This year and last, the income tax department put my tax payment in my installment account instead of applying it to balance owing. Then, three months later, they tell me I’ve not paid my taxes. Not only have they charged interest on non-payment, but they also gained interest on the funds wrongly applied to next year’s taxes. Last year, after a long phone call, they removed the interest and put the funds where they belong. No apology. Repeated this year. At least they are consistent.
In the Bible, ‘consistent’ is attached to a different word that means ‘loyal, reliable and STEADFAST’ a word usually followed by “love” to describe the certainty of God’s concern and His reliable willingness to do good for people.
Genesis 39:21 uses steadfast to describe God’s faithfulness toward Joseph when he was wrongly imprisoned: “But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.”
Steadfast love is used more than two hundred times to describe God:
Exodus 34:6–8. “The Lord passed before (Moses) and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty . . . .’ And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.”
God showed the same attitude toward David and Solomon in 2 Samuel 7:13–16:
“(Solomon) shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you (David). And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ”
In this verse and many others, it becomes clear that God’s steadfast love is not earned or deserved. It is who He is, not about what we are. The psalmists and other Bible writers emphasize the generosity God shows by remaining loyal to His human creatures even when we are not deserving of such faithful attention.
Psalm 6:4. “Turn, O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love.”
Psalm 13:5. “But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.”
Psalm 25:7. “Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!”
Psalm 33:5. “He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.”
Psalm 33:22. “Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.”
Psalm 51:1. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.”
This OT word is about firm determination. God’s loyalty is not merely from appreciating our worship, or any self-interest, but because He has determined to be loyal to His people. As the prophet wrote in Lamentations 3:22–24, this care is an anchor for us: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’ ”
Our response ought to reflect this steadfastness in our relationship to Him and to each other. In the NT, the emphasis of steadfast is on that response:
1 Corinthians 15:58. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
Colossians 4:2. Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
1 Timothy 6:11–12. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
GAZE INTO HIS GLORY The NT also tells how we become like God. James 1:3–4 says, “For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” Instead of resisting trials, God wants me to be steadfast and gave me His divine nature to that end. 2 Peter 1:5–8 says I must, “make every effort to supplement my faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness . . . increasing in reflecting who He is because these qualities keep me from being useless in my walk with Jesus Christ. For these and many other reasons, I thank God for His steadfast love!
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