The Faithfulness of God

Discerning God's Faithfulness

Confident He will help me where and when I need it.

Rev. Paul J. Bucknell

God's Faithfulness & Video | Trust & Faith | Transfer Values | Faithful Plan | Discerning | Reminders | Questions
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Knowing God Series Index

Series Introduction| Knowing God | The Revelatory God | Goodness of God | Holiness of God | Power of God | Omnipresent God | Exalted God | Faithfuness of God | Wisdom of God | Mercy of God |Wrath of God | Love of God | Sovereignty of God | Providence of God

Purpose: Is God always faithful to His promises? A closer examination of three issues again testifies to God's persistent faithfulness.

Discerning God's Faithfulness

In the middle of chastisement and judgment, it often appears that God is not being faithful, but this is not at all true. Let’s look at three different challenges to God’s faithfulness.

(1) What about Israel’s being taken captive to foreign nations?

When we look back at Israel’s captivity, we might wonder what happened to all of God’s promises. Surely, this could be worse for them at that time. But we have clear witnesses to God’s faithfulness.

First, we must recognize that God promised to so judge them if they persisted in their disobedience as part of the Old Covenant.

“26 And they went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they have not known and whom He had not allotted to them. 27 ‘Therefore, the anger of the LORD burned against that land, to bring upon it every curse which is written in this book; 28 and the LORD uprooted them from their land in anger and in fury and in great wrath, and cast them into another land, as it is this day” (Deuteronomy 29:26-28).2

We also find that because of trust in God’s Word, both Daniel and Nehemiah humbled themselves in prayer and fasting before God due to God’s Word. Daniel prayed Israel’s restoration into being because of Jeremiah’s prophecy that in 70 years Israel would return to their own land from those foreign nations.

“In the first year of his reign I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years” (Daniel 9:2).

After the 70 years had passed, Nehemiah actually led God’s people back to Jerusalem. Notice in his prayer how he alluded to Moses’ warning and promise from Deuteronomy 30:1-3 where God also promised to bring them back.

“Remember the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful I will scatter you among the peoples; but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell” (Nehemiah 1:8, 9 NASB).

(2) What about David’s anointing as king?

We are also individually tempted with doubting God’s Word. In this case, we can think about how the Lord had David anointed as king over Israel. David had remarkable events take place in his life and yet he had tremendous setbacks too.

These struggles often center on questions,

• “What did God really say and mean?”
• “Why aren’t things turning out as He promised?”

Everything was fine as long as David was in Saul’s court, but that came to a quick end, and he was physically persecuted by King Saul. This happened over many years where David actually was living in the protection of the Philistines–the chief enemy of Israel. Again and again, David was almost killed with several Psalms testifying to these struggling times.

As we look at Psalm 63 we discover this psalm was written while David was living in the wilderness of Judah. He was anointed king but running as a refugee. David found the peace of God as he was blessed by God’s presence and promises. “My soul thirsts for Thee... I have beheld...Thy power and Thy glory” (Psalm 63:1-2).

Because he has found God’s peace through his promises, we do not get a sense of the danger that he faces until the end of the Psalm.

“But those who seek my life to destroy it, Will go into the depths of the earth. They will be delivered over to the power of the sword; They will be a prey for foxes. But the king will rejoice in God; Everyone who swears by Him will glory, For the mouths of those who speak lies will be stopped” (Psalm 63:9-11).

The phrase ‘But the king will rejoice in God’ is particular interesting. Here he hides away but keeps the promise of being king in his heart. He might be hiding now but one day will as king rejoice. Through David we see that God delays fulfillment of promises. The anointing would point to a near fulfillment but it actually was not to be fulfilled until many years later.

=> See Six Aspects to Godly Prayers (From Psalm 63)

(3) What about God’s blessing upon the righteous such as Jesus?

There are many verses speaking about blessings to the righteous. “The righteous will inherit the land, and dwell in it forever” (Ps 37:29). “If the righteous will be rewarded in the earth, How much more the wicked and the sinner!” (Proverbs 11:3). “Say to the righteous that it will go well with them, For they will eat the fruit of their actions” (Isaiah 3:10).

Job was considered a righteous man by God and yet greatly suffered to the point the counselors were accusing him of being unrighteous due to the troubles he experience.

There was no one righteous like Jesus (Luke 23:4, 1 Peter 2:22), and yet we find that He did not find those promises being filled in his lifetime. Jesus would find fulfillment only later in His resurrection and in the work of the Spirit in the church (Isaiah 53:10-12).

“But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand” (Isaiah 53:10).

If we look at our circumstances, then we will find frustrations and contradictions against God’s promises. We must fix our eyes on the Lord to work out what we consider the unworkable.

Notice in the following verse that the righteous might face affliction “but that God delivers him out of them all.” “Many are the afflictions of the righteous; But the LORD delivers him out of them all” (Ps 34:19).

In each case, as we study the scriptures we discover that God is very faithful even in what might first look like broken promises. God cannot lie.

Next => God’s Reminders to His Faithfulness

Biblical Foundations for Freedom ( BFF )

Rev. Paul J. Bucknell