Another type of promise is the announcement of some future event. For example, “I plan to run for [the political position of] the Mayor of Albuquerque in 1998.” (You heard it first here! Everyone else is running for Mayor, so I thought I would, too!)

Well, God has made many promises to us as His followers. These promises have been recorded for us in His revealed Word to us—His Holy Word—the Bible. These are God’s Words reaching out into unfilled time to base a future of hope between Him and I—between Him and you.

I submit to you that HERE is our firm footing, our foundation to stand upon and our security! In this world of doubt, confusion, difficulty and uncertainty and insecurity, we have the promises of God to stand upon.

Think again with me about the words of verse two of this song that we sang: “When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail, By the living Word of God I shall prevail, Standing on the promises of God.” And verse four: “Standing on the promises, I cannot fall,…”

Skeptics may say, “How do I know that God will keep His promises? After all, promises are only words, and words are cheap! Perhaps God will change His mind. Perhaps God will forget! Perhaps God is just…just too busy to worry about keeping promises that He’s made to us.” To the skeptic I say, “You can have confidence in God’s promises based on His past performance—based on His ‘track record,’” you might say.

Consider these Scriptures:

“Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest to His people Israel, according to ALL that He promised:…” Now listen—“There hath not failed one Word of ALL His good promise, which He promised by the hand of Moses His servant,” 1 Kings 8:56. Isn’t that incredible!?! Not only did God keep every promise that He made to the Israelites, but NOT ONE WORD of the promise was changed!

Paul says, “God is faithful, by Whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,” 1 Corinthians 1, verse 9. The use of the word “faithful” there indicates something that is firm, something that is steadfast, something strong, something constant.

We, as human beings—men and women, boys and girls—we are fickle. We can even be deceitful. We can lie. We can forget what we have promised to do. Sometimes we over promise [promise too much], and we just can’t deliver [keep our promise]. Sometimes, we intentionally lie. This happens from a friend to a friend, from a child to the parent, from the parent to the child, from the husband to the wife, from the wife to the husband…and even from a Christian to a Christian!

But the Lord God of heaven never forgets. He never gets too busy. He’s never overextended [His ability to keep His promises is never filled to capacity], and He CANNOT LIE! The Hebrew writer [the writer of the book of Hebrews is unknown—many people think Paul wrote Hebrews] says, “Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, He confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that by two unchangeable things in which it is IMPOSSIBLE for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have THIS as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure,” Hebrews 6:17 through 19. Hey, there’s another song that we sing, “We have an anchor to keep the soul steadfast and sure while the billows roll.” (But, that’s another sermon!)

In an ever-changing and insecure world, there IS security, constancy and steadfastness in God. Since God CANNOT lie, the promises that HE makes He keeps. As the apostle Peter said, “The Lord is not slow…”, (or as the old translation says, “slack”) “…concerning His promise,” 2 Peter 3, verse 9. In these difficult and confusing times, this ought to be encouraging news for us, His children.

But what ARE the promises of God? And how can being able to stand upon them with confidence aid us in our lives? Well, let’s notice a few of God’s promises.

First, God has promised to set us apart and hear us when we call upon Him. “But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for Himself: the Lord will hear when I call unto Him,”Psalm 4, verse 3. Set apart carries with it the idea of being sanctified, of being made holy, of having a special use, or special purpose. Paul said to the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 5, and verse 23, “May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.” The Psalmist David said, “In my distress, I called upon the Lord and cried unto my God. He heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry came before Him, even into His ears,” Psalm 18, verse 6. God promises to set me apart as a member of His elect, and as such, I can communicate with Him.

God also promises to provide for us—to protect and defend us. Psalm 5, verses 11 and 12, reads, “But let all those who put their trust in Thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because Thou defendest them: let them also that love Thy Name be joyful in Thee. For Thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt Thou compass him as with a shield.” God’s rich blessings, both spiritual and temporal, are mine…are yours. He has provided them to us. And at the same time, He will protect us. Proverbs 30, verse 5, says, “Every word of God is pure: He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him.” Think of it! The God of heaven, the God that created the universe is sustaining us, is watching over us, is protecting us, is defending us.