A word keeper. It is person that holds true to what they say and preserve what God says through their own lives. Now to be frank, one of the common weaknesses that I struggled with in my life was being a keeper of my word. I often share that I have an impulsive nature and that causes me to speak quickly and also make swift decisions that I may later change my mind on or fail to deliver. There has been instances that it has caused people to lose their trust or to take my words very lightly afterwards. And because of that, I either get accused or defensive which really robbed me of the joy I ought to have on my relationship with others and of course, with God. The truth is, at some point in our lives, we may have made some promises that we fail to keep or spoken things that we are unable to do. But today, God calls us to really look deeper into these moments because God is the truth and He is concerned with truthful words. He does not only want His truth to be taught among His believers but also wants falsehood to be eradicated among His people. This comes from having a blessed culture that strives to be people who are true to our words. And as James 1:22 says, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” Why? Because God’s word fundamentally starts from honouring what we say to others. We can have many strengths and good points, but essentially, we must pray to be a keeper of our words. Our promises made to others, our opinions that we try to convey or decisions we make, we must take careful consideration and responsibility for all that we say. Many times when we are frivolous with our words, we will also become frivolous in our actions and relationships with people. Brothers and sisters, if truly value and treasure a relationship, surely, we will honour our words to them.

Now in 2 Samuel 21:1-7, we will read the account where King David avenged the Gibeonites for the promise that the previous King Saul has broke.

“Word-Breaking” Comes With It Consequences

A famine came upon Israel for 3 successive years during the time that King David reigned and though he was not affected by it himself, but because King David was a God-honoring King, he turned to seek God. Then God clearly revealed to him that the reason was because of an oath that King Saul had broken, leading to the killing of the Gibeonites. Saul was a faithless king and acted out of his own zeal instead of the counsel of the Lord. He thought that by doing this, it would gain God’s favour but he was wrong and even after he died, the consequences of his wrongdoing was continued to be bore by many in Israel—in other words, through the famine. This is very much like how we may receive consequences when we do not honour our words. In our context, it can cause broken trust, tension in relationships, unnecessary doubts or accusations and many more. So before we are quick to speak or make a promise we are unsure of keeping, do we see that it follows with it consequences that will have to be bore later?

David: A Man of Truth

Now after God has revealed to David the reason for the famine, David did the right thing. He did not push away the responsibility by saying it is Saul’s mistake and not his, but he was a king with great integrity and trustworthiness in his ways that he summoned the Gibeonites to correct the wrong that has been done to them. He knows that his God is the God of truth and therefore, he has to give the Gibeonites justice as God’s servant. He demonstrated the faithfulness and truthfulness of God on His behalf. Now in our case, when something like that happens, most people would choose to avoid or excuse ourselves from the situation because we do not want to be at the losing end or take the impact of the blame and scrutiny. But David chose to face and deal with it, to compensate what was done to the Gibeonites justly. And as David did so, instead of requesting for an “over the top” compensation, the Gibeonites saw David’s righteousness and were humbled before him. So they only asked for the justice to be served to them, that is, to kill 7 of Saul’s descendants, which was justifiable. But if we read on, David also remembered the promise he made to Jonathan a long time ago. And even though Jonathan is dead, he kept his word and protected Jonathan’s son, Melphibosheth, to be spared from the killing. Now this is a beautiful testimony of God’s word-keeper. The story began with a famine that came through Saul’s broken oath, but it ended with the famine subsiding after David’s promise-keeping.

A Word-Keeper Of The Lord

So what does all these mean for us as Christians today? Now we must see that we are all representatives and ambassadors of God. All that we have said or done are all done within the sight of the Lord. Therefore, we must not take what we say lightly. This is especially so when people have put their trust in us, like a close friend, brethren, family member or colleague. When we honour our every word, it really gives weightage to our Christian belief and the image of God through our lives. It reflects that our truthfulness are in fact, showing how even more trustworthy our God can be. In Matthew 5:16, Jesus said, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” This very much also refers to how our words and actions carries with it value. When we are able to keep that secret a friend has confided us in, continue to intercede for a brethren that we have said we will remember in prayers for or practically help a family member that we said we will be there for, all these are even more impactful than the many other things that seek to satisfy people. And let us learn one more thing from King David’s life today, that even if the mistake is not stemming from us, but make things right by helping to correct the wrong and fulfil the obligation of the promise. These will help turn the problems away eventually. We must exercise this in our own family, church or any other relationships we have.

Brothers and sister, let us speak the truth, hold fast to our words and testify for the Lord in our fields. When we continue to do so, we will start to see people around us being impacted by the Lord.