Steadfast

Steadfast. Now, there’s a word you rarely hear these days. However, we do use words with a similar meaning: committed, constant, dependable, faithful, loyal, reliable, staunch, steady, true, etc.

Since steadfast is used infrequently these days, I noticed it appears quite often, usually as an adjective describing the word love, in the English Standard Version of the Bible, which I am reading through this year.

For example, in Psalm 36, the writer (David) uses steadfast three times. At the beginning of that chapter, he’s thinking about the wicked. But rather than keep thinking about them, David shifts his focus to the Lord.

“Your steadfast love, O LORD, 

extends to the heavens, 

your faithfulness to the clouds…

How precious is your steadfast love, O God! 

The children of mankind 

take refuge in the shadow of your wings. 

They feast on the abundance of your house, 

and you give them drink 

from the river of your delights…

Oh, continue your steadfast love 

to those who know you 

and your righteous to the upright of heart!” 

(Psalm 36:5-10, emphasis added).

Steadfast. How precious is that word in these days when everything seems to be changing, crumbling, shifting… 

 Sidney Lanier Bridge in Brunswick, Georgia