God's steadfast love and faithfulness

I read Psalm 117 this week as a part of my journey through the Psalms. In comparison to some of the Psalms it is tiny. A mere pair of verses completes it, but it is packed with good stuff. It would serve us well in observing this congregational hymnal to note that even the "lighter" Psalms are still intensely God-focused and packed with strong truths. So here it is:

"1 Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! 2 For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!"

Here are my thoughts...

- God's steadfast love and faithfulness

• In a post on Psalm 115, I alluded to the prominence of God's steadfast love. Interestingly enough, I found a full text of Augustine's Expositions on the Psalms, and he makes a similar statement in his commentary on Psalm 115, "Observe how often these two qualities, loving mercy and truth, are joined together in the holy Scriptures." Poor Augustine. He didn't have fancy online Bibles where he could simply type in a search, and in mere moments know exactly "how often" something like this occurred. Here are the real numbers. The ESV contains the phrase "steadfast love" 196 times in the Old Testament. 126 of those occurrences are in the Psalms.
• But before the accountant in me obliterates the power and warmth of this truth with statistics, let's go back to the phrase. "Steadfast love." Amazing--I can't even type it without being captivated by it. There are many powerful phrases in the Bible, but I am hard-pressed to think of two words together that are more powerful than these two. "Steadfast". Think of the word. What image does it conjure? An anchor? Maybe, except an anchor sways in the water and drags along the soft ocean floor. This is not like God at all. More like a solid iron post--12 feet in diameter and 100 feet tall, planted in concrete a mile wide and 50 feet deep. Strong enough to absorb a head-on hit from a semi-truck and not be shaken. Multiply that times a billion and you are coming close to the idea of "steadfast" when it is used about God. Now pair that with the second word. "Love". No word is so over-used in the English language, and yet no word is so often misapplied and misunderstood. This is not the same as loving ice cream (although I am very affectionately attached to it) or even loving a spouse or a child (I am also affectionately attached to them). This is the benevolent affection of God, who invented love, toward his creatures. This is not a desire or an emotional attachment, it is an intention by the Creator towards His creatures. And it is kind and affectionate.
• Now put the two words together--"steadfast" and "love". Steadfast love. This is God's revelation of Himself to me in Scripture. Steadfast love. Unchanging, unwavering, constant, kind affection toward me. And He reveals himself in this way 126 times in the Psalms. And verse 2 says that His steadfast love is "great". Indeed it is.

Praise the Lord!

Soli Deo Gloria!