Holding onto God’s Promises in the Dark

In 2 Peter 1:4, the author reflects on the tremendous generosity of God in giving us His “very great and precious promises.” These promises are not like other promises we encounter, some of which Peter addresses later, when addressing the false promises of spiritual systems that promise freedom but actually bind us up (2 Peter 2:19).

The concept of God’s promises is strong throughout the Bible. There are the promises God makes to specific people at specific times. We see this in God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah that He would bring them a miracle child, which He does in Isaac. Or God’s promise after the flood given to Noah that He would never flood the earth in the same way again, marked by the rainbow. Or the promise to David that there would be an eternal descendant ruling from His line, which is found true in Jesus of Nazareth.

There are also promises of God which are more general and tied to God’s character. These include the promise in Psalm 23 that God is always with us, even in the valley of death’s shadow. Or the promise through Jeremiah that when we search for God with all our heart, we will find God (Jeremiah 29:14). Or the promise in the psalms that God will forgive our sins and remove them from us as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12).

Peter writes to early Christians, and to us as well, that the promises of God are very great—the Greek makes it clear they are stronger than other promises—and very precious, a word used very infrequently in the Bible.

Still, there are times when these promises feel inaccessible to us. We may sometimes feel as if God’s promises may be real for others, but they are not meant for us. The writer of Psalm 77 opens up moments like this for us, beginning his prayer describing his sense of being overwhelmed by the “day of trouble” he faces. He cries aloud to God (77:1-2), but the thought of God makes the psalmist feel faint and moan in agony.

Based on these difficulties the psalmist enters a sort of agonized complaint, accusing God of being absent, speaking words like:

“Has the Lord’s steadfast love forever ceased?
Are His promises at an end for all time?
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has He in anger shut up His compassion?” (77:8-9)

All of us have probably at one time or another pondered these sorts of questions based on our experience of what feels like God’s absence. It is here, however, that the psalmist steps back to reflect upon a wider perspective than his own emotional experience in the moment. He writes in verse 11, “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old.” Reflecting on God’s actions throughout history, the psalmist focuses on the Exodus and specifically the miracle of God’s parting of the Red Sea before Moses and God’s people when pursued by the Egyptian armies. The psalmist concludes his reflections with these words: “Your way was through the sea, Your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen” (77:19)

This is faith. Even when we cannot see the direct signs of God’s presence, God is still present, powerful, and active. For we walk by faith and not by sight.

Returning to Peter’s words, we remember that God’s great and precious promises are relevant and personal for us even when we cannot see or feel God. But here is what is striking about Psalm 77 in light of Peter’s words at the beginning of this letter: what we can see, what we do perceive by faith, is that Jesus is the sign of God’s promises being fulfilled for us. Looking to His life, His death on the Cross, and His resurrection, we have knowledge that that God’s great glory and grace are real for us.

Peter tells us these promises of God are given to us fully in Christ, which echoes a favorite verse of mine in Paul’s writings:

“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God.” (2 Corinthians 1:20)

Or as another translation says it, “All the promises of God are ‘yes’ and ‘amen’ in Him,” referring to Jesus. Even in the dark, even in our sense of God’s absence, Jesus speaks the “yes” and “amen” of God’s promises over us.