Covenant Faithfulness

I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee.

I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.

In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.

All the kings of the earth shall praise thee,0 LORD, when they hear the words of thy mouth.

Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD: for great is the glory of the LORD.

Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.

The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, 0 LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands. (Psalm 138)

According to one of the prevalent myths about the Bible, the Old Testament is civil and social in its emphasis, whereas the New Testament gives us a more personal religion. Such a perspective overlooks the fact that our Lord called twelve disciples out, to replace the twelve patriarchs of Israel, established a covenant in His own blood with this new Israel, and then sent them out to bring all the earth under His dominion. The Old Testament, on the other hand, is full of much intensely personal faith within the context of the covenant. An example of this is Psalm 138.

It is a hymn of personal thanksgiving for God's covenant grace and mercy. The psalm is therefore important in what it says concerning the covenant and its meaning. It must be added that, in both Old and New Testaments, all expressions of personal faith are covenantal. David thanks God with all his heart for God's covenant kindness. This thanksgiving and confession is made in the face or presence of all "the gods," before all the religions, demonic forces, and peoples of the world. Because the Lord is David's mainstay, David witnesses in all his being to the mainstay of his life. In his worship and life, David acknowledges the faithfulness of God.

David's joy in God's covenant faithfulness is twofold. First, David knows God's unfailing faithfulness to His covenant promise (Ps. 138:7-8). Moreover, what the Lord has begun, He will complete. "The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me" (Ps. 138:8). God's plan and purpose will not fail, because He is the Lord. That plan and purpose include the lowliest of His covenant people.

Second, David rejoices at the certainty that all the kings of the earth shall be brought into the covenant and will someday share in this praise of the Lord (Ps. 138:4-6). In Psalm 102: l 5ff., the same joy is present: the time shall come "When the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD" (Ps. 102:22). Of the Christ it is said, "He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth" (Ps. 72:8). This prophecy is restated in Zechariah 9:10.

The key sentence, for the doctrine of the covenant, is in Psalm 138:2, "for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name." The implications of this statement are startling. The name of God stands for His person. In a sense, God has no name in the sense of a description or classification: God is beyond all naming by man. To Moses, who asked for God's name, God's answer was, "I AM THAT I AM" (Ex. 3:14), or, He Who Is, the self-existent and absolute Lord over all things. There can be nothing greater than or above God and His Name. He is the LORD, and there is none greater; there is no God nor being beside Him or over Him (Isa. 45:5). Here, however, David, inspired by the Lord Himself, makes an audacious statement. God has magnified His word above His Name. The word has reference to God's covenant, the covenant promises and the covenant law. Some commentators limit the scope of the word to God's promise to the House of David; others limit it still further to Christ, and the word of promise concerning the coming of Christ. The text gives us no limitation of meaning. Clearly, it is personal, and David rejoices in it accordingly; it would thus be inclusive of Christ and David's royal line. However, because David looks ahead, in terms of that exalted word, to the conversion of all kings and kingdoms in due time, we cannot exclude this aspect of this exalted word. It is, in brief, the totality of the covenant word. For us, it is the whole of Scripture, God's covenant word.

What then does this exaltation by God of His word above His very person mean?

A covenant is a binding covenant, a law that binds both parties to live and die in faithfulness to the covenant. Hence, the necessity of blood for the making of a covenant. The penalty on man for the transgression of the covenant is death. Hence, with sin, death entered the world (Rom. 5:12).

With man's sin, and the sentence of death, the covenant was in effect rendered null and void. Man had despised the grace of the covenant and broken its law. God, however, remained faithful to the covenant. He sent His only-begotten Son to be born of a woman, to become, not only truly God as He always was, is, and shall be, but also to become truly man, the new Adam. The Second Person of the covenant Godhead came to make atonement for man, to create a new humanity out of the old, and to renew the covenant with that recreated humanity. So remarkable and great is God's faithfulness, grace, and mercy, that, even in the midst of judgment, Jeremiah could say,

It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. (Lam. 3:22-23)

It is of this covenant faithfulness that David says: "thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name." There is not another sentence in all the Bible of like character. God, than whom nothing can be greater, declares that He Himself places His covenant word and promises above Himself!

This, all the more, accentuates the fearfulness of our unfaithfulness to His word. When the Lord is so faithful to His promises to us, our casual and wayward ways are all the more inexcusable and fearful.

From Systematic Theology, volume 1 p. 382-84.