Psalm 89:1 I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations. 2: For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens. 3: I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, 4: Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah. 5: And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints. 6: For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD? 7: God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him. 8: O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?

Introduction

Psalm 89 is a Song of Instruction. It is a teaching song composed by Ethan the Ezrahite. He is described in 1 Kings 4:31, as the wisest among men during the days of King Solomon. And what is the Psalmist seeking to teach us? The Faithfulness of God!

In this Thanksgiving Season, it’s good to be reminded of God’s faithfulness. 

Lamentations 3:21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. 22: It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23: They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

It is good to know and remember the God’s faithfulness of God, because I believe His faithfulness to us will produce grateful hearts. Thanksgiving Day may be over but the call to be thankful is not. 

Now, Psalm 89 is a celebration of the faithfulness of God. It is a song of praise to God for His faithfulness.

Psalm 89

1: I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.

2: For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens. 

5: And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints. 

8: O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee? 

24: But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted.

33: Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.

So, the keynote in this Psalm is the faithfulness of God. It tells us that God is faithful and as a result, He is worthy of our trust.

God wants us to know that He is faithful

Deuteronomy 7:9 Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

God revealed in His words that He is faithful. Why is it important for us to know that God is faithful? It is because our faith and faithfulness are based on the faithfulness of God.

1 Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

The One who called us and saved us is faithful.

1 Thessalonians 5:24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

2 Thessalonians 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.

1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)

What is faithfulness?

The Hebrew word translated “faithfulness” means “steadfastness, firmness, fidelity, integrity, reliability.”

The opposite of being faithful is to be unreliable, to be ever-changing or wishy-washy. God's faithfulness is God's absolute reliability or His freedom from all fickleness. That means He is 100% reliable, 100% of the time. He says what He means and means what He says. He never fails, never forgets, never falters, never changes, and never disappoints. 

Faithfulness is the most comforting and practical attribute of God. How powerful this truth is, specially joined with God's ability, power, wisdom, and unchangeableness.

Consider with me some important truths about God's faithfulness.

1. Mercy and Faithfulness are closely related

Psalm 89:1 I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations. 2: For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.

Mercy and faithfulness are interrelated. It is God's mercy when He gives us promises, it is His faithfulness when He keeps them.

Psalm 36:5 Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.

Lamentation 3:21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. 22: It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23: They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

2. Great is His faithfulness

This is clearly declared in…

Lamentation 3:22 It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23: They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

Then in our text …

Psalm 89:6 For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD? 7: God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him. 

Here is a challenge to both heaven and earth. Who in the heaven, who among the sons of the mighty can be compared, can be likened unto the LORD?

The true God, sovereign of heaven and earth is incomparably great in His BEING and EXISTENCE and ATTRIBUTES and PERFECTIONS and WORKS.

Psalm 89:8 O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee? 

No human faithfulness can be compared with it. Don't get me wrong, there have been men and women who have been faithful unto death. Hebrews 11 is full of these men and women who were faithful. Then we have Paul, he is a good example of faithfulness.

2 Timothy 4:6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand (time of his execution and death). 7: I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith;

But what is the faithfulness even of the best of men, as compared to that of God. That's why are we called not to put our trust in men ...

Psalm 146:1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul. 2: While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being. 3: Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.

Psalm 118:8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. 9: It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.

Everything about God is great, vast, and incomparable. He never forgets, never fails, never falters, and never does any thing contrary to His word.

Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?

3. Faithful to Himself

2 Timothy 2:11 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: 12: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: 13: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

If He is not faithful to Himself, He cannot be faithful to anyone else. He cannot do anything inconsistent with Himself, with His nature and character. He cannot be inconsistent. When He exercises His love He cannot just suspend His faithfulness.

Psalm 89:33 Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.

His faithfulness is essential to His being, without it, He would not be God. For God to be unfaithful would be to act contrary to His nature.

