Standing on the promises of Christ my King,
Thru eternal ages let His praises ring;
Glory in the highest I will shout and sing,
Standing on the promises of God…
Written in the late 1800’s this old hymn reminds us of where we should be standing in life. The encouragement from this song (in verse one) is to stand with God throughout time, for our whole lifetime in praise to God. So let’s continue looking at the other three verses;
Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living word of God I shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God…
How will you handle the ‘storms of doubt’ that come into your life? We’re reminded by R. Kelso Carter, author and composer, that we can handle (prevail over) the storms of doubt and fear by reading, trusting and following the word of God. Actually the word prevail, by definition, means to ‘gain ascendancy through strength’…by the word of God. Now that should make us stop and think about the amount of time we actually spend in God’s word!
Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord,
Bound to Him eternally by love’s strong cord,
Overcoming daily with the Spirit’s sword,
Standing on the promises of God…
Do you consider yourself ‘bound’ together with Christ? The statement, ‘to be bound’ infers slavery…do you see yourself as a slave? Consider the text, “…but now that you have been set free from sin and become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.” Romans 6:22 Too often we don’t want to see ourselves as ‘bound’ to anything. But the facts are clear. You are either a slave to sin, which leads to eternal death, or a slave to God which leads to eternal life. (Romans 6:15-23) I think it’s interesting that we, as bond servants to God, have been equipped with tools of war…the Spirit’s sword.
Standing on the promises that cannot fall,
Listening every moment to the Spirit’s call,
Resting in my Savior as my all in all,
Standing on the promises of God…
Do you listen to God’s instruction? How do you take your ‘marching orders’ in this life? As a child of God who is ‘standing on His promises’, we can rest in knowing that His has promised and is calling us to follow and serve…to stand with Him. But you have to ask yourself a simple question when it comes to this old hymn; Are you standing on the promise that God gives us? Are you overcoming daily? Will you be bound to Him forever? Are you listening to Him ‘every moment’? Unfortunately many have said, “Yes, I’m standing on the promises”, but they miss the reminder from this hymn that there is more to living for God than just standing. Perhaps too many of us are sitting on the premises rather than standing on the promises.
Let’s do more than just stand up, let’s get to work!