I’ve been reading the psalms again and one of the characteristics we most attribute to God in them is His faithfulness.
Faithfulness, as illustrated throughout scripture – especially as it pertains to God—is, I believe, significantly different than the definition we most often ascribe to it.
We need to get a genuine handle on both definitions before we can effectively speak of God’s character associated with the word.
Faithfulness and faith go hand-in-hand throughout the Bible. They are particularly associated with our relationship to God. In a very real, yet rather basic sense, our faith in God results in us being faithful to Him. More later. **
HUMAN FAITHFULNESS
When humans speak of being faithful (apart from scripture) we often mean that we can be trusted or relied upon to do what we promised, or we attribute this to another. EX. I vowed to be faithful to my wife, and, in turn (but not necessarily dependent upon my vow) she has chosen to be faithful to me.
This reciprocal trust has similar qualities to spiritual faithfulness, but does not need to be outwardly associated with spirituality in order to exist. Many, many people are faithful to others who don’t have any deep spiritual connection.
How did we come by it? you might ask. Some may attribute it to a human characteristic that has evolved over centuries and has been ‘borrowed’ by religiously-minded folk and used as a characteristic of God.
For those of us who are devoted to God we know that it is indeed the other way around. Faithfulness is GOD’s attribute which He lovingly passed to Mankind at the time of Creation. “Let Us make man(kind) in Our image”, after Our likeness… (Genesis 1:26-28)
Unfortunately for us, the difference between then and now it’s sin. Once sin entered into the equation our innate ability to remain unwavering in our faithfulness was compromised. If we are honest we can only respond, “Yes, that’s true for me as well.”
GOD’S FAITHFULNESS
The psalms often refers to God being faithful to him, to Israel, to His people.
“But I trust in your faithfulness.
May I rejoice because of your deliverance!” Psalm 13:5
“For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness.” Psalm 33:4
“But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” Psalm 86:15
“He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.” Psalm 91:4
Psalm 78 is a detailed depiction of how God is ever faithful to Israel even when they consistently disobeyed Him and denied Him as their God. It is well-worth a good, slow, thoughtful read! For His love and faithfulness are no different for us today!
The vitally important fact of God’s faithfulness is that it is first, and foremost, directed at Himself!
2 Timothy 2:13 reminds us that God cannot deny Himself. God, in His infinite and superlative wisdom chose to create this world inhabited by beings with whom He lovingly and selflessly chose to share Himself. He made covenants with us, to bless us and prosper us. And, despite our inability – due to sin – to keep our end of the covenant He has not, will not, can not forget His promise.
Understand, it’s not because God has such a ‘great memory’ that He can’t forget what He promised; it’s that He cannot forget Himself. His covenants stem from His love and care for His created ones, and His love, compassion, mercy and grace are Him. They are not mere notions. It’s not as if God woke up and said “I think I’ll be merciful today!” We do that (“I’ve decided to be more understanding this day.”). God shares these attributes of love, mercy and grace because He has chosen share HIMSELF.
A poor analogy: I am an artist, a creation of God born to create. I cannot deny my creativity. Whenever my creative desires are hindered, stifled or denied I begin to wither inside. As such, I lose a degree of appetite for Life. When I am creative, deep in my soul I feel as if I’m fulfilled in what I’m meant to do. In a (remotely) similar way God fulfills Who He IS by being faithful (however, unlike me He has no intrinsic ‘need’ to be fulfilled as He is complete in Himself; there is nothing greater).
Nevertheless, I think it can be said that God finds delight in loving us, much like parents delight in loving their children (again, an attribute of God shared with His creation!). “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.” Psalm 103:13
FAITH RESULTS IN FAITHFULNESS
Early on, I associated the biblical concepts of faith and faithfulness. “Faithfulness and faith go hand-in-hand throughout the Bible. They are particularly associated with our relationship to God. In a very real, yet rather basic sense, our faith in God results in us being faithful to Him.”
Before we know God, we are anything but faithful to Him. The sinful nature, into which we are born, drives us to want to be our own god; to satisfy our own desires. We have no real faith in God so consequently we cannot be faithful to Him.
However, when we begin (by God’s grace!) to put our faith in Him, the Holy Spirit begins to instill in our hearts a desire that we had never before known: the desire to be faithful to God.
As we become more enlightened to God’s Word and begin to see Who God is, and we ourselves experience the faithfulness of God of which the Bible speaks, our hearts desire to be faithful to Him grows. For most it is a gradual process. There are barriers that need to be overcome like, incessant sin, Worldly desires, lusts of the flesh and mind, personal ambitions that keep us from seeing God, and a ‘sin nature’ that we must struggle against daily.
As those who embrace the Christ as our LORD, the desire to be faithful to our God and Creator, and His perfect Word grows stronger all the time. We can begin to see real changes in our attitudes toward sin, towards ambition, towards desires that do not serve our God. These are earmarks of a faithful servant.
Read Philippians 2 to understand what a true servant of God looks like. All of the positive attributes in that chapter are a direct result of a heart desiring to live faithfully for the One Who is ever-faithful.
** For a more in-depth look at “faith” and “faithfulness” take a look at this: https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/encyclopedia-of-the-bible/Faith-Faithfulness
For more reading, please take a look at this site: https://blog.feedspot.com/christian_writers_blogs/