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Friday, December 16, 2011

Goodness Of God

Psalm 31:19.
Oh, how abundant is your goodness,
which you have stored up for those who fear you 
and worked for those who take refuge in you, 
in the sight of the children of mankind!


God is the source of all good and goodness, and He alone defines what is good. All that He is and all that He does is good. Most of us often mistakenly equate the goodness of God with the “rightness” of our circumstances. When we get what we everything we need, we say “God must really like me!” Or conversely, when things aren't going our way, we say, “Why is God punishing me like this?” But our circumstances are not an accurate reflection of God's goodness. Whether life is good or bad, God’s goodness, rooted in His character, is the same. Human goodness is modeled on divine goodness (Mt 5:48). For human beings goodness involves right behavior, expresses itself in kindness and other praiseworthy qualities, includes avoiding evil, and springs from the inner person etc...




There is not only God’s general goodness that he shows to all people, making his sun rise on the evil and the good (Matthew 5:45), but also a peculiar goodness for “those who fear him.” This goodness is abundant beyond measure. It is boundless. It lasts forever. It is all-encompassing. There is only goodness for those who fear him. Everything works together for their good. Even their pains are filled with profit (Romans 5:3-5).But those who do not fear him receive a temporary goodness—a goodness that does not lead to repentance, but leads to worse destruction (Romans 2:4).



"O that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men" (Ps. 107:8). Gratitude is the return justly required from the objects of His beneficence; yet is it often withheld from our great Benefactor simply because His goodness is so constant and so abundant. It is lightly esteemed because it is exercised toward us in the common course of events. It is not felt because we daily experience it."Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?"(Rom. 2:4). His goodness is "despised" when it is not improved as a means to lead men to repentance, but, on the contrary, serves to harden them from the supposition that God entirely overlooks their sin. The goodness of God is the life of the believer’s trust. It is this excellency in God which most appeals to our hearts. Because His goodness endureth forever, we ought never to be discouraged: "The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knoweth them that trust in Him" (Nahum 1:7). 



When others behave badly to us, it should only stir us up the more heartily to give thanks unto the Lord, because He is good; and when we ourselves are conscious that we are far from being good, we should only the more reverently bless Him that He is good. We must never tolerate an instant’s unbelief as to the goodness of the Lord; whatever else may be questioned, this is absolutely certain, that Jehovah is good; His dispensations may vary, but His nature is always the same.


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