by David Falk | Download PDF | Purchase Hardcopy

We all make vows and commitments every day. But instead of making vows, we say, ‘I am going to do this or that’. When we come to Christ we are making a commitment. The psalmist said, ‘Make vows to the Lord your God and fulfil them’. Psa 76:11. Some may suggest that we no longer need to make vows because we are not under the law.  However, the making of vows predates the law covenant. I would suggest that vows are part of the Everlasting Covenant and are still relevant to us today.

When Paul was in Cenchrea he shaved his head.  This action marked the end of a Nazarite vow. It was a symbolic statement to the Jews around him that he had made a vow. Otherwise, how would they have known? Likewise, we cannot know another’s vow and commitment unless we communicate. For example, when we make a Christian commitment we need to let others know; in our families, schools and workplaces. Paul told the Corinthians that he did not vacillate in what he purposed to do. He said his yes was yes; it was not ‘yes and no’. 2 Cor 1:17. We also need to make vows without vacillating. A vow must not be an emotional response. In the book of Proverbs, we are instructed not to vow rashly. Prov 20:25.

We learn from the experiences of Jacob and David, that God Almighty will swear an oath concerning our lives if our yes is yes and our no is no.  In the book of Hebrews, we read that God swore by Himself because He could swear by no one greater when He made His promise to Abraham. Heb 6:13. He was effectively saying, ‘I am not asking anybody else to do it. I swear I will do it Myself’. God swears an oath; we make a vow. But when we make a vow, the Lord swears an oath which enables us to fulfil it.

There are many men and women in both the Old and New Testaments who made vows. We learn from their examples that the purpose of the vow is to build the house of the Lord. Samson was a Nazarite from the womb which meant a razor had never been over his head. Judg 13:5. Samson’s strength was in his hair and he was made helpless before his enemies when his hair was cut. Samuel was also a Nazarite from birth because his mother Hannah was a devotee. A Nazarite is simply a devotee who may or may not be a Levite.  Hannah said, if You ‘will give Your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head’. 1 Sam 1:11. She was dedicating or devoting her son to the Lord in the same way that we dedicate our children today. Both Samson and Samuel were instrumental in building the nation of Israel which we could say was the Lord’s house at that stage.

Jacob made a vow in a similar way to Hannah. In a dream, God revealed to him a ladder which stretched from earth to heaven with angels ascending and descending upon it. He promised to be with Jacob, to keep him, to watch over him, to bless him and multiply him. The Lord promised to bring him back to that place, the land of his inheritance. When morning came, Jacob said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place’. Gen 28:16. He knew God was present because he saw the ladder with the Lord God Almighty standing at the top of it. Hence, he called the place ‘Bethel’ which means the house of God.

Most importantly, Jacob made a vow using the words that God had just spoken to him in the dream. ‘If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father's house in safety, then the Lord will be my God. Gen 28:20-21. Jacob was effectively saying, ‘If You will bring me again to this place, You will demonstrate that You truly are my God’. I don’t think Jacob was saying, ‘If You don’t, You won’t be my God’. Jacob was not making a bargain; nor was He calling out for help in a crisis. He was not in a boat in the middle of the sea saying, ‘If You’ll save me I’ll serve You, Lord’. That is not a vow; it is a cry for help! We do not want to make those kinds of vows.

When Hannah and Jacob placed a condition upon their vows, they were making them in faith. If You will give me a child, a razor will not go over his head and I will give him to You. Hannah committed Samuel to the Lord from five years of age. What an amazing faith Hannah had, and what a pain it must have been for Hannah to fulfil that vow. We find that she went up once a year to take him a little coat! And Samuel became an amazing man because he was the son of a vow.

When Jacob made his vow, he poured oil on the rock where he lay and called it a pillar. We know the church is the pillar and ground of truth. 1 Tit 3:15. And the rock upon which the church is built is Christ. He is the chief cornerstone as well as the stumbling stone. Eph 2:20. Rom 9:33. We  make vows which say, ‘Lord, if You will meet me; if You will stand at the top of the ladder and allow me to go up and down and  come into heavenly places and be seated with You; You will be God Almighty to me and You will be my God’. There will be angels ascending and descending between heaven and earth. The word ‘angel’ used in this verse just means ‘messenger’. 

