God is Trustworthy - Day 2

A Scripture text that speaks of God’s trustworthiness to me is Hebrews 16:13-18, especially verses 13 and 16 where the writer tells us: 13 “For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself…16 For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.”

The following are excerpts from a sermon by John Piper on these verses:

Verse 16 is pointing out that ...when you want to stress the validity of your promise you pick out some great value (the Bible, your Mother’s grave, God) and you swear by it. “On my mother’s grave, I swear I did not steal your purse.”

Why do you swear on something great and valuable? Because what you are saying in an oath is this: If I prove false-if I am lying-then let my dead mother be a liar. Or: Let God be false. Or: Let the Bible be condemned. So the degree that you value and esteem the basis of your oath, to that degree your word can be trusted. (emphasis added)

Then the writer looks at the way God took his oath in verse 13. He says, “For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself.” Do you see what God is doing here? He is saying: … I could swear by the sun and the moon. They are great. Or I could swear by the world, or by my people Israel whom I love, the apple of my eye…But no, none of these is great enough…

…These are all valuable to God. But there is one thing he values and esteems above all. There is one Reality that he is less likely to dishonor and to shame than any other… namely God himself. So God swears by himself…

What God is saying in swearing by himself is that it is as unlikely that he will break his word of promise…as it is that he will despise himself. God is the greatest value in the universe. There is nothing more valuable or wonderful than God. So God swears by God. And in doing that he says: I mean for you to have as much confidence in me as it is possible to have.

Friends, it just doesn’t get any more trustworthy than that!

For the full sermon, go to:
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByScripture/26/975_When_Does_God_Swear/