Faithfulness Part 2

To learn about faithfulness, we need to see how God has demonstrated faithfulness. We need to know the original if we are to follow it! Here are some verses that speak of God’s faithfulness.

It is Limitless and Unending:
Psalm 36:5 – “Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.”
Psalm 100:5 – “For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.

It is bound together with Love:
Psalm 86:15 – “But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.”
Psalm 117:2 “For great is His love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord.”

It is our protection:
Psalm 91:4 – “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.”

It brings salvation and allows the truth of God to be spread:
Psalm 98:3 – “He has remembered His love and His faithfulness to Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.”

For us, it is a choice:
Psalm 119:30 – “I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on your laws.”

It is a characteristic of the righteous:
Habakkuk 2:4 – “. . . but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness . . .”

If you take the time to search, you will find that the Old Testament is littered with references to and comments on God’s faithfulness. It doesn’t take very long in the Old Testament to see how God was faithful to his people but his people, Israel, were anything but faithful. Time and time again, people have been a disappointment to God. Over and over again, Israel was unfaithful and followed the gods of other cultures around them instead of remaining faithful to the one true God. Yet, each time, we see God rescuing them and pulling them back to Himself. He sent faithful men and women to work on His behalf to rescue Israel. Think of Moses, who led them out of slavery in Egypt. The people rebelled in the desert and were punished, but then God brought Joshua to leadership to bring the people into the promised land. They were successful in battle as long as they were faithful, but as soon as there was peace, the people forgot and submitted themselves to other gods. Every time they did this, there unfaithfulness led to hardship and in that hardship they would cry out to God. Every time they cried out, God sent someone (Judges) to rescue them. God always faithfully responded, no matter how many times His people strayed or disappointed him. He responded faithfully even to the point of sending His one and only Son to die for us. Now that is faithfulness.

I want to try to bring that to our level so that we can begin to understand what that means and maybe grasp a little of what God’s faithfulness is. Think of your kids. Kids get in trouble, no doubt about that, and often disobey in the same way again and again. How many times would you forgive and come running if they called out to you in dismay? Is it unlimited? I can tell you, I can’t think of a point at which I would fail to come to my children if they truly needed me. That is how God feels about us. He will remain faithful no matter what. It doesn’t depend on us. It is His nature. Can you see what a great gift that is for us? We are by nature prone to unfaithfulness and to straying from God, but God is by His nature faithful with an unending faithfulness that will always take back a repentant heart and draw that person back to Him. Praise God for this! Take the time right now to really think about this and to praise God for this amazing gift.

Not only is God’s faithfulness towards us unending, but He is willing to teach us how to be faithful. He is willing to lead us along that path so that we can have that same faithfulness. In fact, this is one of His heart’s desires, that we should show the same fruit that is to Him a natural thing. We are to reflect Him and He wants to help us do it. Amazing. Amazing love. Amazing help. Amazing patience. Amazing faithfulness. Amazing.