The Goodness of God

PRAY

God is good all the time

and

All the time God is good

Is this true? YES

Have you ever doubted God’s goodness?

I think everyone tends to doubt either God’s goodness or His sovereignty or both.

The Biblical writer Asaph struggled with it in Psalm 73.

Psalm 73:1–2 “1 Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. 2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped.”

Sure, God is good, but it doesn’t seem like He’s been good to me.

My own times of doubting

Desire for marriage right out of college

Dating in late high school —> early college, breakup

Meeting Mexican girl next summer, date for a while, breakup (is God toying with me? Why give me something good if He’s just going to take it away?)

Dating girl and getting engaged in Puerto Rico, finding out about her other relationship, breakup (Why, God? Is this just the way it will always be? You give me something good only to take it away?)

Do you ever feel this way? Perhaps about a

relationship or friendship

job or business

church

Why does God seem to give something good and then just take it away?

Is He really good?

We cannot define God’s goodness by our circumstances; rather we should define our circumstances by God’s goodness.

Romans 8:28–29 “28 And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.”

Does it feel like all your circumstances are good? Do you always feel like God is working all things together for good?

No, it doesn’t seem good when you feel betrayed by someone. It doesn’t feel good when your desires are unfulfilled.

But what good is God up to in those times? Verse 29 holds the key:

God’s goal or purpose for you is to be conformed to the image of His Son. He is making you like Jesus — shaping your character to be more like His. And His perfect way of doing that often (maybe almost always) includes suffering.

A definition of goodness:

Lexham Survey of Theology God’s Goodness

A thing is good to the extent that it is all that it can and should be—namely, perfect. God alone is all that he can and should be. Thus, since God is wholly perfect, lacking nothing, he is the supreme and absolute good.

A Biblical Analysis of Goodness

Two aspects to God’s goodness: moral goodness & goodness of generosity or kindness

1. Moral uprightness/perfection

Sometimes “good” or “goodness” refers to what is morally good or beautiful, actions in line with the character and beauty of God and His purity, uprightness, and perfection.

And so God is good in that everything He does perfectly lines up with the beauty of His own character. He is perfectly pure, holy, and upright in all His actions.

2. Kindness in giving and forgiving

The more common biblical idea communicated by the word “good” or “goodness” has to do with God’s kindness or generosity toward His creation and people in particular.

This is usually what we think of when we say that God is good. We mean that God is kind and generous toward us, lavishing His gifts on us for our benefit, and graciously forgiving our sins.

Last week, we looked at Moses’s request and desire to see God’s glory. And when Moses asked to see God’s glory, God summarized His glory with this word, goodness.

I believe that both of these ideas — God’s moral purity and His kindness — are intended by His use of the word “goodness” here.

Moses wants to know God more deeply, and he asks to see God’s glory.

Exodus 33:18–19 BSB

18 Then Moses said, “Please show me Your glory.” 19 “I will cause all My goodness to pass before you,” the LORD replied, “and I will proclaim My name—the LORD—in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

Moses asks to see God’s glory.

God promises to show His goodness.

What does that imply?

The goodness of God is an essential part of the glory of God.

For God to show Moses His glory is for God to show Moses His goodness.

And then God says this when He passes in front of Moses:

Exodus 34:6–7 BSB

6 Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness, 7 maintaining loving devotion to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers on their children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”

So what passed in front of Moses? The goodness of God! All of the characteristics in these verses are aspects of God’s goodness, according to God Himself in Exodus 33:19, where He said, “I will cause all My goodness to pass before you.”

The elements of God’s goodness stated here:

compassion (mercy) — His tenderness and pity toward us in our weakness (He knows our frame, He remembers that we are dust)

grace — His favor and kindness to those who don’t deserve it

patience — He is slow to anger, slow to deal out the punishment that sinners deserve

abundant love/covenant loyalty (steadfast love/unfailing love/lovingkindness) — God is a covenant-keeping God choosing to set His love on His people, not because we deserve it but because He is love)

faithfulness — He is trustworthy, dependable, reliable, always keeps His promises

forgiveness — rather than always rendering the punishment people deserve, He often chooses to forgive those who receive His mercy by faith, ultimately on the basis of Christ’s sacrifice for sinners.

righteousness & justice — although God is merciful and patient and forgiving, He reserves the right to administer His righteous judgment against sinners. He is just and cannot overlook sin. When people persist in rebellion against Him, He must bring judgment.

All of these attributes of God (compassion or mercy, grace, patience, steadfast love, faithfulness, forgiveness, and righteous judgment) are summarized by the word goodness.

I said earlier that the main way the Bible talks about God’s goodness is in reference to His kindness or generosity in giving and forgiving. What that means is that God’s goodness seems to shine most brightly in the context of human sin and suffering.

Israel’s sin with the golden calf (Exodus 32; then God reveals His goodness to Moses)

Israel’s slavery in Egypt (Exodus 1-15; God displayed His goodness to Moses and the Israelites by delivering them from Egypt)

Israel’s rejection of the promised land (Numbers 14; when Israel refused to enter the promised land, these verses from Exodus 34 are quoted again, and God displays the goodness of His judgment against sin)

The Prophet Joel’s call to repentance: Joel 2:13 “13 So rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to the LORD your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion. And He relents from sending disaster.”

God’s mercy to Nineveh (Jonah 4:2 Jonah complains to the Lord about His forgiveness and mercy toward Nineveh: “2 So he prayed to the LORD, saying, “O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I was so quick to flee toward Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion—One who relents from sending disaster.”

God is good all the time, not just when we sin or when we suffer, but in those times we’re most aware of His goodness and of our need for His goodness.

God’s goodness is repeatedly emphasized throughout the Bible:

“The LORD is good”/“He is good”/“God is good” — 18 times

Psalm 135:3 BSB

3 Hallelujah, for the LORD is good; sing praises to His name, for it is lovely.

All of God’s work of Creation and Providence is good:

Genesis 1:31 BSB

31 And God looked upon all that He had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

His goodness is evident in the way He cares for the world He created:

Acts 14:17 BSB

17 Yet He has not left Himself without testimony to His goodness: He gives you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.”

His goodness extends to all His creation:

Psalm 145:9 BSB

9 The LORD is good to all; His compassion rests on all He has made.

Everything God gives us is good:

James 1:17 BSB

17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.

Everything God does is good because God is good:

Psalm 119:68 BSB

68 You are good, and You do what is good; teach me Your statutes.

God’s goodness goes on forever:

Psalm 23:6 BSB

6 Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Ephesians 2:6–7 BSB

6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages He might display the surpassing riches of His grace, demonstrated by His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

Response to God’s goodness

Repent of sin

Romans 2:4 “4 Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness [goodness], tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness [goodness] leads you to repentance?”

Give thanks

1 Chronicles 16:34 BSB

34 Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.

Psalm 106:1 BSB

1 Hallelujah! Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.

Psalm 107:1 BSB

1 Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.

Psalm 118:1 BSB

1 Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.

Psalm 118:29 BSB

29 Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.

Psalm 136:1 BSB

1 Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good. His loving devotion endures forever.

Enjoy His goodness

Delight in God’s goodness, enjoy God’s goodness.

Psalm 34:8 “8 Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!”

Imitate His goodness

Galatians 5:22–23 BSB

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 6:10 BSB

10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to the family of faith.

Imitation: Galatians 5:22-23, 6:10

Return to Psalm 73 and Romans 8:28-29 at the end.

At the end of Psalm 73, after struggling to understand why the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer, Asaph comes to understand that the greatest good is not positive circumstances in this life, but having God Himself. The wicked may have an easy and prosperous life here, but they don’t have God, so this life is the best they get. The righteous have God, and so whether or not they have a good life by worldly standards, they have God, and God Himself is the greatest good. This is how the Psalm ends:

Asaph says to the LORD,

Psalm 73:23–28 BSB

23 Yet I am always with You; You hold my right hand. 24 You guide me with Your counsel, and later receive me in glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but You? And on earth I desire no one besides You. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 27 Those far from You will surely perish; You destroy all who are unfaithful to You. 28 But as for me, it is good to draw near to God. I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may proclaim all Your works.

If we know that God is good, then even when things don’t seem good to us, we can trust Him. We can believe His promise,

Romans 8:28–29 BSB

28 And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.

Our circumstances might not seem good, at least not the way we define good.

But God is good, and He is working for the good of His people.

If you belong to Him, you can know that He is working for your good, to make you more like His Son, Jesus Christ.

So let’s

Taste and see that God is good

Trust that the Lord is good

Enjoy His goodness

Worship and praise and thank Him for His goodness

And display His goodness in our lives in the way we treat other people.