Testimonies of God’s Faithfulness
The word faithfulness in Hebrew is (noun) emunah, and it’s from the verb aman. Hebrew and Aramaic verbs have an action behind them. When you know what the action is underlying the verb, then you know what the noun is that’s built on that verb.
We get faithfulness from “to have faith” or “to be faithful,” and the action of the verb root is “to lean on.”
You lean on something stronger than you. If you lean on a wall, you expect that the wall will support your weight.
Lyrics to Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
YouTube video Leaning on the Everlasting Arms:
The lesson about God’s faithfulness is that He is God, and we are not.
Psalm 100:5 ESV1:
For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
The English word “truth” is translated from several different Hebrew and Aramaic words. There is even one time where the word emunah is translated “truth,” but it actually means faithfulness.
The word “truth” in “belt of truth” (see the Armor of God teaching series) is actually God’s faithfulness to His Word.
Some definitions of emunah are: firmness, stability, steadfastness.
Why should we trust God? Why should we lean on Him?
We’ll look at three things that are testimonies or proofs that God is faithful.
- The heavens and the earth
- His Word.
- His covenants and promises.
Psalm 119 is the longest Psalm in the Bible and it’s filled with things about God’s Word.
Psalm 119:138 ESV:
You have appointed your testimonies in righteousness and in all faithfulness.
God’s testimonies are what we want to look at.
1. The Heavens and the Earth
Psalm 119:89–90 ESV:
89 Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens. 90 Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast.
God made the heavens and the earth to be a testimony of His faithfulness. He established creation way back in Genesis 1 and it’s still standing. The sun still comes up every morning. You can trust that the sun will come up tomorrow. That is a testimony of God’s faithfulness.
Rainbows, flowers, the beautiful ocean, trees growing fruit, and more show us that God is good, and faithful.
Psalms 19:1 KJV:
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
Just as God has faithfully maintained all of creation, He will faithfully maintain His promises in His Word.
Psalm 97:6 ESV:
The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.
2. God’s Word
In Psalm 119 there are eight different words for “word.” One that really stood out to me is the word that means “speech.”
Psalm 119:11 KJV:
Thy word [speech] have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
David wrote Psalm 18 after God had rescued him from all his enemies and the hand of Saul, which took about eight years. David had to stay faithful to God and trust what He said, for years after Samuel had anointed David to be king.
Psalm 18:30 ESV:
This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true [is smelted or refined]; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
There’s no guaranty that we won’t have trials in our lives.
Psalm 12:6 ESV:
The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.
God took our earthly words [human language words] and smelted them, He refined them in a furnace, and He purified them. He uses words from human language and purifies them so that they are totally reliable.
The testimony of someone’s healing is evidence or proof of God’s words.
Isaiah 53:5b KJV:
…and with his stripes we are healed.
1 Peter 2:24 KJV:
…by whose stripes ye were healed.
When someone says they got healed, they are testifying that God’s spoken words to them, came to pass and are thus reliable.
Because we have so much of God’s written Word that we can rely on, all we have to do is speak it. “This is what God said and therefore it is true.” And therefore you can have it as a belt around your waist. You can stand on it. You can lean on it.
Psalm 119:140 ESV:
Your promise is well tried [smelted], and your servant loves it.
3. God’s Covenants and Promises
Psalm 89:1–4 ESV:
1 I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations. 2 For I said, “Steadfast love will be built up forever; in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.” 3 You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn to David my servant: 4 ‘I will establish your offspring forever, and build your throne for all generations.’ ” Selah
It took a while for this to begin to come to pass, it wasn’t immediately after the promise that Jesus Christ came. Even though Christ is already reigning in heaven, His physical reign on earth is still in the future. God sees time so much bigger than we do.
Many years before David, God made a covenant with and promise to Abraham regarding the land. The complete fulfillment of that is still in the future.
Galatians 3:8 ESV:
And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”
Galatians 3:29 ESV:
And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
God’s promises to Abraham and David are fulfilled in Christ, and there is still more to be fulfilled in the future. God’s view of it is huge, encompassing so many things and so much time.
Psalm 89:8 ESV:
O Lord God of hosts, who is mighty as you are, O Lord, with your faithfulness all around you?
Christ is coming back to earth. There will be no more tears, no more sorrow, no more sickness. That hope is something we can grab onto, knowing that God is faithful.
Lamentations 3:21–26 ESV:
21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: 22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who wait [quietly] for him, to the soul who seeks him. 26 It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
Psalm 40:9–10 ESV:
9 I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord. 10 I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.
God’s promises are completely reliable. We can live our lives knowing that He backs them up with everything that He is. Great is His faithfulness.
See Also:
Holding Fast the Faithful Word on the Acts Now Fellowship website
- Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ↩︎
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