God, as a True and Faithful Witness
In a court of law the goal is to find out exactly what happened in any situation, so the right verdict can be handed down. The main way this happens is by receiving the testimony of witnesses to the situation. Their testimony can be written or spoken, but it can only be what they saw or heard personally. Therefore, the best witnesses are people who actually saw what happened. If there are no eye witnesses, it is hard to come to a sure verdict. The best witness is an eye witness who is always truthful and faithful to respond accurately. That is the type of witness the people wanted when they approached Jeremiah to pray and ask God for His direction in whether they should go to Egypt or not. (Jeremiah 42:5) In fact, they told Jeremiah, "May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we don't act according to every word the Lord your God sends you to tell us." They asked for it, but I am not sure they thought fully about what they requested.
Yes, God is merciful, and He doesn't always punish us as much as were deserve to be punished. He is loving and gracious, too, so He gives us more than we deserve. However, God is always true and faithful. He always tells the truth, and He is faithful to recount exactly what happened every time. Therefore, He is the Perfect Witness. He is an Eye Witness to everything that happens. He has never sinned or told any kind of lie. On top of that, He even knows the thoughts and intents of our heart, which is beyond what any human witness can do. Therefore, we need to be aware that we will not be able to get out of doing all the Word of the Lord that God has sent us in the Bible. Also, He knows what He has told us directly, and He holds us to every word. Having Jesus as our True and Faithful Witness should be a powerful deterrent from sin. This is especially true, since He will be the Witness and the Judge in the Day of Judgment. It will be an open and shut case against us. We will either be found guilty of doing all of His Word, or we will be found innocent. In that case we will surely want to be found guilty and receive our reward.
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Tomorrow, I intend to read Jeremiah 44-46.