Faithfulness

There are so many qualities in life that I admire and to which I aspire. But none greater than faithfulness. I want people to be able to say, “Whatever else you can say about Jack, he was faithful.” At the top of the list of the qualities of God is His faithfulness. He is a God of love and forgiveness, of mercy and steadfast love. But without His faithfulness to live out these qualities, we would have no assurance that God would be true to them.

Most people today are willing to make only short-term promises—just for today. In contrast, God exhibits and demonstrates faithfulness until the end of time. Psalm 100:5 says, “The Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.”

Through the years, my favorite hymn has become “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.” The hymn writer, Thomas O. Chisholm, is right:

"Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father...
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided.
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me."

My favorite verse in the hymn is verse three:

“Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!”

In four lines, the writer outlines the great faithfulness of God. The greatest mark of God’s faithfulness is His forgiveness for sins which leads to a peace that endureth all things.

We are promised God’s presence to add joy or cheer to our journey and to guide us each step of the way.

Then, we are promised strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. It’s this promise that I’m clinging to most tightly during this phase of the journey.

But the writer’s thoughts of God’s blessings are soon exhausted. He just scratches the surface here. In addition to these, he tells us that there are ten thousand beside!


And now that I stand on the brink of death, I remember and cling to one of His specific and special promises, “In my Father’s house are many rooms...I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me. For where I am, there you will be also” [Matthew 14:2-4]. I’m glad that I can cling to this promise of God.

How I wish I could attend the memorial service to sing with you of God’s faithfulness. You can count on the fact that I’ll be joining you in spirit.

“Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father...
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided.
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.”

Lamentations was written by Jeremiah, the weeping prophet. Chapter 3 is a litany of laments and will break your heart. Everything has gone wrong for Jeremiah. Nothing has gone right. You and I would throw up our hands and give up. But not Jeremiah. And what got him though this time of great tragedy? The promise of the faithful, loving kindness, of God.

After his description of tragedy, he comes to verse 41 when he uses the transitional word, “but.” “But this I call to mind and therefore, I have hope. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness.”

Join me today in claiming the promise of God to be faithful. His steadfast love and mercies are new every morning. Claim them today!

- Jack