Psalm: Psalm 89:1–4, 19–26
I will sing of the LORD’s great love forever;
[. . .]
with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known
through all generations.
I will declare that your love stands firm forever,
that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.
You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
I have sworn to David my servant,
‘I will establish your line forever
and make your throne firm through all generations.’”Once you spoke in a vision,
to your faithful people you said:
“I have bestowed strength on a warrior;
I have raised up a young man from among the people.
I have found David my servant;
with my sacred oil I have anointed him.
My hand will sustain him;
surely my arm will strengthen him.
The enemy will not get the better of him;
the wicked will not oppress him.
I will crush his foes before him
and strike down his adversaries.
My faithful love will be with him,
and through my name his horn will be exalted.
I will set his hand over the sea,
his right hand over the rivers.
He will call out to me, ‘You are my Father,
my God, the Rock my Savior.’ (NIV)
“I will sing of the LORD’s great love forever; with my mouth will I make your faithfulness known through all generations” (Psalm 89:1).
In my life, Christmas and the entire Advent season, along with Easter – the entire season of Lent and Holy Week – have been like two brilliantly shining stars, radiating God’s love and faithfulness. This is exactly what the songwriter teaches us here in Psalm 89. Ten times he belts out the glorious truth, “our God is faithful!” The beauty of this, as I sit here in the midst of all of the uncertainty in our world today, is that our God’s faithfulness is being made known to all generations!
This is my family’s story! As God’s faithfulness was made known to my great-grandparents and grandparents, it was made known to my parents and has come to me and my siblings! In the ongoing story of God’s grace, it has been made known to my own children, too. I know the promise and power of Christmas – Emmanuel – ‘God with us’ – will be made known for generations to come! This is the beauty of Advent; God keeps his promises! Let’s sing about and share his goodness together. This is our mission!
Dr. George A. Johnson – Senior Pastor at Hope Community Baptist in Sterling Heights, Michigan