“He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment:
a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.”
(Deuteronomy 32:4)
Truth is not something God chooses to practice; it is essential to His very nature. He is “a God of truth;” He cannot lie, deceive, misrepresent, or fail to be what He has declared Himself to be.
And because truth is essential to God, it is also everlasting. Human promises may fail because men change, forget, weaken, and die. But none of these possibilities can touch the Lord.[1] His truth endures to all generations. His ancient counsels remain faithful and true because the passing of time does not alter His purpose or diminish His ability to fulfill it. What God was in faithfulness to former generations, He remains to His people now.
His truth extends universally to all His words and works. His Word is truth, and all His paths are mercy and truth toward those who keep His covenant. The God who speaks truth also works truthfully. His providence never contradicts His character, even when His purposes are hidden from those who experience them. His work is perfect because all His ways are judgment.
Moreover, whatever He has promised will certainly come to pass in His appointed time. Israel could look backward and confess that not one good thing had failed of all that the Lord had spoken. The mercy may not yet be possessed in its fullness, but because the faithful God has promised it, faith may reckon upon it with confidence.
The same divine truthfulness gives solemn certainty to God’s warnings as well as His promises. As certainly as His promises establish the hope of His people, His warnings establish the danger of those who continue in rebellion. God’s truth cannot be divided so that His promises are certain while His judgments remain doubtful. He is true in both mercy and judgment.
The truthfulness of God also reveals what is pleasing to Him in His creatures. He desires truth in the inward parts. Sincerity of heart corresponds morally to the God of truth, while falsehood in word and action stands opposed to His nature. The devil is characterized by lying because he does not abide in the truth. God, by contrast, delights in inward truth and uprightness.
For the believer, this entire perfection of God is cause for thanksgiving. His promises are secure, His counsels faithful, His Word true, His works perfect, and His judgments right. He is the Rock upon whom faith may rest without fear of disappointment.
Contemplations:
- You Cannot Be Other Than True. I praise You that You are the God of truth. You cannot lie or become unreliable. My own thoughts change, my confidence rises and falls, and human assurances often prove fragile, but You remain the Rock. Let my gratitude rise from the certainty that there is no falsehood in You and no possibility that You will cease to be faithful.
- Your Promises Are Better Than Mercies Already Seen. I do not need to already possess the promised blessing in order to know that Your Word is secure because You have never failed to accomplish what You have spoken. Teach me to receive Your promises with thankful confidence rather than anxious suspicion. What You have pledged is safe because the One who pledged it is faithful. Let me rejoice in Your Word before fulfillment appears, knowing that time cannot weaken Your truth or frustrate Your counsel.
- Your Faithfulness Reaches into Every Path. I bless You that Your truth is not confined to words alone. Your works are perfect, and Your paths are marked by truth. There are circumstances I cannot explain and whose purpose I cannot yet discern, but none of them can make You unfaithful. You are just and right, and nothing You do can contradict the perfection of who You are.
- Your Final Judgment Will Set Everything Right. I praise You that the final judgment will be according to truth since You know every heart, every act, every motive, and every circumstance perfectly. There can be no mistake in Your sentence because there is no error in You. Strip away pretense and falsehood, and make truth in the inward parts precious to me because I live before the God who is perfectly true.
Prayer (Thanksgiving):
O Lord, my God, I give thanks that You are the Rock, that Your work is perfect, and that all Your ways are true.
I praise You that truth belongs necessarily to Your nature. You cannot lie. You cannot deceive. You cannot promise what You will fail to perform. There is no change in You that could make yesterday’s faithfulness uncertain today. Your truth endures through every generation.
My heart rejoices that every word You have spoken is trustworthy. When You promise mercy, Your promise is secure. When fulfillment seems distant, Your faithfulness has not weakened. When circumstances appear contrary, Your counsel remains true. Let remembered examples of Your faithfulness strengthen my gratitude for every promise still awaiting its fulfillment.
I bless You also that Your works agree perfectly with Your words. Your paths are mercy and truth. Even when I cannot understand Your providence, there is no injustice, mistake, or falsehood in it. Your work is perfect because You are perfect.
I acknowledge with reverence that Your warnings are equally true. What You have threatened against impenitent sin will not fail. Your faithfulness makes both Your promises precious and Your judgments solemn.
Make me increasingly thankful for the certainty of Your truth, and let that gratitude produce sincerity within me. You desire truth in the inward parts, so keep falsehood far from my words, actions, and motives.
Thank You that I may rest my whole confidence upon You without fear that the Rock will move. Your Word is true, Your counsels are faithful, Your promises are certain, Your works are perfect, and Your judgment will forever be according to truth.
In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Further Scripture References:
2 Sam. 22:31; Psalm 18:30; Gen. 18:25; Rev. 15:3
[1] John Flavel, An Exposition of the Assemblies Catechism, (London: Printed for Tho. Cockerill, 1692), 20–21.
