Even Now.

Even now he has not banished them from his presence. – 2 Kings 13.23, CSB

Do we even come close to grasping or understanding just a glimpse of the faithfulness of God? We share during hard times that God is faithful. We remind ourselves, and others, during the days or seasons of uncertainty that God will come through. And he is and he does. But I wonder if we stop there. I wonder if we fail to continue into the fullness of God’s faithfulness, which is not connected to our faithfulness to him.

Paul reminded Timothy in his second letter to this young pastor. “If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2.13, CSB). That word faithless is apisteō, and it means to not believe, to not think true, and to not trust.* Paul reminds Timothy that the faithfulness of God is not dependent upon people trusting in God. It’s not dependent on whether or not I am fully faithful to him. Rather, God’s faithfulness is based on his character. God is faithful because that’s who God is. He cannot deny being faithful because faithfulness is at the core of his being.

In 2 Kings 13, we see that Israel was once again in rebellion against God, following the sinful practices of King Jehoahaz. There was nothing that Israel was doing that deserved God’s faithfulness. And yet, “the LORD was gracious to them, had compassion on them, and turned toward them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (2 Kings 13.23, CSB, emphasis added). Did you see it? God’s compassion and showering of grace had nothing to do with their conduct because they weren’t worshiping him. Instead, they were worshiping and serving idols and doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord. And even then, after they forsook the Lord and followed false gods, God showed compassion and showered them with grace because he had made a covenant to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and God does not revoke any covenant he makes. Instead, he always fulfills them, “since God’s gracious gifts and calling are irrevocable” (Romans 11.29, CSB). 

God will come through and do what’s best because he has to. He cannot deny who he is. He cannot live in any way that goes against his being. We do not deserve his grace. We do not deserve his faithfulness. We do not deserve him. And yet, we, followers of Jesus, know him. We are his and he is ours (Song of Solomon 6.3). And God will always come through in faithfulness to his people. That’s the covenant that he has made with us, even now.

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*Swanson, James. Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament), Electronic ed., Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997.

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