ICSG Daily Devotions
Be a Man or Woman of Your Word

2 Samuel 21:3,7 (NKJV) Therefore David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And with what shall I make atonement, that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord?”…. But the king spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the Lord’s oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.

Have you ever bought a product only to discover that it was not what the packaging claimed it was? Similarly, underneath your people skill, do you always mean what you say? Prompted by their eagerness to please or impress others, many people say things they do not mean or make promises that they have no intention of keeping. If you are a business partner, will you honour the written agreements even when it is to your disadvantage?

In the opening Scripture, the Gibeonites had a covenant with the people of Israel during the time of Joshua. Because covenant partners swore to protect and never to destroy each other as agreed under the covenant ritual established by blood, the Israelites did not kill the Gibeonites even though they had discovered that the Gibeonites had deceived them. The mistake that Joshua and the people made was failing to find out the truth and seek the face of God before establishing the covenant with the Gibeonites, but they still honoured their word in spite of their mistake!

Years later, however, King Saul violated the covenant with the Gibeonites when he killed some of their people, and it displeased the Lord, because covenants had to be observed through the generations, and the covenant promises involved both blessings and curses.

Subsequently, King David made good the wrong that was made by Saul because he knew the penalty for violating the covenant. He paid the penalty by handing over the seven men requested by the Gibeonites. King David honoured the word of the covenant because he knew the importance of watching over the obligations and consequences that came with it. Likewise, he spared Mephibosheth from death when seven men needed to die from the mistake made by Saul because of King David’s covenant obligation with Jonathan. The covenant agreement was established through spoken words and actions. It takes a man of character like King David to honour the covenant agreement despite the price that needed to be paid.

Therefore, if a man can honour the word of the covenant, how much more will God, who cannot lie, make good what He has promised! Because God will not violate the covenant established with His people, we should also be men or women of character who honour our word even if we need to pay a price to make it good.

Sermon Series: It Is More Precious Than Gold