10 Amazing Truths about God's Steadfast Love

“The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you” (Deuteronomy 7:7-8a).

The people of Israel were insignificant in comparison to the mighty nations around them: Egypt, the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian Empires, and in New Testament times, the Roman Empire. God’s love for them was not based on importance or distinction.

God showed His love and rescued the Israelites while they were helpless and in distress in Egypt: “Yet the Lord,” says Deuteronomy 10:15 “set his affection on your ancestors and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations—as it is today.”

We see God’s steadfast love for those of little importance continued in the gospels. Jesus chose simple fishermen to be his disciples. He upheld those who were oppressed, powerless, and in need (Matthew 5:3-5). He spent time with those considered outcasts and the lowest in society (Luke 15:1-2).

God chooses people who have no power or prestige to make His own. God shows His steadfast love to people rejected by society. God chooses you and me, not based on anything we have done, but because of His great love for us.

2. God’s Steadfast Love Lasts Forever, Regardless

“And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy” (Hosea 2:19).

Contracts and treaties in the ancient world did not usually involve love but mutual obligations. Yet, God’s covenant with His people has always been one of love (Deuteronomy 7:9).

In Hosea, God’s love is portrayed through Hosea’s marriage to an unfaithful wife as an understanding of God’s love for His unfaithful people. Yet, God, in His love, offers His people a new start.

“Betroth” is not a word we use nowadays when we speak about marriage. But betrothal is a formal arrangement meant to last the lifetime of the individuals involved. And so, God will love His people forever.

With Jesus, we see God’s covenant of love in practice: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

God’s covenant of love can never be broken, even though we may be unfaithful to Him.

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“‘Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,’ says the Lord, who has compassion on you” (Isaiah 54:10).

Although peace did not exist throughout Israel’s history because of their disobedience, God in His steadfast love gave the promise of lasting future peace. It is His gift spoken of throughout the prophets (Ezekiel 34:25; 37:26, Malachi 2:5) and fulfilled with the coming of Christ, the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).

Jesus’ coming ushered in the promised peace for humankind (Luke 2:14). Jesus’ final words were of peace remaining on earth: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you” (John 14:27).

We can rely on God’s steadfast love to give us peace. As Jesus stated, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

4. God’s Steadfast Love Draws Us to Him 

“The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness’” (Jeremiah 31:3).

The verb māšāk used for the word “drawn” is the same word used in Genesis 37:28 to describe the Midianites “drawing” or “dragging” Joseph out of the pit into which he was thrown by his brothers.

The image of being pulled out of a pit, reminds us of the words of David in Psalm 40:1-2: “I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.”

It is also a reminder of the parable of the lost sheep, told by Jesus: “‘Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?’ And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home” (Luke 15:3-7).

From this parable, we can be reassured that no matter how much trouble we find ourselves in, no matter how far we stray from God, His steadfast love will draw us to Him.

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“In your unfailing love preserve my life, that I may obey the statutes of your mouth” (Psalm 119:88).

David knew that God’s steadfast love preserved his life in many ways. It kept him safe from persecutions and pitfalls (Psalm 6). It gave him salvation (Psalm 13:5). God’s steadfast love gave him everlasting and abundant life (Psalm 23:6).

In the same way, we can appeal to God’s unfailing love to protect us daily, to save us, and give us everlasting life. Like the Psalmist, we can pray: “Lord; may your love and faithfulness always protect me” (Psalm 40:11).

6. God’s Steadfast Love Gives Us Comfort

“May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant” (Psalm 119:76).

David knows that God’s “decisions are right; your testing has taught me what’s true and right” (Psalm 119:75). Yet even though God’s righteousness can bring affliction, David appeals to God’s unfailing love for consolation.

God in his goodness and faithfulness disciplines those He loves. As Proverbs 3:11-12 says: “do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves.”

When we know God’s testing, training, and correction, we can ask God to give us relief and reassurance of His kindness.

7. God’s Steadfast Love Gives Us Mercy

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions” (Psalm 51:1).

David was chosen by God, anointed with His Spirit (1 Samuel 16:13), and a man after God’s own heart who did everything God wanted (Acts 13:22). Yet, David knew he could not appeal for mercy based on anything good he had done. He could only ask for mercy based on God’s steadfast love.

In the same way, we cannot gain forgiveness based on any goodness of our own. We only receive mercy through God’s love shown to us in Christ. Titus 3:4-5 says: “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.”

When we know we have sinned, we too can appeal to God’s steadfast love and his abundant and consistent mercy.

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“Hear my voice in accordance with your love; preserve my life, Lord, according to your laws” (Psalm 119:149).

The Psalmist is constant in his appeals to God. He rises before dawn to pray and continues to pray throughout the night (Psalm 119:147-148). He knows his prayers will be heard because of God’s love.

His praying reminds us of the parable of the persistent widow and Jesus’ teaching that we should not give up in petitioning our heavenly Father (Luke 18:1-5).

In particular, we know that it is God’s love shown to us through Jesus Christ that allows us to come into the presence of God and be heard.

God in His steadfast love hears our cries from the heart—our pleas, our complaints, our praises, and our confessions.

9. God’s Steadfast Love Can Be Requested

“Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days” (Psalm 90:14).

After focusing on the everlasting nature of God and the transitory nature of human life, the Psalmist asks God to have compassion and mercy, instead of showing His anger and judgment. Alongside this request, he asked God to “satisfy” him with His unfailing love each morning of his life.

We are reminded of the words of Lamentations 3:22-24: “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’”

God, in His love, not only hears our requests, but we can request for God to show us His steadfast love.

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“But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life” (Psalm 42:8).

God’s steadfast love has been continually poured out since ancient times: “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.

As a result of God’s constant love, the Psalmist is able to sing at night.

The same love displayed to His people long ago and shown to the Psalmist is poured out on us today, tomorrow, and every day of our lives. We, too, can sing praises to God for His unending steadfast love.

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