137 Righteous are You, O Lord,
And upright are Your judgments.
138 You have commanded Your testimonies in righteousness
And exceeding faithfulness.
139 My zeal has [bj]consumed me,
Because my adversaries have forgotten Your words.
140 Your [bk]word is very [bl]pure,
Therefore Your servant loves it.
141 I am small and despised,
Yet I do not forget Your precepts.
142 Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
And Your law is truth.
143 Trouble and anguish have [bm]come upon me,
Yet Your commandments are my delight.
144 Your testimonies are righteous forever;
Give me understanding that I may live.
Right off the bat, v. 138 caught my eye as it speaks of God’s exceeding faithfulness. Sure, God is faithful, we see that over and over, but what is this “exceeding” bit? As the psalmist continues, see similar ideas, like “everlasting” righteousness, and righteous “forever”, and they seem to be tied together. That is, something can be faithful, and you can count on it, it’s a pretty sure thing, but God is beyond that, He is exceeding what it means to be faithful.
One could rather say that faithfulness ought to be defined by who God is, not the other way around, because God is perfectly faithful. He is reliable and trustworthy forever, from everlasting to everlasting. Jesus encouraged us to build our foundation on something solid, and used the illustration of the man who built his house upon the rock vs. the one who built on sand.
Whatever you may feel about the foundation of your house, it won’t last forever. Maybe a couple hundred years, maybe even longer, that’s kind of crazy to think of. How many buildings last that long? Yet even rock will not stand forever, but God does. So yes, He is “exceedingly faithful” and if you want your life to be stable and not tossed about by shifting current–and boy are there a lot of those–you need a sure foundation.
His word is the ultimate foundation, yielding not just surety in this life, but for eternity. Put your faith in Him and don’t let the tides of this world drag you away. Hold fast to God, or even better, let Him hold you in His hand, from which no one can remove you.