by Kevin Lorow, Cuyahoga Valley Church Worship Arts Assistant
“Great is Your faithfulness, Your faithfulness
Through the years you’ve always been there.
Great is Your love for us, Your love for us.
Through the years you’ll always be there.”
Written by Martin Smith of the Group “Delirious?” this song is connected to several passages that address a key element of God’s character: His unending faithfulness! This is something that should bring hope to the hearts of all believers.
Consider the words of Jeremiah in the book of Lamentations: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (3:22-23)
There is peace in knowing that the love and mercy God has shown to us will never fade away! It never ends! Not only that, it never grows stale. God’s love cannot grow tiresome or boring, it is by its very nature refreshing and life-giving. What a joy it is to know that God will never turn away from loving us!
In spite of all of this, life is difficult. We can often lose sight of God’s faithfulness and his love. Perhaps for this very reason the author of Hebrews penned an encouragement: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” (10:23) No matter what comes our way, no matter what beats us down, God’s promises will be fulfilled! We can have hope through the deepest of sorrows and the most intense of pain that God will be faithful.
It’s important to remember that in the light of God’s faithfulness, we are unfaithful. We don’t keep our promises. Here on earth we know what comes when we are unfaithful. Divorces, broken families and friendships, termination of employment, breaking of contracts. When we are not faithful, there is rejection and separation. We understand when people reject us for our unfaithfulness because we’ve done to same to others in their unfaithfulness. Praise be to God that this is not how He operates!
Romans 3:3-4 “What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.”
This passage is a testament to the fact that God is a covenant-keeping God! Even when we reject Him, He has determined in His character that He will never break His promises to us. This defies human logic because it is against our very natural mindset that we must get what we deserve. God’s mercy instead holds back what we do deserve (unfaithfulness) and His grace gives us that which we have not earned (faithfulness).
2 Timothy 2:13 – “If we are faithless, he remains faithful for he cannot deny himself.”
You might have often heard it said that You cannot put God in a box. This statement exists to remind us that we cannot limit what God will do. The only one who can limit God is God Himself! Paul’s reminder to Timothy in the passage above is that God has committed Himself to being faithful no matter what comes. He will not deny himself by compromising His promises to us. Praise be to God that He does not love us based on our own faithfulness! If that was not the case, I’m confident we would all have escaped His love long ago.
