Fear Not

The Words of Promise

Chapter 38

December 14

2 Samuel 9:7"Don't be afraid," David said to him, "for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table."

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Preface

What's the value of a promise? What does making a promise potentially reveal about ourselves? What motivates us to keep a promise, or to break it?

The truth is, if it's in us to break a promise, then it's inevitable that we will. But why? Where's it come from within us to do so? (Especially considering how we tend to react when we learn that we've been lied to.)

Relatedly, what factors do we value when determining a person's character, or their worth?Between the two bookends of trustworthiness and how we see people, we can learn a lot about how our values are structured within us, letting us know if they support each other, or if they're in conflict. If they're products of fear or faith. And by learning this about ourselves, we'll be able to learn why our current circumstances are the way they are, good or bad.

For example, do we profess that our word is our bond, but then have no problem breaking a promise if we learn that its recipient is someone we deem to be unworthy? Or do we keep our word because we gave it, no matter who the person turns out to be?

Do we allow the behavior of others to determine our own, or is it determined by an anchoring, core principle?

And regarding how we see people, do we start from the inside, or the outside? Their heart or their height?

Do we answer "heart," but find keeping our vows to them, when it comes time to deliver, overly burdensome and annoying? But then have no problem keeping our word to someone wealthy, or to someone we find attractive, someone we think can satisfy a desire?

God mentored David from the time he was a young sheep herder. Following His example, David took the keeping of his promises very serious. Within this, he also valued people, seeing their heart, basing his assessment of them by their character. David stood in front of people, meeting them at the junction point of love and faithfulness . (Psalm 85:10; 89:14) As a result, this determined how both God and man saw him.

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There are five different versions of the word "promise" found in the bible. (This doesn't include its variants of 'covenant' and 'vow.') Breaking these five down further, the old testament uses six different Hebrew words and the new testament uses six different Greek words.

The Hebrew words are: 'amar,' 'omer,' two different versions of 'dabar,' 'haya' and 'tenu a.' And the Greek ones are: exomologeo, epangelia, epangello, epangelma, homologeo, and proepangellomai.

If we were to aggregate the meanings from all of these terms, we learn that to 'promise' primarily means to 'speak.' Think about that for a moment. In essence, if words are leaving your mouth, on some level you're making a promise.