Our Faithful God

“Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;” (De 7:9 AV)

A generation can be 40, 70, or 100 years depending on the passage of scripture.  Seventy, being the mean length of a generation makes this promise’s length 70,000 years.  That is an awfully long time.  And, it would more than span the entire history of man’s pilgrimage upon this old earth.  It would span from Adam to well beyond the millennial reign of Christ.  In short, when God makes an unconditional covenant with His people, time itself cannot undo that promise!

What struck me in particular this morning is the phrase, “…the faithful God…”.  That phrase has such beauty abounding in its words.  The faithful God.  The faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy!  Think about it.  There would be no way to keep a covenant without mercy.  After all that Israel had done and failed to do, yet the LORD will still honor those covenants He made with Abraham and David, takes tremendous mercy!  Then, think about you and I.  We have failed the LORD more times than any one other than the LORD can comprehend.  Yet, our relationship and eternal life with the Father is still secure!  That has to take an eternal amount of mercy! Why?  Because He is faithful!

The story of the prodigal son illustrates somewhat the mercy and faithfulness of God.  When that son returned, the father never ever gave any indication there would be no mercy.  What makes that parable fall slightly short is the prodigal was the prodigal only once.  We, and Israel, are repeatedly the prodigal.  Yet, there He stands, waiting for our return.  Words fail to adequately describe the faithfulness and mercy of God!  He is a truly precious God who loves us more than we could truly understand!