GREAT IS HIS FAITHFULNESS
by Cornel Lynch
West End Bible Fellowship
Atlanta, GA
There is a beautiful hymn that we sing called "Great is Thy Faithfulness." That hymn is based on a passage of scripture in the book of Lamentations.
3:22 [It is of] the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
3:23 [They are] new every morning: great [is] thy faithfulness.
In the middle of one of the darkest hours in the nation of Judah's history, the prophet Jeremiah marveled that the nation had not been utterly destroyed, and attributed this to God's mercies and God's faithfulness.
What is faithfulness? Faithfulness is proving yourself trustworthy by consistently doing what you said you would do. Faithfulness in man is a rare commodity.
20:6 Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?
God is always faithful. We may or may not be, but God will always be faithful to what He said He would do for you. You can count on His word.
If you're in the middle of a tight situation, you naturally want some assurances about this. Does God tell us what He is going to do? And does God always follow through on what He says?
46:9 Remember the former things of old: for I [am] God, and [there is] none else; [I am] God, and [there is] none like me,
46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times [the things] that are not [yet] done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
46:11 Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken [it], I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed [it], I will also do it.
God will absolutely bring His word to pass. God's counsel will stand. What God says will be, will be. If God says He will do something, He will do it. When God purposes something, it comes to pass. You can't find a better guarantee than that.
Some 2300 years ago, three men found themselves in a situation where their lives were in jeopardy because of their faithfulness to God. They were forced to choose between disobeying God and infuriating the most powerful king of their day, the man who held the power of life and death over them.
13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in [his] rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king.
14 Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, [Is it] true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?
15 Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; [well]: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who [is] that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?
When your life is in danger, it’s generally a good idea to be careful with your words. However, these men made no attempt to give a diplomatic answer. Instead, they told the king exactly where they stood.
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we [are] not careful to answer thee in this matter.
17 If it be [so], our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver [us] out of thine hand, O king.
18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
King Nebuchadnezzar had challenged not only these men, but their God as well. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego immediately took the challenge to God off the table. They told the king in no uncertain terms that their God was big enough to rescue them from him. They also pointed out that it was completely up to God whether He rescued them or not. Then they went straight to the bottom line: Regardless of what God did or didn’t do, they had no intention of serving the king’s gods, even if this meant they would be put to death.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego fully expected to be put to death at this point. God had not promised to deliver them from Nebuchadnezzar, but He had made promises to them, as part of Israel, with respect to the ages to come. It was in these promises that they put their confidence.
Nebuchadnezzar considered this response an act of defiance, and he immediately ordered that these men be executed.
19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: [therefore] he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.
20 And he commanded the most mighty men that [were] in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, [and] to cast [them] into the burning fiery furnace.
21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their [other] garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
22 Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
But at this point God stepped into the picture, sending His angel to protect these men, and bringing the awesome power of this mighty king to nought.
25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, [and] spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come [hither]. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.
27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.
28 [Then] Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed [be] the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.
These men were faithful to do what God had instructed them to do in His Word. God was faithful to deliver them.
No one would trust God if He told a few lies now and then! But we have a God who does not lie.
23:19 God [is] not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do [it]? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
God is as good as His word. Great is God's faithfulness! You can take His word to the bank.!
4:3 But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him.
If you ask Him, He'll do it — at the right time, in the right way, on the right schedule. The least you and I can do is WAIT on Him! When we do this, we have peace, even when we’re in the midst of turmoil.
26:3 Thou wilt keep [him] in perfect peace, [whose] mind [is] stayed [on thee]: because he trusteth in thee.
Like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, our ultimate confidence is not based on what God has said He will do for us in the present, but on what He has promised to do for us in the ages to come.
4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive [and] remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
4:17 Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Our ultimate hope is the return of Jesus Christ. Christ has not yet returned, but God WILL bring this to pass. God is as good as His word. Great is His faithfulness!