The word faithfulness
expresses God’s constancy and reliability. It states that God is true to his word. It also describes behaviour that is reliable and consistent, never deviating from the norm, whatever the occasion. This is all said of God, because the writer becomes so conscious of him that he addresses him directly, rather than speaking about him.1 Faithfulness
was a unique characteristic of God in contrast to the false gods of the peoples around Israel. They understood their gods in an opposite fashion. In contrast to them, the God of Israel is faithful to his people, and therefore there is no greater hope than knowing that God is totally reliable. This is not a new revelation. God had revealed and demonstrated his faithfulness throughout history (see also Exodus 34:6–7). Now it is confirmed again by the writer. This faithfulness not only entails God’s covenantal love and mercies, but also his warnings of judgment, as well as the actual judgment.2 This claim about judgment and mercy may be seen as the outworking of this great self-definition of God.3
23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.