The faithful God

The Verse of the Day for March 11, 2015 makes known one of the attributes of God, who is described in this way:

Deuteronomy 7:9 NIV

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.

Deuteronomy 32:4 further proclaims:

He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.

The Psalmist speaks of God’s faithfulness:

Psalm 25:10

All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.

The truth that God is faithful in everything that He does is echoed in the Psalms:

Psalm 33:4

For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does

Psalm 145:13

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.

Psalm 145:17

The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does.

Throughout the New Testament we find declarations of the absolute faithfulness of God:

1 Corinthians 1:9

God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Thessalonians 5:24

The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

2 Thessalonians 3:3

But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and prote2 Timoct you from the evil one.

Even when we, as believers, are deficient in faith, God remains full of faith

2 Timothy 2:13

If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

Hebrews 10:23 also reminds us that God is faithful to keep his promises:

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

God is faithful to His covenant, and He has promised to fulfill that covenant and bless the land of those who maintain their covenant with Him, as an expression of His everlasting love:

Perfected Love

I am sending you grain, new wine and olive oil,
    enough to satisfy you fully;
never again will I make you
    an object of scorn to the nations.

Joel 2:19 [NIV]

Jehovah, creator, author and finisher,

Who initiates to nourish perfected love;

Ever-abiding source and resource, publisher

Of declarations of genuine love to move

The soul of man to return to the place of his first

Love, the Beloved, whose heart overflows to give,

For only this passion can satisfy our thirst,

As you refresh us and teach us how we should live.

You have pledged your love through a sacred covenant.

If we maintain your vows of love, you will sustain

Our souls and feed us so that we shall never want.

You will shower with mercy as the gentle rain

With grain, new wine and oil supplied by your gracious right hand.

Here is a song that brings to mind the faithfulness of God: “He’s Been Faithful” offered by Damaris Carbaugh and the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir.”

Thinking about justice and “the quality of mercy” on Law Day 2012

On May 1, 2012, May Day to some or to others Law Day or Loyalty Day, my thoughts turn toward God and the concept of justice. I recently published an Examiner.com article commemorating Law Day, and I included a quote from Carol Seubert Marx, president of the Ohio State Bar Association as well as video clip from  Ohio State Supreme Court Chief Justice, Maureen O’Connor.  In additional I included commentary on the Spiritual Connection with the God of Justice and made reference to the famous Shakespearean  monologue which begins with “The quality of mercy” in the memorable trial scene in The Merchant of Venice where Portia in the guise of a young male lawyer, enters the court in response to the demand for justice by Shylock, the Jew,  who is really seeking revenge. The article brought to mind the influence of women in the legal system in Ohio which is reflective of the nation as a whole.

http://www.examiner.com/article/law-day-may-1

Listen to the “The Quality of Mercy” speech as performed by Lenora Crichlow, who plays Portia, from The Merchant of Venice, and argues the case for mercy in light of justice.

When I was working on my Ph.D. in English at Indiana University in Bloomington, I enrolled in a course on Shakespeare taught by the late Professor Roy Battenhouse, recognized scholar and author of Shakespeare and the Christian Tradition. The course was especially memorable in that the half dozen or so students met at Professor Battenhouse’s home which was in walking distance from the campus, and his wife served us tea and other homemade delicacies. I was first exposed to The Merchant of Venice during that class, and I completed a paper discussing Shylock’s demand for justice and the resultant resolution of the bond. The paper was later published as an article in The College Language Association Journal XXXV No. 3. March 1992: 353-66, which is now reprinted as a pdf, appropriate reading material on Law Day 2012.

Shylock’s Daniel