June 4, 2015 | Covenants

Throughout human history, a kept covenant has always been the most endangered of species. Our era is even worse than most, institutionalizing and glorifying faithlessness in a way most previous generations couldn’t have imagined.

That situation makes a study of the biblical hero David very profitable. David is a great covenant keeper – a partial reason behind his being called “a man after God’s own heart.” David was greatly true to his word, keeping an incredible number of difficult covenants. Even when he broke some, David repented and got back into God’s perfect promise-keeping groove.

If you are interested in learning more about covenant-keeping, here are some of David’s major covenants with passages for study:

• David’s covenant with Jonathan, his friend. 1 Samuel 18-23
• David’s covenant with Mephibosheth, the outcast. 2 Samuel 4, 9, & 19
• David’s covenant with Abner, his former enemy. 2 Samuel 3; 2 Kings 2
• David’s covenant with Gibeonites, the tricksters. 2 Samuel 21
• David’s covenant with Israel. 2 Samuel 5
• David’s covenant with Barzillai, his benefactor. 2 Samuel 19; Jeremiah 41
• David’s covenant with God. 2 Samuel 23; Psalm 103

C.O.V.E.N.A.N.T.

I have found that sometimes a person desires to grow as a covenant-keeper but is uncertain how to proceed. To help, I put together a little promise keeping guide from scripture:

Count on the Lord. (Galatians 5)

Obtain strength in God’s joy. (Nehemiah 8)

View your own sin honestly. (Psalm 51)

Engage with others. (Ecclesiastes 4)

Never turn from scripture. (Joshua 1)

Abide in the light. (1 John 1)

Never despair. (Psalm 42)

Tell truth in love. (Ephesians 4)

The bottom line is that no human can keep all his or her covenants via human strength alone. Other people are too difficult; we are too deeply flawed; and life situations are too vacillating for us to stay true. Yet by God’s strength and the hope that comes in Him, we can become great covenant-keepers like David.