12/31/08 - New Year's Eve - Psalm 111

SAME OLD, SAME OLD
- God's promises never change
- God's promises last forever

How was this year for you? Was it exciting? Was it exhausting? Was it a good year? Was it a not-so-good year? Was it the “same old, same old”? Was this year pretty much the same as the year before and the year before that and the year before that? Usually, not a whole lot of things change in a year’s time. There are always ups and downs each year, and there are always a few unique things that make one year different from the other, but for the most part each year is just the “same old, same old.” And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Especially as you get older you aren’t looking for change. If you are relatively healthy and you are around your fellow Christians and you are taking in the Word of God on a regular basis, it’s not a bad thing that each year is the “same old, same old.”
But as this year falls into the next, remember that your life is not the only thing that is the “same old, same old.” God’s promises are too - and to an even greater degree! God’s promises never change. And not only that, but God’s promises last forever. They never get out dated. They never get used up. They never become obsolete. God’s promises are the “same old, same old” year in and year out for every person in every country in every era. Psalm 111 presents that truth to us in poetic language. We read through the 10 verses of this psalm at the beginning of our service tonight, and so I’ve put the four key passages down again for you under the devotion section of your bulletin. The psalm writer says about the Lord, “Glorious and majestic are his deeds, and his righteousness endures forever… He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever… All his precepts are trustworthy. They are steadfast forever and ever… He provided redemption for his people; he ordained his covenant forever…” God’s promises to us never change, and we can always count on them because they will remain true forever.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we were that reliable? Because we are completely unstable Christians when it comes right down to it! Just think about what kind of Christian you’ve been this past year. There have been some months in which you were fully motivated and energized to reach out to those around you with the Word of God, and then there were those other months in which you shied away from every evangelism opportunity that the Lord placed in your lap. There were weeks this past year in which you read your Bible faithfully every day, and then there were those weeks that were so hectic that you were lucky to even read it once. There were days during these previous 12 months in which you prayed to the Lord and thanked the Lord in countless ways at numerous times, and then there were other days in which prayer was the farthest thing from your mind. We are not reliable children of God. Sometimes we are acting and speaking and thinking like we should and at other times we aren’t a whole lot different than the unbeliever down the street. We have proved to be very sporadic Christians. Sometimes the Lord may have been pleased with us this past year, and at other times he most definitely was not. Really, the only thing that doesn’t change with us from one year to the next is that we are always sinners. That never changes. That is always the “same old, same old.”
I guess that’s why it’s a good thing that the Lord’s promises are the “same old, same old” as well. It’s a good thing his promises never change. No matter what we do! No matter how many times we have sinned against him this year his promises never changed. Because his promises are not based on your behavior, they are based on what Christ has already done. He promises that whenever you sin, you can find forgiveness at his cross. He promises that whenever you are weighed down with guilt, you who are weary and burdened can come to him and he will give you rest. He promises that whenever you are in trouble you can call on his name and he will rescue you. He promises that wherever you go he will be with you, whenever you sleep he will watch over you, and whenever you die he will take you home.
And these promises never change. They don’t vary from person to person or age to age. They don’t depend on how good you are or how much you have pleased him. They don’t have to be revised and they don’t have to be updated. God’s promises stand as they are. And so whatever happens in your life from day to day or month to month or year to year - God’s promises will remain true. They will always be the “same old, same old” no matter where you are, no matter what has happened, and no matter what you have done. Because God’s promises not only remain the same, they also last forever.
Psalm 111 says that his precepts, his commands “are steadfast forever.” “His righteousness endures forever.” And “He remembers his covenant forever.” Do you know what a “covenant” is? A covenant is an agreement, a promise between two parties. Most often the word “covenant” is used in our society when it comes to homeowners. There may be a homeowners’ covenant you sign within a certain subdivision detailing the way the houses and the properties are to be kept up. God remembers his covenant forever. And what is his covenant exactly? The Lord tells us through his prophet Jeremiah “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time… I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (Jeremiah 31:33,34). God’s promise to you is that he will never again remember your sins. He has put them out of his mind and will never bring them up again. Because they have already been paid for. Christ has already taken care of those sins on the cross. So there is no reason for the Lord to remember them. They are gone! They are non-existent! As far as the Lord is concerned, you never even committed those sins because Jesus suffered like he had. That’s the Lord’s promise to you. That’s his “covenant.” He will remember your sins no more. And he will never forget that. That covenant will last until you die or until he comes again on Judgment Day. It will not lose it’s effectiveness over time. And he will not get tired of keeping as the years go on. This covenant will last forever because it’s not based on you; it’s based on the Lord’s love. And the Lord’s love never fails.
In only a few hours, 2008 will turn into 2009. And only the Lord knows what this coming year will bring. There may be a lot of changes in your life in the next 12 months. There may be some great things that happen to you. There may be some tragedies. And then again, it might just be more of the “same old, same old.” But whatever happens, know that the Lord will always be the “same old, same old.” His promises won’t change with the way you feel from one day to the next, they won’t vary with the market, they won’t fluctuate with your health, they won’t be altered at all by any sin or any evil or any catastrophe of any kind. God’s promises will remain exactly the way they were when God first spoke them. And they will remain forever.
Before this day ends tonight, thank the Lord for being the “same old, same old” this year and throughout your life. And ask him to keep you comforted by these promises for as many years as you have left under his grace. Because there is no greater comfort than to know that God will be with you and he will always forgive you - and that will never change.
Amen.

“May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” - 1 Cor. 13:14