Jehovah's Matchless Loyalty

The Bible says of Jehovah: "You alone are loyal." (Revelation 15:4) How can that be? Have not both humans and angels at times displayed remarkable loyalty? (Job 1:1; Revelation 4:8) And what of Jesus Christ? Is he not God's chief "loyal one?" (Psalm 16:10) How, then, can it be said that Jehovah alone is loyal?

First of all, remember that loyalty is a facet of love. Since "God is love"-he being the very personification of the quality-who could display loyalty more completely than Jehovah? (1 John 4:8) Really, angels and humans may reflect God's attributes, but only Jehovah is loyal to the superlative degree. As "the Ancient of Days," he has been displaying loving-kindness longer than any creature, earthly or heavenly. (Daniel 7:9) Hence, Jehovah is the very epitome of loyalty. He displays this quality in a manner that no creature can match. Consider some examples.

Jehovah is "loyal in all his works." (Psalm 145:17) In what way? Psalm 136 provides an answer. There a number of Jehovah's saving acts are cited, including the dramatic deliverance of the Israelites through the Red Sea. Significantly, each verse of this psalm is punctuated with the phrase: "For his loving-kindness [or loyalty] is to time indefinite." this psalm is included in the Questions for Meditation on Page 289. As you read those verses, you cannot help but be struck by the many ways in which Jehovah displays loyalty to his faithful servants by hearing their cries for help and by taking action at the appointed time. (Psalm 34:6) Jehovah's loyal love for his servants does not waver as long as they remain loyal to him.

In addition, Jehovah demonstrates loyalty to his servants by remaining true to his standards. Unlike some erratic humans, who are guided by mere whim and sentiment, Jehovah does not vacillate in his view of what is right and what is wrong. Throughout the millenniums, his view of such things as spiritism, idolatry and murder has remain unchanged. "Even to one's old age, I am the same One," he stated through his prophet Isaiah. (Isaiah 46:4) Hence, we can have confidence that we will benefit by following the clear moral direction found in God's Word. -Isaiah 48:17-19.

Jehovah also shows loyalty by remaining faithful to his word of promise. When he foretells something, it comes to pass. Jehovah thus stated: "My word that goes forth from my mouth . . .will not return to me without results, but it will certainly do that in which I have delighted, and it will have certain success in that for which I have sent it." (Isaiah 55:11) By remaining faithful to his word, Jehovah shows loyalty to his people. He does not keep them anxiously awaiting something that he does not intend to bring about. Jehovah's reputation is so impeccable in this regard that his servant Joshua was able to say: "Not a promise failed out of all the good promise that Jehovah had made to the house of Israel; it all came true." (Joshua 21:45) We can be confident, then, that we will never be led to disappointment because of some failure on Jehovah's part to live up to his promises. -Isaiah 49:23; Romans 5:5.

As noted earlier, the Bible tells us that Jehovah's loving-kindness "is to time indefinite." (Psalm 136:1) How is this so? For one things, Jehovah's forgiveness of sins is permanent. As discussed in Chapter 26, Jehovah does not bring up errors of the past for which a person has been pardoned. Since "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," each of us should be grateful that Jehovah's loving-kindness is to time indefinite. -Romans 3:23.

But Jehovah's loving-kindness is to time indefinite in another sense as well. His Word says that the righteous one "will certainly become like a tree planted by streams of water, that gives its own fruit in its season and the foliage of which does not wither, and everything he does will succeed." (Psalm 1:3) Imagine a luxuriant tree whose foliage never withers! So, too, if we take genuine delight in God's Word, our lives will be long, peaceful and fruitful. The blessings that Jehovah loyally extends to his faithful servants are everlasting. Truly, in the righteous new world that Jehovah will bring, obedient mankind will experience his loving-kindness to time indefinite. -Revelation 21:3, 4.

Next time: Jehovah "Will Not Leave His Loyal Ones"

Draw Close To Jehovah, 2002