Morning By Morning #239

He ordained his covenant forever.

Psalm 111:9

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

The Lord’s people delight in God’s covenant itself. It is an unfailing source of consolation to them as the Holy Spirit leads them “to the banquet hall,” waving “his banner over [them of] love” (Song 2:4). They delight to consider how ancient God’s covenant is, remembering that even before the sun was placed in space or the planets began their orbits, the interests of the saints were made secure in Christ Jesus. It is particularly pleasing to them to remember the certainty of the covenant, while meditating on God’s “faithful love promised to David” (Isa. 55:3). They also delight in celebrating that the covenant is “signed, sealed, and delivered.” And it often makes their hearts swell with joy to think of its immutability; that neither time nor eternity, life nor death, will ever be able to nullify a covenant as old as eternity itself and as everlasting as the Rock of Ages.

They also rejoice in feasting on the fullness of the covenant, for in it they see all the blessings provided for them. They see God as their inheritance, Christ as their companion, the Spirit as their Comforter, earth as their temporary lodging, and heaven as their home. In the covenant they see an inheritance reserved and protected for every soul possessing an interest in its ancient and eternal deed of gifts. Their eyes sparkled when they first saw the covenant as a blessed treasure trove in the Bible. But, oh, how their souls were elated all the more when they realized this last will and testament of their divine family was bequeathed to them as well!

Beyond everything else it is the pleasure of God’s people to consider the graciousness of God’s covenant. They see that the law was made void because it was a covenant of works that depended on their merit. They rightly perceive this covenant, however, enduring because of grace—grace as the only basis, grace as the only condition, grace as the entire agreement, grace as the protection, grace as the foundation, and grace as the capstone.

Thus, the covenant is a treasury of wealth, a warehouse of food, a “fountain of life” (Ps. 36:9), a storehouse of salvation, a charter of peace, and a haven of joy.

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, was a priest who served in the Lord’s temple. After John’s birth he prayed a beautiful prophecy concerning God’s “holy covenant,” as he called it. Here is what “Zechariah…filled with the Holy Spirit…prophesied”:

Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us—to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

Luke 1:67 – 75

Father, I was once a “[foreigner] to the covenants of the promise, without hope” (Eph. 2:12). Thank You for Jesus, who is my “hope of glory” (Col. 1:27)!