God’s Faithfulness

“Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry.” -Psalm 146:5-7 (ESV)

In our Sunday School adult studies for this current quarter, we are studying selected Psalms. Psalm 146 is the assignment for Sunday, July 30. The central truth of Psalm 146 is: “God can be trusted as the One who reigns eternally.” So writes Dr. Allen Tilley, pastor of First Baptist Church, Carthage, Texas who wrote the commentary in the “Personal Study Guide” for students for the July 30 study session. Psalms 146-150 are known as the “Hallelujah Psalms” for each begins and ends with the word of praise to God, “Hallelujah!” Read this majestic beginning of Psalm 146: “Hallelujah! My soul, praise the Lord. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing to my God as long as I live!”

If we sometimes become lax in attending regular worship at our church and neglect to gather to study the Bible with our Sunday School class, we ought quickly to examine our laxness and see wherein we are failing. Are we bearing some grudge against a pastor or other church leader, or have we allowed the cares and pursuits of this worldly life to rob us of the joy of praising God for His faithfulness?

How faithful is our God? In Psalm 146, a hymn of praise to God, the psalmist lists nine definite ways God’s faithfulness is shown to us:

1. God executes justice for those who are oppressed (v. 7a)

2. He gives food to the hungry (v. 7b)

3. He frees prisoners (v. 7c)

4. He opens the eyes of the blind (v. 8a)

5. He lifts up those who are bowed down (v. 8b)

6. God loves the righteous (v. 8c)

7. He watches over sojourners (this can be translated as ‘resident aliens’) (v. 9a)

8. He helps the widows and the fatherless (v. 9a)

9. He brings the ways of the wicked to ruin (frustrates them) (v. 9b).

How can we describe God’s faithfulness? The Psalmist lists nine ways in three verses from Psalm 146. As good as the list is, more aspects of God’s faithfulness could be added. Hymn writers have been trying since King David’s time and before to find a way to express God’s faithfulness. Our best efforts in writing still fall short of the glory, majesty, strength, provision and all-encompassing faithfulness of the Lord of Lord and the God of the Universe. Think about and meditate upon the hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” copyrighted in 1923, with words written by Thomas O. Chisholm (1866-1960) and set to “Faithfulness” tune composed by William M. Runyan (1820-1957). Here is the first stanza and chorus:

“Great is Thy faithfulness, O God, my Father, There is no shadow of turning with Thee;

Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not; As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.

Chorus: Great is thy faithfulness; Great is Thy faithfulness; Morning by morning new mercies I see; All I have needed Thy hand hath provided; Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me” Amen! Ethelene Dyer Jones July 30, 2017