Psalm 145:9 (NKJV) 9 The LORD is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all His works.
We have been looking at the importance of understanding the goodness of God. When Moses asked God to show him his glory, the Lord responded by saying he would show Moses his goodness. When we look at the condition of the world and of the church, we know we need to see God move in a mighty way. We need the glory of God. When we think of the glory of God we usually think of the kinds of things Moses saw as he delivered Israel from Egypt. However, Moses knew that those things were outward representations of something far deeper.
If we are ever going to see the outward manifestation of the glory of God, we need to understand that those outward things come from God’s nature. Just as Moses needed to understand more about God so do we. What God seemed to think Moses needed was to understand his goodness? I believe we must have a deeper revelation of the goodness of God if we are ever going to see the outward manifestations of God’s glory that we so desire.
We have looked at a number of things this week. Yesterday we looked at 2 Corinthians 3:18 and the fact that we can have the same revelation that Moses did. In Moses case, the revelation of the goodness of God caused a physical transformation. His face glowed. He covered his face so that Israel would not see that this manifestation was fading. In our case, the bible says that we will not have a physical transformation that fades but an inward transformation until we become channels of the Glory itself. What Moses could only reflect, we become in Christ.
We found from James 1 that every good gift comes from God in whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. There is no possibility that God is going to be anything but good. (James 1:17) The King James Version uses the word “variableness” to describe God’s consistent goodness.
When looking at something that needs to be done, scientists and others will look at the variables. What things could change that would affect the outcome of what we want to do. Weather can be a variable for instance. Where the goodness of God in our lives is concerned, God is not a variable. Neither he nor his goodness will ever change.
I want to look at a few scriptures today that describe God’s goodness. What are the limits of his goodness? What does his goodness mean to us? We will start with today’s scripture. The Lord is good to all. He is not good to some. His tender mercies are over all his works.
God is even good to the sinner. He gave them Jesus to die for their sins. He sends us to them so they can hear the Gospel. (Romans 5:6-8) Since he is even good to sinners, we can be sure he will be good to his children.
Romans 5:9 (NKJV) 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
There are those who think that God’s goodness does not extend to them. Maybe they have done something for which they feel guilty. Maybe they have failed God. Maybe something in their life has convinced them that they are not worthy of God’s goodness. This verse tells us that the Lord is good to all. You and I must be part of “all.”
Psalm 33:5 (NKJV) 5 He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.
Here we see that the earth is full of God’s goodness. There is nowhere we can go to escape his goodness. Possibly more important, where ever you are right now his goodness is with you. The world seems to be a very evil place today. Nevertheless, every inch of this world is touched by the goodness of God. If we will trust him and believe in that goodness, we will find it for ourselves and for those around us.
Psalm 52:1 (NKJV) 1 To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation of David when Doeg the Edomite went and told Saul, and said to him, ‘David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.’ Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man? The goodness of God endures continually.
How long will the goodness of God last? Are there times when his goodness runs out. Are there any gaps in the goodness of the Lord? In this verse, we see that his goodness operates continually. There are no outages when it comes to the goodness of the Lord. When we are asleep, his goodness is still working for us. When we are distracted or working, his goodness is still on the job. Even when we are not where we should be when it comes to the Lord, his goodness is working in the background to get us back to where we need to be.
Nahum 1:7 (NKJV) 7 The LORD is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him.
I like this verse. Not only is God’s goodness there for us when things are going well but it is a stronghold when things are not going so well. When things around us look bad, we need to remind ourselves that God is good. We need to meditate on the fact that God’s goodness is there to protect us. That is what a stronghold does. Even though things may be looking bad today, I know his goodness will cause me to triumph in the end. There is nothing the devil can do to stop me from overcoming.
My father used to have a saying before his was saved. He would refer to some person that he worked with as a guy who could “fall in manure and come up smelling like a rose!” (He used a little courser word than manure!) What he meant was that no matter how bad things looked for that person it always worked out well for them in the end.
The stronghold of God’s goodness will protect us from being destroyed in the trial. In the end, we will “come out smelling like a rose!”
Finally, I want to look at the words of Jesus.
Matthew 7:11 (NKJV) 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
A good father wants only good things for his children. Sometimes good things are not the things we think we need. A father knows how to discern the difference. In this verse, Jesus shows the goodness of God by assuring us that God is a much better father than any of us. He will always give us good things and only good things.
Whatever God is doing in your life it is exactly what you need to get you to where you need to go. I am not talking about the things the devil is doing or the things we bring about with our own flesh. They are always bad. However, in the midst of the bad things that may be happening, God is working some good gift.
What the devil means for evil, God will turn to good. The mistakes we make that open the door for evil will be transformed by the goodness of God into a gift that will bring life to us. This will happen when we stand by faith in the stronghold of God’s goodness and boldly declare, “The Lord is good and his mercy endures forever! (1 Chron. 16:34)
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