Troublesome Topic: GOD IS FAITHFUL TO HIMSELF, NOT TO US
Lamentations 3:23
Translation
They are new and fresh
Go to footnote numberevery dawn;
Go to footnote numbergreat
Go to footnote numberis your faithfulness!
Go to footnote numberParaphrase
His loving mercy and compassion are new and fresh at the breaking of each new day. Great is your faithfulness [to yourself]!
Whenever the Bible says that God is faithful, it is communicating that He is faithful to Himself, to His qualities and character. This is stated clearly in II Timothy 2:13 which says, “If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he is unable to deny Himself.” It is a good thing that God is faithful to Himself rather than to our desires. We are fickle, self-centered, and often worldly; He is the perfect balance between holiness and grace, and He never changes.
Footnotes
1
This word means both “new and fresh.”
2
While this word is often rendered “morning,” it is specific to “the point in time when light begins to penetrate the darkness.” Thus it means “daybreak, or dawn.”
3
This word can mean “many, great or chief.” Here “great” works best because it is followed by a singular noun.
4
This word can be rendered “fidelity, faithfulness, firmness, steadfastness.”