voqtaHghach - faithfulness

vaD the mu' vo' joH'a' ghaH nIH. Hoch Daj vum ghaH ta'pu' Daq voqtaHghach.

For the word of the LORD is right. All his work is done in faithfulness. Psalm 33:4

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This verse from Psalm 33 underlines how the Biblical witness is of the trustworthiness, the dependability of what God says and what he does. One writer observes:

For the word of the Lord is right - The command; the law; the promise of God. Whatever he "says" is right; or, is true. It is worthy of universal belief; and should, therefore, be a reason for praise. The fact that God says a thing is the highest proof that it is true. (Albert Barnes)

And all his works are done in truth - Or rather, "in faithfulness." That is, All that he does is executed faithfully. He does all that he promises, and all that he does is such as to claim universal confidence. Whatever he does is, from the very fact that He does it, worthy of the confidence of all his creatures.

The Hebrew word here is 'emuwnah and occurs about 50 times in the Bible. From the same root as the universal assent of faith AMEN, it means literally firmness; and figuratively security; morally fidelity. You'll see it in the KJV as faith(-ful, -ly, -ness, ), set office, stability, steady, truly, truth, verily.

How might a Klingon express such a concept? I've used the verb to-trust voq, and changed it into a noun with the -taH and -ghach suffixes, yielding voqtaHghach, meaning (sort-of) on-going-trust-ness.

A key for me is what I refer to as the mnemonic theology of the Bible - how our trust in promise is rooted in memory. We remember through the history of the Bible what God HAS done, and it makes us look forward to (and trust in) what he will do. There is a relationship here - we learn who we can count on by who comes through for us. The message of Scripture, and the witness of saints through the ages is that God can be trusted - he is faithful, he has voqtaHghach.

vaD the mu' vo' joH'a' ghaH nIH. Hoch Daj vum ghaH ta'pu' Daq voqtaHghach.

For the word of the LORD is right. All his work is done in faithfulness. Psalm 33:4

The Life Application Bible sums it up well when it notes:

All God’s words are true and trustworthy. The Bible is reliable because, unlike people, God does not lie, forget, change his words, or leave his promises unfulfilled. We can trust the Bible because it contains the words of a holy, trustworthy, and unchangeable God.

To which I can only add amen!