Prior Promise

"This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord.... Of old Thou has laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of Thy hands. They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment, as a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed: but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall have no end" (Psalm 102:18,25-27). "I was set up from everlasting from the beginning, or ever the earth was.... Rejoicing in the habitable part of His earth; and My delights were with the sons of men" (Proverbs 8:23,31). "[The] hope of eternal life... God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began" (Titus 1:1,2).

Before You formed the ancient earth
By Your decree sublime,
Or space and matter had their birth
Along with father Time,
You fixed upon us your delight
(Then prior to creation),
And You beheld us in Your sight,
And promised us salvation.

Lord, we cannot comprehend
Your ability to see
From beginning to the end
Through all eternity.
Yet surely we can testify
What You have demonstrated:
You are the God who cannot lie,
And shall not be frustrated.

And thus we find our confidence
By trusting in the name
Of Christ Who is our sure Defense,
Forevermore the same.
And thus in every time and place
His prior promise stands,
That all those who are saved by grace
Are safe in Jesus' hands.