For

This week we begin worship with:

Psalm 105:42-43
For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham, his servant. 
So he brought his people out with joy, his chosen ones with singing.

Our verses today condense the entirety of Psalm 105 into the little word "For" (kî).  It occurs only once in the psalm and points us to the reason.  The Psalmist lists over 20 actions that God took to choose, care for, and build the nation of Israel, but this is the reason, that God's promise is "holy".

This does not simply mean that the promise is good, rather than evil.  The word "holy" (qōḏeš)  means that the promise comes from God's very nature and core to that nature is His unchangeable-ness.

Exodus 3:14

God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

The phrase "I am who I am" is in the Hebrew imperfect tense.  It is not the arrogant and frequently heard English phrase "It is just the way I am".  Instead it means that the way God is never stops.  And because God cannot change, the promise made to Abraham cannot change.

Now, imagine being in the crowd and hearing Jesus say:

John 8:58

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”