THERE HATH NOT FAILED ONE WORD OF ALL HIS GOOD PROMISE.

 

 
There hath not failed one word of all his good promise.
I Kings 8:56
 
THIS is the day of review;
  let us look back.
 
This is the day to compare God's conduct with God's promises.
 
He has kept his promise in his eye every day of this year,
  though we have often lost sight of it.
 
We have been unbelieving,
  but he has been faithful.
 
We have backslidden,
  but he has kept his covenant with us.
 
We have ten thousand times deserved his wrath,
  but here we are, the monuments of his mercy.
 
What forbearance he has shown,
  what patient he has exercise,
  what sympathy he has manifested;
    how true to his character,
    how faithful to his word,
    how tender to our souls, he has been.
 
We have failed in almost every point;
  but he has not failed in one;
  we have broken our word a thousand times;
  but he has never broken his once.
 
Not one thing hath failed of all that he had promised.
 
In temporals, our bread has been given us,
  and our water has been sure.
 
In spirituals, he has pardoned our sins,
  revived our graces,
  corrected our follies,
  restored our souls,
  born are manners, and
    manifested a Father’s love.
 
Beloved, is not God true?
 
Has he not been faithful?
 
Ought we not to trust him?

 

Let suns or stars forget to rise,

Or quit their stations in the skies;

Let heaven and earth both pass away,

Eternal truth shall ne’er decay.

 

James Smith 1849