Why?

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; Deuteronomy 7:9 (KJV)

Why?

Have you ever watched a little baby? Before they can speak, before they understand how things work, they watch. I love observing them as they look with loving eyes at their parents. Staring intently as Mom talks to them, it is almost as if you can see the wheels turning in their heads. I believe they are asking that question. Why? Why do they move their lips? How do they make that sound? What does that mean? We are born inquisitive and if we are fortunate we continue to ask question the rest of our lives.

So when I read that God is Faithful I have to ask myself, why? There is an old song that is based on a question entitled, “Who am I?”

“Who am I that a King would bleed and die for? Who am I that He would say not my will thine Lord? “

That question flows from the knowledge that we, all of us, are sinful and there is nothing in us that would attract a holy God. What have I ever done that makes me worth His life, His promise, His sacrifice, or His faithfulness.

We believe in the law of reciprocity. It goes like this, if you are generous to me than I will be generous to you. If you are loving to me than I will be loving to you. If you are faithful to me than I will be faithful to you. Often we are guilty of making God in our own image. We see Him as rewarding us for being good, loving us because we love Him, and being faithful because we are faithful. Somehow we make the blessings of God and the goodness of God dependent on our actions and in doing so we defile the glory of God. We make Him more like us rather than becoming more like Him.

Consider this verse,
"Yet you have not called upon me, O Jacob, you have not wearied yourselves for me, O Israel. You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings, nor honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with grain offerings nor wearied you with demands for incense. You have not bought any fragrant calamus for me, or lavished on me the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your offenses. "I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” Isaiah 43:22-25 (NIV)

God is speaking to Israel and brings a railing accusation against them. They have abandoned God and failed to keep His commandments but instead have heaped their iniquities upon Him yet God concludes by stating that He will blot out their transgressions and remember their sins no more. Why? For His own sake!

This Truth will stop you in your tracks and make you shout glory! Not because of what I have done, not because of who I am, not because of what I will become but because of who He is! He is faithful! What God has promised will come to pass not because I have earned it but because He is God and cannot lie. His promises are sure! They are not dependent on me they are stedfast because of Him.

Like a child I lay and behold His face. His eyes are looking at me with love, His lips are speaking to me, His ears are listening to me. What beauty I behold! What wonder fills my soul? I cannot comprehend His glory no matter how hard I try but every now and then I am blessed with a glimpse of understanding and I reach for His face.

God is faithful because that is who He is! He loves me because that is who He is! He covers me because …well you get the idea.

A Firm Foundation

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; Deuteronomy 7:9 (KJV)

Words mean something.  What we read and write are not just random marks on a page but those markings carry the intent of the heart.  In reading and studying the Word of God I use many different versions of the Bible.  No Jesus didn’t read the King James Version and Paul didn’t write in the King’s English.  Translating the ancient manuscripts from Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic is an arduous task undertaken by men and women of much greater understanding than me.  Needless to say people spend their entire life studying these ancient languages and attempting to give us the best translation and understanding of what the authors were trying to say.  With that in mind I would like to examine the same verse today in two different translations of the Bible. 

The passage I would like to examine is found in Proverbs 16:6.  Originally written in Hebrew, translated to Latin then to English we find what appears to be two very different verses in the King James and  New International Version.
By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.  Proverbs 16:6 (KJV)

Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the LORD a man avoids evil.  Proverbs 16:6 (NIV)

Mercy becomes love and truth becomes faithfulness!  How did that happen?  Let’s leave the scholars to their linguistic arguments and just contemplate these words in our hearts.
I have heard mercy defined as unmerited favor, grace that isn’t deserved.  Your Strong’s concordance tells you that the Hebrew word was “hesed” and the top three translations of the word are mercy, kindness, and loving kindness.  It is God’s great love that moves Him to have mercy upon us.  It was God’s love that led Jesus to the cross where mercy was poured out upon the lost.  Mercy and love both speak of the same attribute of God’s heart. One is the root and the other the fruit.
That one was easy.  Now let’s look at faithfulness and truth. The Hebrew word used here is “emet” and turning to our Strongs for help we find something that can only be described as amazing.  This word is derived from one that means stable or stability.  In one place it is used to denote a wall which firmly holds a nail in place and another to describe a house with a firm foundation.  Treasure hunting can be tedious and requires sifting through lots of extraneous material to find the pearl of great price.  Here we have found a great treasure. 
Truth and faithfulness are the foundation of our salvation.  We are held in the hands of a loving God that has shown great mercy, underserved favor to each of us.  He will never leave us and we have no fear of being forsaken.  His faithfulness is grounded in His Truth.  In this world of relativism where absolute truth is ridiculed it is hard to grasp the concept of undeniable, unchangeable Truth.  But there are absolutes.  White is still white not eggshell or any other blend.  Pure is still pure, holy still holy and God is still God.  He never changes.  His love is established in Truth.  This is the essence of His faithfulness. 
Oh what joy to know that our sins have been washed away!  Not because of something that has a short life span but because of God’s great, unchanging love.  Our iniquity has been purged; our sin atoned for by the blood of the Lamb.  We have a sure and a firm foundation that cannot be shaken and we cry out, “O Lord, Great is thy faithfulness!”  He is truly “el hanne eman” The Faithful God.