The Faithful God
There are some Bible verses that seem to find you at just the right time.
Deuteronomy 7:9 is one of those verses for me.
“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 7:9 NIV
I love those words: “He is the faithful God.”
Not He might be faithful.
Not He is faithful when everything is going well.
Not He is faithful when we understand what He is doing.
He is the faithful God.
Period.
But knowing the background of this verse makes those words even more meaningful to me.
A reminder before entering a new season
Deuteronomy contains some of Moses' final words to the Israelites before they entered the Promised Land.
They had spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness, and now a new generation was preparing to cross the Jordan and enter the land God had promised to their ancestors.
They were about to enter a completely new season.
And Moses knew they needed to remember something very important before they did:
Remember who your God is.
God had chosen Israel as His people, but it wasn't because they were the biggest, strongest or most impressive nation.
In fact, Moses told them:
“The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.”
— Deuteronomy 7:7 NIV
God chose them because He loved them and because He was faithful to the covenant He had made with their ancestors.
Then Moses tells them to “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God…”
I think that's such an important reminder.
The Israelites were about to step into something they had never experienced before. They didn't know everything that was ahead of them. There would be challenges, battles and things they couldn't see coming.
But they didn't need to know everything about their future.
They needed to know who was going with them.
He is the faithful God
That phrase really speaks to me.
God wasn't promising the Israelites that everything would be easy.
He was reminding them that He would be faithful.
There's a difference.
Sometimes we think God's faithfulness means He will keep everything from going wrong. But that's not what Scripture teaches.
Faithfulness doesn't mean we won't walk through difficult seasons.
It means God will still be God in the middle of them.
He will still be with us.
He will still love us.
He will still keep His promises.
And when we look back over our lives, we can see His faithfulness much more clearly than we could while we were living through those moments.
I know I can.
There have been things in my life that I didn't understand when I was going through them. There were times I wondered what God was doing and why He allowed certain things to happen.
But looking back now, I can see things I couldn't see then.
God was there.
He was there when I was afraid.
He was there when I didn't have the answers.
He was there when I didn't know how things were going to work out.
He was there in the difficult seasons and in the beautiful ones.
And sometimes His faithfulness wasn't about changing my circumstances at all.
Sometimes His faithfulness was simply carrying me through them.
A covenant of love
I also love that Deuteronomy 7:9 describes God as “keeping his covenant of love.”
God's love isn't fickle.
It isn't dependent on whether everything in our lives is going the way we want it to.
His covenant love is steadfast, committed and faithful.
The Israelites would have plenty of moments when they failed God. Their history would include rebellion, disobedience, fear and doubt.
Yet God remained faithful.
That doesn't mean their choices didn't have consequences. They did.
But God's faithfulness wasn't based on their perfection.
It was based on His character.
And I'm so thankful for that.
Because I know I'm not perfect.
None of us are.
We have all made mistakes. We've all had moments when we've doubted, questioned, complained, worried or tried to handle things ourselves.
Yet God remains faithful.
“To a thousand generations”
When Moses says God keeps His covenant of love “to a thousand generations,” he's emphasizing just how enduring God's faithfulness is.
Generations come and go.
Life changes.
Families grow.
Children become adults.
Circumstances change.
People we love aren't always here forever.
But God remains.
He is the faithful God.
That makes me think about my own family and the generations that have come before me—and the generations that may come after me.
I don't know what the future holds for those I love.
I can't protect them from every difficult thing they'll ever face.
I can't make every decision for them.
And I certainly can't control what tomorrow will bring.
But I can pray.
I can point them toward Jesus.
I can share what God has taught me.
And I can trust the same faithful God who has carried me all these years to continue to be faithful to them.
I may not know what tomorrow holds.
That's probably one of the biggest things I've learned as I've gotten older.
I don't have to know everything that is ahead.
I don't have to understand every circumstance.
I don't have to have all the answers.
I just need to remember who God is.
He is God.
He is faithful.
He keeps His promises.
He loves His children.
And He doesn't suddenly stop being faithful because life gets hard.
So when I look at Deuteronomy 7:9, I don't just see a verse that was written thousands of years ago for the Israelites.
I see a reminder for me today.
Remember.
Remember what God has already done.
Remember the times He carried you.
Remember the prayers He answered.
Remember the doors He opened.
Remember the times you thought you couldn't make it through—and yet here you are.
And most of all, remember who He is.
Because I may not know what tomorrow brings.
I may not know what the next season of life will look like.
I may not understand everything God is doing.
But I know this:
He is the faithful God.
And after everything I've experienced in my life, that's enough for me.
I can trust Him with whatever comes next.
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