The Promises of God

BY MATTHEW HENRY.

IT is the unspeakable privilege of all believers to have, as a certain possession, the precious promises of God. But how, and in what way, have we the promises of God?

1. We have them as manifest tokens of God’s favour towards us; and every one of them are yea and amen in Christ Jesus our Lord.

2. We have them as fruits of Christ’s purchase. The Lord having purchased us with His own blood, we have these promises produced by that inestimable grace.

3. They are plain and ample declarations of the good-will of God towards men, and therefore as God’s part of the covenant of grace.

4. They are a foundation of our faith, and we have them as such; and also of our hope—on these we are to build all our expectations from God; and in all temptations and trials we have them to rest our souls upon.

5. We have them as the directions and encouragements of our desires in prayer. “Seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you.” Wherefore they are the guide of our desires, and the ground of our hope in prayer.

6. We have them as the means by which the grace of God works for our holiness and comfort, for by these we are made partakers of a divine nature; and faith, applying these promises, is said to work by love.

7. We have the promises as the earnest and assurance of future blessedness. By these, eternal life and glory is secured to all true believers.

And now, having observed these things, let us review the blessed Promises of God; and (1) He hath promised that we shall be His people. “Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine” (Exod. xix. 5).

(2) That all our sins shall be pardoned. “I even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins” (Isa. xliii. 25).

(3) That our corruptions shall be subdued. “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Rom. vi. 14).

(4) That the Spirit of grace shall be given us, to enable us for our duty in everything. “I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments and do them” (Ezek. xxxvi. 27).

(5) That God will put it particularly into our hearts, or circumcise our hearts to love Him. “The Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live” (Deut. xxx. 6).

(6) That He will give us the knowledge of His truth, and the comfort and benefit of it. “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John viii. 32).

(7) That He will unite our hearts to Himself and to each other. “I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me for ever, for the good of them and of their children after them (Jer. xxxii. 39).

(8) That He will be tender of those that are weak. “He shall feed His flock like a Shepherd; He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young” (Isa. xl. 11).

(9) That He will direct us in the way of our duty. “Good and upright is the Lord: therefore will He teach sinners in the way. The meek will He guide in judgment, and the meek will He teach His way” (Ps. xxv. 8, 9).

(10) That He will protect us from everything that is really evil. “The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: He shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in, from this time forth and even for evermore” (Ps. cxxi. 7, 8).

(11) That He will supply us with all good. “The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing” (Ps. xxxiv. 10).

(12) That He will answer our prayers. “Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John xiv. 13).

(13) That He will silence our fears. “I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help thee” (Isa. xli. 13).

(14) That He will bear us up under our burthens. “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deut. xxxiii. 27).

(15) That He will give us a sure and lasting peace. “The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness, and assurance for ever” (Isa. xxxii. 17).

(16) That He will admit us into fellowship and communion with Himself. “Blessed is the man whom Thou choosest, and causest to approach unto Thee, that he may dwell in Thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of Thy house, even of Thy holy temple” (Ps. lxv. 4).

(17) That He will give us the comfortable enjoyment of ourselves. “His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth” (Ps. xxv. 13).

(18) That He will deliver us in and under our troubles. “Because He hath set His love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honour him” (Ps. xci. 14, 15).

(19) That He will afflict us in measure and in mercy when we have need of it. “I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: but my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee” (II. Sam. vii. 14, 15).

(20) That He will spare us with the tenderness of a fatherly compassion. “They shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels; and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him” (Malachi iii. 17).

(21) That He will not persist in His controversy with us. “I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before Me, and the souls which I have made” (Isa. lvii. 16).

(22) That He will speak comfort to us when we are in sorrow. “I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for He will speak peace unto His people, and to His saints: but let them not turn again to folly” (Ps. lxxxv. 8).

(23) That He will proportion our trials to our strength. “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (I. Cor. x. 13).

(24) That He will put true honour upon us. “Them that honour Me, I will honour” (I. Sam. ii. 30).

(25) That He will feed us with food convenient for us. “Trust in the Lord and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed” (Ps. xxxvii. 3).

(26) That He will clear up our injured reputation. “He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light and thy judgment as the noon-day” (Ps. xxxvii. 6).

(27) That He will comfort and relieve us in sickness. “The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness” (Ps. xli. 3).

(28) That He will prevent our apostacy from Him. “I will make an everlasting covenant with them and I will not turn away from them to do them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from Me” (Jer. xxxii. 40).

(29) That He will make all events conducive to our real welfare. “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom. viii. 28).

(30) That He will perfect the work of grace in us. “Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. i. 6).

(31) That He will be with us when we are old, to bear us up under all our infirmities. “Even to your old age I am He; and even to hoary hairs will I carry you: I have made and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you” (Isa. xlv. 4).

(32) That He will never desert us in any exigence whatsoever. “For He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb. xiii. 5).

(33) That He will give us victory over our spiritual enemies. “The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly” (Rom. xvi. 20).

(34) That He will recompense our charity to the poor. “He that hath pity upon the poor, lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will He pay him again” (Prov. xix. 17).

(35) That He will make up all our losses for His name’s sake. “Every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother or wife, or children, or lands for My name’s sake, shall receive an hundred-fold, and shall inherit everlasting life” (Matt. xix. 29).

(36) That He will let us live long enough in this world, and give us a comfortable prospect of a better. “With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation” (Ps. xci. 16).

(37) That He will be with us when we come to die. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me” (Ps. xxiii. 4).

(38) That He will receive our souls into the arms of His love. “But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for He shall receive me. Selah!” (Ps. xlix. 15).

(39) That He will take care of our posterity when we are gone. “The children of Thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before Thee” (Ps. cii. 28).

(40) That He will raise our bodies to life again. “This is the will of Him that sent Me, That every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John vi. 40).

(41) That He will own us in the judgment of the great day. “Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven” (Matt. x. 32).

(42) That He will put us into possession of everlasting bliss. “And this is the promise that He hath promised us, even eternal life” (I. John ii. 25).