48.m. “Wilderness” – 12.s. Men – Vows

 

Num 30:1-2  Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the people of Israel, saying, “This is what the LORD has commanded. If a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

Psalms 56:12     I must perform my vows to you, O God; I will render thank offerings to you.

 Psalms 76:11   Make your vows to the LORD your God and perform them; let all around him bring gifts to him who is to be feared,

 Psalms 119:106    I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your righteous rules.

 Job 22:27     You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you, and you will pay your vows.

 Psalms 22:25     From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him.

 Ecclesiastes 5:4-5   When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow.  It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.

 Psalms 66:13-14    I will come into your house with burnt offerings; I will perform my vows to you,  that which my lips uttered and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.

 Psalms 50:14    Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High,

Matthew 5:33-37 Again, you have heard that it was said to the ancients, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ But I tell you not to swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is His footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor should you swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ Anything more comes from the evil one.

A vow made to God is no small thing. God commanded that His people should be careful to keep their vows and to fulfill every oath they made. Psalm 15:4 describes the godly man as the one who swears to his own hurt and does not change. “Vows either took the form of a promise to give something to God, usually a sacrifice, or a pledge to abstain from something.”  Wenham also notes the common tendency: “But when the crisis passes and the prayer is answered, there is a temptation to forget the vow.”

A commonly overlooked and unappreciated sin among God’s people is the sin of broken vows – promising things to God and failing to live up to the vow. Under the old covenant, it was commanded to make an offering to atone for the breaking of vows (Leviticus 5:4). Therefore, those who honor God:

· Will not be quick to make vows to God, especially unwise vows.

· Will be serious about fulfilling vows that they do make.

· Will regard broken vows as sins to be confessed and to be repented of. (Guzik)

The “vow” was positive; the “bond” negative or restrictive. By a vow a man engaged to dedicate something to God, or to accomplish some work for Him: by a bond he debarred himself from some privilege or enjoyment. A vow involved an obligation to do: a bond. (Barnes)

 If a man vow a vow unto the Lord—A mere secret purpose of the mind was not enough to constitute a vow; it had to be actually expressed in words; and though a purely voluntary act, yet when once the vow was made, the performance of it, like that of every other promise, became an indispensable duty—all the more because, referring to a sacred thing, it could not be neglected without the guilt of prevarication and unfaithfulness to God. (Brown)

If a man vow a vow unto the Lord,…. Which must be in a thing that is lawful to be done, which is not contrary to the revealed will and mind of God, and which may tend to the glory of God, the honour of religion, the service of the sanctuary, the good of a man’s self or of his neighbour; or in things purely indifferent, which may, or may not be done, without offence to God or man; as that he will not eat such a thing for such a time, or he will do this or the other thing, as Jarchi observes; who moreover says, that he may forbid himself what is forbidden, and forbid what is free and lawful; but he may not make free or lawful what is forbidden, that is, he may not vow to do a thing which is contrary to the law of God, such a vow will not stand. (Gill)

I think we sometimes think of vows to God like New Year’s resolutions. In the moment of having a date of starting we make a resolution to do something or to stop doing something with full intent upon completion. The first week may be squarely focused and set in our mind, but then something alters the normality of our life and the resolution is not easily maintained. Soon the resolution is nothing more than words written or spoken and the commitment to continue with unwavering focus is no longer there. 

Vows to God were not resolutions. They were solemn acts of devotion and commitment without a hint of not performing. The thought of not fulfilling a vow to God or to another person was not an option or thought. Vow or not to vow – Jesus Said – “Let your yes be yes, and your no be no”

Psalm 99

Psalms 99:1  The LORD reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake! The LORD is great in Zion; he is exalted over all the peoples.  Let them praise your great and awesome name! Holy is he! The King in his might loves justice. You have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.   Exalt the LORD our God; worship at his footstool! Holy is he!  Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel also was among those who called upon his name. They called to the LORD, and he answered them. In the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them; they kept his testimonies and the statute that he gave them.  O LORD our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings.  Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy mountain; for the LORD our God is holy!

Matthew Henry Commentary:

Still we are celebrating the glories of the kingdom of God among men, and are called upon to praise him, as in the foregoing psalms; but those psalms looked forward to the times of the gospel, and prophesied of the graces and comforts of those times; this psalm seems to dwell more upon the Old-Testament dispensation and the manifestation of God’s glory and grace in that. The Jews were not, in expectation of the Messiah’s kingdom and the evangelical worship, to neglect the divine regimen they were then under, and the ordinances that were then given them, but in them to see God reigning, and to worship before him according to the law of Moses. Prophecies of good things to come must not lessen our esteem of good things present.

I like how Matthew ends this commentary with the statement of good things to come and good things present.  Sometimes we get overwhelmed with the present and which, somehow, we were ushered into the presence of Jesus, leaving this world behind.  Our God reigns and we are not to forget that even in the present and what overwhelms us, we are to turns our eyes to Him alone.  He has said to lay our burdens on Him, we are to trust Him.

Heals the brokenhearted

“Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.”

“And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.”

“who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,”

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”

Malachi 4:2  But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts. “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.

Psalms 85:9    Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land.

Isaiah 66:1  Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest?  All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.

Jeremiah 17:14   Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise.

Hosea 6:1   “Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.

Jeremiah 33:6    Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security.

We serve this God – “All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”  This is the God who’s hands have made and by which all things came to be.  God seeks those with a humble and contrite heart.  To these there are many blessings and promises given.  It seems like today we have so much information at our finger tips that we lose sight of God and trust rather in what we find on a google search.  Remember to put Him first and seek His guidance and direction.  Yes He surely can direct and lead us through all of our decisions, trials and troubles.  He is the mighty awesome powerful creator.