4. Faithful to keep His promises

Because our God is faithful, His promises and His purposes are sure. His promises and purposes cannot and will not fail. You can rely on God to keep His promises. People lie, people make promises they cannot keep, or they have no intention of keeping but here is a fact—God does not and cannot lie. What He says—He does. What He promises—He keeps.

Titus 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

Joshua 23:14 And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof. 

2 Corinthians 1:20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.

Standing on the promises that cannot fail,

When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,

By the living Word of God, I shall prevail,

Standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises I cannot fall,

Listening every moment to the Spirit’s call

Resting in my Savior as my all in all,

Standing on the promises of God.

-Russell Kelso Carter

God has signed, sealed, and confirmed all His promises. To be sure that we understand that He keeps His promises, God has every one of His promises recorded in the Scriptures. That's the God we believe, that's the God we worship, that's the God we pray to. The God who spoke the universe into existence is faithful.

Closing Exhortations

What do all these say to us? Why does it matter to know all these things? What should the faithfulness of God do to us?

1. It should create confidence in Him

God's faithfulness ought to increase and inspire our confidence in Him. Knowing that you have a faithful God on your side, all the time, ought to change the way we think and act. It makes us as bold as a lion and as steady as a rock.

He is utterly reliable. If He is so utterly reliable, why do we distrust Him so often. Why do we rely more on ourselves and our own strength and wisdom? 

As you dwell on the faithfulness of God and what He has said you will be confident, bold, powerful, a real overcomer!

Understanding these principles will preserve us from worry. To be worried and concerned is to reject the doctrine of the faithfulness of God.

Hebrews 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20: By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21: And having an high priest over the house of God; 22: Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 23: Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24: And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. 26: For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27: But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

Our confidence is not in our faith but in the faithfulness of God. Our confidence is not in our ability to keep God's words but in God's ability to keep His own words.

May God preserve us all from worries as we come to grips with this attribute.

2. It should inspire faithfulness

God's faithfulness should stir devotion and faithfulness to God. Our faithfulness is anchored upon a faithful God. Our life is built upon the trustworthiness of God. Without that, there can be no basis for faithfulness. We cannot be faithful to someone that is unfaithful, fickle, and disloyal. There will be no ground for faith and faithfulness. We can be faithful today because we have a God who is absolutely faithful. His faithfulness is the reason we can be faithful today.

Faithfulness Not Success

Faithfulness is what God is looking for. God wants our faithfulness, not our success. A faithful Christian is actually a successful Christian, because success is not based on results but on faithfulness. We are not responsible for the results; we are responsible for our faithfulness.

2 Timothy 2:1 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2: And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. 3: Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

Faithfulness is required in servants

1 Corinthians 4:1 Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2: Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. 3: But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.

We are not called to be successful; we are called to be faithful. 

Can God depend on you?

To be faithful to God is to do the thing that God wants you to do, and do it well. To be unfaithful, is to do your own thing, and keep doing your own things.

We are to be faithful to our spouses, to our children, to our parents, to our loved ones, to our friends, to each other, but ultimately we are called to be faithful to God.

May we all strive to hear ...

Matthew 25:21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

3. It should stir us to praise and thanksgiving to God

Psalm 89:1 I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations. 

Psalm 89:52 Blessed be the LORD for evermore. Amen, and Amen.

Amen - True, Faithful, etc.

As the faithfulness of God is set before us in the Scriptures, may our hearts run out with intelligent praise to God for His faithfulness and may we trust Him more and more in our lives, individually and corporately.

Joshua 21:43 And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. 44: And the LORD gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand. 45: There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.

Joshua 23:14 And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof.

"Great is Thy faithfulness," O God my Father,

There is no shadow of turning with Thee;

Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not

As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,

Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,

Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

"Great is Thy faithfulness!"

"Great is Thy faithfulness!"

Morning by morning new mercies I see;

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—

"Great is Thy faithfulness," Lord, unto me!

-Thomas Chisholm

AMEN!