David also made vows and commitments and walked in the stead of Jacob. He wrote in the Psalms, ‘Remember O Lord, on David’s behalf, all his affliction; How he swore to the Lord and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob’. Psa 132:1. Just as Jacob walked in the stead of Abraham, we note here that David walked in the stead of Jacob. He said to the prophet Nathan, ‘I am dwelling in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under curtains’. 1 Chron 17:1. Nathan replied, ‘Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you’. 1 Chron 17:2. Accordingly, David swore to the Mighty One of Jacob, the God who fulfils vows, ‘Surely I will not enter my house, nor lie on my bed; I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob’. Psa 132:3-5. We see David’s tenacity and determination; the strength of his vow. The psalmist said, ‘For the sake of David Your servant, do not turn away the face of Your anointed.’ Psa 132:10. We know Jesus Christ, our Messiah, is the anointed One. Our goal is to know Him and to have His face toward us. This is the reason for our vow. If you don’t know Jesus Christ today, set Him before your face. If we seek Him diligently and put Him before our eyes; if we wait on the Lord, He will reveal Himself to us.

David made a vow that he would build the Lord a house. He gave from his own wealth, the king’s treasury and all the spoils of war. The captains of the thousands and all the people followed willingly. And the Lord responded by swearing an oath over David. ‘The Lord has sworn to David a truth from which He will not turn back.’ Psa 132:11. He said, ‘Yes and amen’ to David’s vow. Is this what you want to hear? He wants to say it to you and to me. This is comforting, encouraging, and strengthening for us all. We are told that David was a man after God’s own heart. 1 Sam 13:14. The word ‘heart’ in this verse means heart and mind. It is not just an emotional response. It is considered; it is weighed up. David’s vow was not made rashly. Because God takes no delight in the sacrifice of fools, we must carefully consider our vows through prayer and waiting on God. Of course, the Lord can only swear an oath over us and say, ‘Yes and Amen’ to our vows, if we are men and women after God’s own heart.

Hannah and David demonstrated tenacity and determination in their vows. We also see the tenacity of Bathsheba, David’s wife, who went to the king declaring, ‘My lord, you swore to your maidservant by the Lord your God saying, “Surely your son Solomon shall be king”.’ 1 King 1:17. It is evident that both David and Bathsheba had made a vow before the Lord concerning Solomon. In Proverbs 31, we read of a mother’s instruction to King Lemuel whom she calls the ‘son of my vows’. Prov 31:2. This was Bathsheba speaking to Solomon. We know she had some struggles, and because of her adultery with David she lost her first husband as well as her infant son. Nevertheless, she made recovery and became a woman of vows. Why did God ordain Solomon to be king and not a son from his other wives? There are many reasons for this but principally it is because Solomon was the son of a vow. We know God answers the vow of a mother.

When the church in Jerusalem was in financial difficulty, Paul asked the Corinthians to make a vow or commitment to help them. He asked them to set aside a monetary gift on the first day of every week for a whole year. I Cor 16:1. How were they going to do this? If we take out the chapter distinction between 1 Corinthians 15 and 16, we find Paul had just instructed them to be ‘steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord’. 1 Cor 15:58. He was telling them that they could make this vow because the Lord would enable their offering by making them abound in the work. And so Paul told the Corinthians to set aside their offering on the first day of the week.

We can also set aside on the first day of the week. We can give to the poor and bring our offering to the feet of the elders and apostles just like the believers in the early church. Acts 4:35.  In doing this, however, we may feel like we are walking on water like Peter! When he looked around and saw the waves, the storm and the wind, he began to sink. When we make a vow we may also encounter waves, storm and wind. Will we believe in Jesus Christ and live by faith? Will we trust Him to enable our vow? Will we begin to make vows? The Lord says, prove Me now in this, ‘If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows?’. Mal 3:10. However, for many, the windows of heaven do not open, simply because He will not pour out His blessing upon ‘tares’. He will not pour the blessing on the thorny ground. And that is a mercy to you and to me. If He poured the rain on our thorny ground, we would have an even bigger job to remove the ‘tares’!

David served the purpose of God in his generation and then fell asleep. Acts 13:36. Our vows will also contribute to the purpose of God because we will be building the Lord’s house. However, we won’t see the fulfilment of these vows unless we are alive in the last hour. We will serve God in our generation and then we will fall asleep. Paul talks about those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 1 Thess 4:14. When the trumpet sounds and the dead in Christ rise, those who are alive and remain will not precede those who have fallen asleep. He has given us 60, 70, 80 or 90 years to serve the purpose of God in our generation and make vows toward the Lord’s house. Like David, who was a man after God’s own heart, let us be those who vow to the Mighty One of Jacob.

Author: David Falk | Toowoomba Christian Fellowship TCF
Published by Vision One at Toowoomba Christian Fellowship TCF
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