The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. (Psalm 118:14, ESV)
A few decades ago, I stood before witnesses and made a covenant with my wife. What happened that day is as clear in my memory as the events of yesterday. That day, I promised to do several things that would demonstrate my love for her. I wish I could say that my practices have always been in keeping with my promises.
Yet, those of us who have trusted in the finished work of Jesus Christ have a covenant-keeping God. Christ fulfills every promise He made to His bride, the church. In fact, the Christmas season celebrates the birth of Jesus, which is a fulfillment of the promise God made through Moses: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen” (Deut 18:15). And this is only one of the places where we see this promise!
We should take time to do what the writer of Psalm 118 does: reflect on God’s promises, which will lead to praise, exultation, and thanksgiving. The writer says that everything that God does for us is done out of love. The psalmist speaks of a love, an intimate relationship that has no end—no ceiling or bottom. A love so strong that during times of distress it eases our anguish and pain because we know that the Lord is with us. He is there in the midst of the pain that will only last for a season.
The psalm writer is so confident in God’s love and His trustworthiness to keep His promises that the psalmist is able to say, “The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation” (Psalm 118:14).
My wife and I have journeyed together through many ups and downs of ministry, but we never moved from the initial commitment we made to the Lord and each other. One constant through all our time together has been the Lord and the reminder that through it all, He is a covenant-keeping God.
I encourage you to heed the words of Psalm 118:24—“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it”—as you celebrate God’s promise fulfilled by the birth of our Lord and Savior!