what’s happening: as the kingdom of Israel walks further away from the Lord, the victories God had granted them in the Promised Land are being undone. Israel is turning back. The land is turning back. The blessing that follows obedience is lost. The curse that follows disobedience has come. And our passage ends. It’s dark.

God’s Faithfulness to His Son

Yet what we must see in a passage like this is that through the darkness, the lamp of Yahweh’s commitment to His covenant with David and David’s sons burns true. God keeps His word to David and David’s sons.

Remember: the exiles languishing in Babylon, reading their own history — this is meant to remind them that you have been unfaithful, but God has been faithful, and God will preserve a remnant for Himself. The lamp of David will burn in the dark. It’s meant to give them hope. It’s meant to draw them to the Lord, to look to Him to restore them to the land and to bring about His kingdom and His promises on earth.

And for us today, this book means even more. We read this text through the lens of the risen Lord Jesus Christ. God the Father’s commitment to David and to David’s sons was finally and fully kept in the Father’s promise to His Son, Jesus Christ, who is the true Son of David.

Christian, what is your hope in this life and in the next? Is it not this — that God keeps His promise to His Son? Just consider:

• The Father promised the Son, I will give you a portion with the many, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong(Isaiah 53:12).
• The Father promised the Son, I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations (Isaiah 42:6).
• The Father promised the Son, I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession(Psalm 2:8).
• The Father promised the Son, I will make your enemies your footstool (Psalm 110:1).
• The Father purposed before time began to unite all things in the Son (Ephesians 1:10).
• The Father put all things under the feet of the Son (Ephesians 1:22).
• All things were created through the Son; all things were created for the Son (Colossians 1:16).
• The Father gave His people to the Son.

Do you remember what Jesus prayed in John 17? Father, Yours they were, and You gave them to Me. Christian, you are a gift the Father gave to the Son, and He will not recant, and He will not renege on His promises to His Son. You are being kept because of God’s faithfulness to His Son.

So where is your confidence? Where is your hope? Where is your assurance? It is this: God keeps His promise to His Son, and you are a part of that promise. The covenant with David was not built on David’s righteousness. It was built on God’s faithfulness, and nothing has changed. God will be faithful to His promise to His Son.

A passage like this one is given to us to loosen the grip we place on the hope of the princes of men. More kings only makes matters worse. Where is your hope in this life? Surely it is not in better leaders, in better laws, in a better economy. Surely it is not in better margins, a better balance sheet, and a better retirement account. What is your only comfort in life and in death? It is that we are not our own, but that we belong, both body and soul, to our faithful Savior Jesus Christ.

There is your hope. Put your hope in God, in the promise He has made to His Son, which He will not recant. God will keep His word. You can build your life on that. You can tether your peace to that. You can tether your joy to that, because that promise the Father made to the Son is the only thing strong enough to carry you through suffering. It’s the only thing strong enough to keep you walking when everything wants to knock you down. That promise of the Father to the Son is the only thing strong enough to drive you out of your comfort, to wean you off of your sense of safety, and send you to the nations to tell people who have never heard.

God will keep you because of His promise that He made to His Son. Place your hope in the faithfulness of God, who keeps His promise to Christ, His Son.

Let’s pray. Father, we give You praise and thanks because You have been faithful. You spoke a promise to Your Son, and that promise will not be broken. Give us all faith this week to lean upon and to lay upon our entire lives, trusting in the faithfulness of God. Amen.