Deuteronomy 7:9 English Standard Version (ESV) Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,

The Old Testament is full of character statements about both God and mankind. If we identify the character statements about each here we might draw the wrong conclusions because it is so easy to just write off what is said because we now live in the New Covenant.

First, the Lord our God is God. That hasn’t changed. Secondly our God is faithful, that hasn’t changed. Third He keeps covenants but the covenant has changed. The fact that the covenant changed has nothing to do with God keeping that first covenant. Third His steadfast love has not changed.

Mankind was to keep loving God and keeping His commandments for a thousand generations. Mankind did not keep loving nor obeying. The historical records indicate that mankind failed over and over again. Those records also show God kept taking them back. His character, love and faithfulness did not change just because mankind could not keep covenant with God.

Conditional covenants always place the if qualifier on mankind’s part, there is no if and or buts when it comes to God’s character. God loves unconditionally. God is faithful unconditionally. 

Numbers 23:19 English Standard Version (ESV) God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

God does not make excuses. We tend to make excuses for failing. It is often said to be someone else’s fault. This kind of unacceptable thinking can even go so far as to accuse God of not holding up His end of the bargain. Man will try to bargain with God but God does not bargain with mankind.

God makes covenants and promises and in those He is faithful and true. If we do not understand them or misinterpret their meanings, that is our failing, not God’s.

Joshua 23:14 English Standard Version (ESV) “And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed.”

OT comment that is still true.

John 5:17 English Standard Version (ESV) But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

Do we see God at work around us? For some that is an easy answer and for others it is not so obvious. 

Living by faith means we do not always get to see the hand of God in every action. Faith becomes active when it is clear to us what God is asking of us. God does not always ask of us and takes care of things in the background without taking credit for His involvement.

Luke 19:37 English Standard Version (ESV) As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen,

That is the easy part, to praise Him for what we have seen. What of the hidden things? Do we give HIm praise and honor in those things that go right for us without any obvious involvement?

Luke 19:38 English Standard Version (ESV) saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

We are blessed to have Him rule and reign in our hearts. We can give Him glory and honor for being the Lord of our lives. He is involved in our lives every day but He is so loving and kind, so gracious and humble that we do not get to see outwardly every little thing that He does for us.

That should not stop us from believing by faith that He is working on our behalf every day in some way. 

1 Samuel 6:9 English Standard Version (ESV) “and watch. If it goes up on the way to its own land, to Beth-shemesh, then it is he who has done us this great harm, but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that struck us; it happened to us by coincidence.”

The only reference to coincidence in the ESV found in 1 Samuel chapter 6. It is no coincidence that seeing the hand of God at work was given in this chapter. Two milk cows were yoked in service to bring the Ark to Beth-shemesh. Two Philistine milk cows found their way without the direction of an ox driver. Only the Lord could do such a thing.

Was it a coincidence or the Lord? Only faith can say with any confidence what is true.