“ O sing to the Lord a new song, For He has done wonderful things, His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him.

The Lord has made known His salvation;

He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations. 

He has remembered His lovingkindness and His —faithfulness— to the house of Israel;

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth;

Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises.

Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,

With the lyre and the sound of melody.

 With trumpets and the sound of the horn.

Shout joyfully before the King, the Lord.

 Let the sea roar and all it contains,

The world and those who dwell in it.

 Let the rivers clap their hands,

Let the mountains sing together for joy Before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth;

He will judge the world with righteousness

And the peoples with equity.”

- Psalm 98 ( NASB )

Pro 29:14  “The king that -faithfully- judgeth the poor, his throne shall be established for ever.”

 

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We broke for Passover and Easter with a meditation on Faith... the universal mechanism with which the Lord extends His salvation to His people. ( Check out the study if you haven’t read it ... ). 

In fact, the whole Bible, speaks of Faith. 

The book of Hebrews , in chap 11, recounts for us — in practical detail — the acts of faith by Old Testament characters - who put their trust in God.... from Noah, Abraham, Moses’ mom, Moses, Jacob, down through Rahab, Gideon and many more. 

The author even gives us the specific acts ( e.g. Rahab tying a scarlet thread in her window ) that these people carried out, believing, the Word that came to them. Hebrews 11 is an excellent jumping off point to explore the faith journeys of the listed characters ... who were flawed human beings just like us!!!

In the Gospels, faith is the central ring around Jesus— the means by which people accessed their miracles ... carrying a paralyzed friend to Him ( , calling out to Him from the side of the road ( Matt 9:27-29 ), sending their servants to just having Him speak a word of healing ( Matt 8:5-13 ) , to surreptitiously touching his garment in the midst of a crowd! ( Matt 9:20-22 ) ... just to name a few.

All were commended for their faith, but conversely, the one place —- Christ could not do many miracles —- was in His own hometown , amongst family and people, that just saw Him as the guy that grew up in front of them ! ( Matt 13:53-58 )

The apostle Paul’s magnum opus in the book of Romans ( justification by faith... our last study ) is a beautiful re-presentation of what the entire Bible speaks with one voice...”the just shall live by faith” ... I.e. a belief that the Word of God is true, and worthy of our trust, reliance and willing obedience.

And that brings us to the other side of the faith coin —-Gods —faithfulness— to —His Word. 

God has been true to the Words of His mouth across many generations and millennia  — this weeks text in Psalms being a summary. He promised that His own arm would bring victory to Him and it did ( we just celebrated Easter ! ) He said His salvation would be declared to the ends of the earth, and it has. All that is left is for Him to return as He has said.

Revelation 19:11 (NAS): “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called —-Faithful—- and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.”

Faithfulness is a key attribute of our God ... and His faithfulness is documented and celebrated in every book of the Bible. Just do a search for God & Faithfulness and look at the results!! 

It’s a wonderful thing to know that our feeble faith rests on the Rock of —His faithfulness!!! Our Faith in the Word is completely dwarfed by the faithfulness with which The LORD has fulfilled every word that He has spoken ... from His promise to Noah, to Christ saying “I will be with you always , even to the end of the age.”

It seems such a fragile and tenuous connection ... our failing, falling, and fledgling faith in God... connected with His commitment to honor what He has said to His people! But this is a connection that not all the devils in hell can sever, for He says... 

Revelation 21:5–7 (NAS):  And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are —faithful and —true.”

Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.”....

.... John 10:27–29 (NAS):  “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”....

.... Romans 8:38–39 (NAS): For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Revelation 3:14 (NAS): The Amen, the —faithful—- and true Witness, ——the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:... <message to Laodicea> ... Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ ”

The book of Proverbs does not speak too much about this topic of faithfulness for what we think are the following reasons:

1. We are already commanded in the 1st 10 chapters to heed the Word and Wisdom of God... so that is an underlying assumption

2. The focus is on practical living and faithfulness in practice is being consistent with the truth. The word also carries with it the concepts of diligence, and trustworthiness.

Set A : Consistency with truth

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— Pro 13:17  A wicked messenger falleth into mischief: but a faithful ambassador is health.

— Pro 14:5  A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies.

— Pro 20:6  Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?

We have to evaluate ourselves in the Light of Gods Word...

1 Corinthians 4:3–5 (NAS): “But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself.For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord.

Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.”

— Pro 25:13  As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him: for he refresheth the soul of his masters.

He brings them the truth and delivery is guaranteed!!!

Set B : Diligence, trustworthiness 

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— Pro 11:13  A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.

— Pro 25:19  Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint.

This is so funny... you put your weight on the tooth or leg hoping for relief, but it just brings more acute pain ? !!

—- Pro 27:6  Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

This is a great one... sometimes we can’t take honest feedback from those who know us well, but are only to happy to believe in flattering falsehoods uttered by those who just want us to fail ! 

The Holy Spirit says you need Christ because you are a sinner, the enemy says you are an ok person, and should get into heaven just as you are... who are you going to believe?

—- Pro 28:20  A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.

There is no shortcut to success!! You have to put in the sweat equity and time to get what can then be lawfully called yours. Shortcuts lead to transgressions and sin!

..... And finally ... the bottom line !!!!

— Pro 29:14  The king that faithfully judgeth the poor, his throne shall be established for ever.

Here is Christ peeking out at us in the book of Proverbs !! and the Lord reminding us, He is coming soon!!!

Hallelujah!!