Great is Thy Faithfulness
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Because God is Faithful, We Can Be Faithful
YouTube Great is Thy Faithfulness:
Deuteronomy 7:9 ESV:
Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,
The basic idea of faithfulness is firmness or certainty.
“The core of this Hebrew concept is firmness, reliability, or steadfastness. To believe is to hold on to something firmly, with conviction and confidence. It is implied that steadfastness is sought in the object believed, and in laying hold of the object, the believer himself will become steadfast.”
We can be faithful because of God’s faithfulness. How?
We believe in a person because we have a relationship with Him. Moses’s response of faithfulness was a response to the fact that God was faithful.
Another good example is Jehoshaphat, who worked to turn the people back to God.
2 Chronicles 19:9 ESV:
And he charged them: “Thus you shall do in the fear of the Lord, in faithfulness, and with your whole heart:
Later, the Moabites and Ammonites sent a huge army against Israel. The first thing Jehoshaphat does is go to God in prayer. He seeks wisdom, and God tells him to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.
2 Chronicles 20:20 ESV:
And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.”
“Believe” and “established” are the same Hebrew verb. He’s telling them to do the believing, and then they will be established in their hearts.
There’s a lot to be learned about faithfulness here. If we turn the idea of “having faith” into “I want to be faithful. I want to be established.”
A faithful one is one who is established.
Isaiah 7:9b ESV:
If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.
In the same way, the words are used, if you do not believe, you will not be established.
Isaiah 7:9 NIV:
If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.
The more we meditate on how God is faithful to His Word and His promises, how He keeps covenant in steadfast love with those who love Him, the more believing and trusting in Him will not be hard.
Here are some keys on how to be faithful.
1. Put on faithfulness as the armor of God
Ephesians 6:13–14 APNT:
13 Because of this, put on the whole armor of God, so that you will be able to engage the Evil [one] and, being prepared in everything, you will stand firm.
14 Therefore, stand and gird up your waist with truthfulness [faithfulness] and put on the breastplate of justification
The very first piece of the armor is that we are to wrap God’s faithfulness around our waist.
Psalm 91:4 KJV:
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth [faithfulness] shall be thy shield and buckler.
Psalm 91:4 Old Testament Aramaic Peshitta:
With his feathers he will deliver you and under his wings you will be concealed. As armor, his faithfulness will surround you.
That first piece of armor goes against the power of the adversary’s words.
Another way to be faithful is:
2. Recognize the Evil One’s lies, refuse to listen to them, and refute them.
Lying words, such as you’re not good enough, you’re too weak, or you can’t stand up to the devil. How do you think you could stand firm? You’re a hypocrite. Even things outside of yourself, such as these are dark days, you’ll lose everything. There are so many words swirling around right now.
It’s very important that we separate out the faithful words of God from the lies of the evil one.
3. Praise God’s name (his character)
Psalm 138:2 NLT:
I bow before your holy Temple as I worship. I praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness; for your promises are backed by all the honor of your name.
Psalm 138:2 KJV:
I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
The King James Version says He has magnified His Word above His name, but it’s not really above His name because God is the Word, and it’s equal to His name. But according to the weight or honor of His name. His Word and His promises are backed up by all the weight and honor of His name.
We can praise Him for His faithfulness because He backs everything up with the full weight of who He is.
This will help you understand the difference between thanksgiving and praise:
Thanksgiving is our response to God’s works or actions in our lives. But praise is our response to His nature or character.
Psalm 89:1–2 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.”
Psalm 19:1 ESV:
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Psalm 89:3–7 ESV:
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 5 Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones! 6 For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord? Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord, 7 a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all who are around him?
See the questions? This is the figure of speech, Erotesis, asking questions without waiting for the answer. They are questions to ponder.
Psalm 89:8 ESV:
O Lord God of hosts, who is mighty as you are, O Lord, with your faithfulness all around you?
God’s faithfulness surrounds Him, and as armor it surrounds us.
Hebrews 10:23 ESV:
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
4. Rest in the Lord
“Rest in the Lord” is a very full kind of trust. It’s a place where we can be settled.
There’s another question (like the ones above) from Deborah.
Judges 4:14 ESV:
And Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. Does not the Lord go out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him.
They ended up winning the battle without having to do anything.
1 Corinthians 1:9 NLT:
God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership [fellowship] with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
The “secret place” can be any place at any time where we go into God’s presence and access His presence.
5. Allow God to show us the path and lead us
Psalm 25:5 KJV:
Lead me in thy truth [faithfulness], and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.
Psalm 25:5 AMPCE:
Guide me in Your truth and faithfulness and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for You [You only and altogether] do I wait [expectantly] all the day long.
It’s like “lead me by your faithfulness.”
2 Thessalonians 3:3 APNT:
But the lord is faithful, who will keep you and rescue you from the Evil [one].
Everything that Christ is is part of our armor.
God’s faithfulness surrounds us, and that is why we can become established.
Let’s do some praising this week.
Scripture References
Scripture quotations marked (AMPCE) taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)
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.
Scripture quotations marked (NIV) taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188, USA. All rights reserved.
Bookstore Suggestions:
