Our Supreme Good

Good morning church family

I am so glad to be back in the pulpit after being out for the month of July.

If you are a guest, my name is Stefan Wilson and I am the pastor of preaching here at Harvest

I step out of the pulpit every July so that other men in our church can be used by the Lord to bless our church in the ministry of the word

And last month our church was greatly blessed by Luke Lewis, Colin O’Bier, Nick DeBenedetto, and Ron Elwardt

I am so thankful that we have men in our church who are committed to being faithful to God’s word and we are all blessed when they open up God’s word with us

Can we take a moment and thank those guys?

And now we are going to spend one final week in the Psalms, let’s so take out our Bibles and turn to Psalm 67

And as you turn there, I want you to think for a moment of what you believe would be the greatest good that could happen to you in this life.

Perhaps you have a dream home that if you could check all of the boxes that you desire in a home that would be the greatest good that could happen

Perhaps you are single and you think that the greatest good that could happen to you is that you find the person that you are going to marry

Or maybe you desire to have children and so the greatest good that could happen is for you to start a family

Or you already have children but what you desire most is that your children would grow, mature, and flourish as they live lives that are faithful to Christ

And hear me when I say: Those are all good things - Truly good things

But what we risk happening is by seeing those things as the greatest good…

If they don’t happen for us… we will think that we were wronged and we will then conclude that our lives are not good

And we will then end up missing out on what truly is “Our supreme good”

And this morning from Psalm 67 we are going to learn what our supreme good is

And if we will hear the words of psalm 67 and if we will agree with it of what our supreme good truly is, Then we can live lives that we know are pursuing what is right and good and best, even when we don't get to enjoy other good things.

So let’s give these words our full attention

Psalm 67 “To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song. May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us. God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!”

These are God’s words for us as a church - May we have ears to hear them and hearts to obey them

Big Idea: Enjoying the goodness of God is the supreme good for all people. [6:00][-34]

Now, by “enjoyment” I do not mean the way that we typically use that word

We speak about enjoying coffee or enjoying the weather

And what we are really saying is, “That thing makes me momentarily happy.”

But to enjoy the goodness of God is to see it as right and to live in it

To experience it continually

To not chase after other things, but to be totally satisfied in the goodness that only comes from God.

And this is our supreme good - It is the best things we could pursue because it is the purpose for which we were made.

Pursuing anything else, at the expense of our supreme good, would be a life wasted.

Every other good thing eventually disappoints because:

Good things in this life are limited

Good things in this life are time-bound

Good things in this life are lesser goods than the goodness of God

They were never meant to carry the weight of being your supreme good.

God can bear that weight because he is the one who is infinitely, eternally, and surpemely good

And enjoying the goodness of God is the supreme good for all people.

[Bridge] Now you might be saying, what does it look like to enjoy God’s goodness?

What kinds of things will be present in my life?

And in Psalm 67, we are going to see 4 realities that will be true of us if we are thinking rightly about God’s goodness

These realities should be clearly evident in our minds and in our lives…

God’s goodness is meant to be…

A blessing to His people (1) - [8:00][-32]

The goodness of God is not something that we should simply know about

It is something that we should know personally as we live in the ongoing blessing that comes from knowing and living in light of God's goodness

Look with me at verse one first

Psalm 67:1 “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah”

These words are taken directly from Numbers chapter 6 in which Moses is instructing Aaron as the high priest in how he should bless the people of Israel

Here is what that passage in Numbers 6 says

Numbers 6:23–26 “Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”

You hear the similarities from Psalm 67?

So this blessing from Numbers 6 is baked into v. 1 of Psalm 67

The psalmist is taking that blessing from centuries earlier and is applying it to the present - It wasn’t just for them back then, but for God’s people continually.

And for those who are in Christ, who following him by faith, who have been adopted into God’s family… we are the recipients of this blessing as well.

Paul says in Eph. 1 that through Christ, we have received “every spiritual blessing”

And he says in 2 Cor. 1 that in Christ, all of the promises of God find their “yes”

Meaning, the things that God has declared throughout Scripture are true for us as the people of God just as much as they were true for the people back when God said them.

So we can be confident that v. 1 is true for us who are in Christ, just as much as it was true for the people in the Old Testament.

So how is God’s goodness a blessing?

God’s goodness is a blessing because it is…

His favor upon us

“May God be gracious to us”

The grace of God is his self-giving favor toward people who do not deserve it

When the Psalmist says, “May God be gracious to us” he is saying, “May God’s favor continue to be ours”

And this isn’t a baseless hope… this is rooted in who God is.

God declares of himself in Ex. 34 that he is a God who is “merciful and gracious”

God’s favor toward his people is a part of who he is… not just something he does from time to time.

He is a gracious God who in his goodness shows his favor to us

Though we do not deserve it

Next… God’s goodness is a blessing because it is…

His provision for us

“May the Lord bless us”

The Hebrew word for bless is a word that means “to seek good” for something

The Psalmist is saying, “May the Lord always do what is good for us”

God is perfectly good and he is always working good for us, even in difficult things

James says that every good gift comes from God and there is no changing in him, so you never have to fear that he will not work for your good.

The Lord will always provide for what is truly good for us.

Next… God’s goodness is a blessing because it is…

His attention toward us

Psalm 67:1 “May God… make his face to shine upon us”

In the Old Testament, to have your face turned toward someone is be for them, to pay attention to them, to care for them and to have their best interest in mind.

To have your face turned away is to be against them.

And the blessing that we experience because of God’s goodness is that his face is always toward us as his people.

I know very well the feeling of “Yes, God loves me, yes, God saved me… But he does that because he has to…”

“I don’t think he really cares that much about ME.”

Yes he does - His attention is toward you

He attends to you

He is for you

He is intimately aware of you and deeply cares for you.

These three truths

His favor upon us

His provision for us

His attention toward us

When we put them together, the result is that we will see his goodness as a blessing to us as his people.

When you belong to the Lord, you can know that he is working for your good, he welcomes you with his favor, and he is attentive to you continually.

That is truly a blessing - And the blessing belongs to us

Now, you notice that at the end of v. 1, it says “Selah.”

That is a word of instruction in the singing of the Psalm that indicates that a pause is necessary here

A pause that allows the people to reflect on the words they just sang.

And we need to pause as well before moving on to the next point

Because it is very easy to assume that because of the circumstances of your life, you are not the recipient of the goodness and blessing of God

You might be thinking, “If you knew what I'm dealing with, then you would not say that I am blessed and you would doubt the goodness of God just like I am doubting his goodness right now.”

And I understand that

But I want you to notice something… None of these things depend on circumstances.

In fact, all of them are true in spite of our circumstances.

If you belong to God through faith in Jesus Christ…

In the midst of what you are facing, his favor means that you have unhindered access to go to him with every burden that you are carrying knowing that he will care for you

Though hardship and trials may come, because God is good his provision means that he will use those things for your good and will guard you from those things that would keep you from him

He is not blind to what you are going through but you have his full attention. He is intimately aware of your circumstances beyond what you are even aware of, and he will not leave you or ignore you, but he will personally care for you

I know that some days it might not feel like you are blessed in the goodness of God, but I think that that is because we are so prone to forget about his goodness and so we don't see the blessing that it brings

If you and I will spend time reflecting on the goodness of God, we will see it as a blessing for us, regardless of what circumstances we might be living in

[Transition] But that blessing is not meant to be enjoyed privately.

It is meant to be shown publicly

Which leads us to the second point

God’s goodness is meant to be…

Displayed through his people (2) [20:00][-20]

In v. 1 he asks that God would bless them… but not as an end in itself.

There is an end goal in mind that we see in v. 2

Psalm 67:2 “[so] that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.”

The psalmist is not saying, "Lord, bless us so that we can have a good life.”

He is saying, "Lord bless us so that the world will see your goodness through us.”

This has always been the intended goal

Listen to how Jesus says it:

Matthew 5:16 “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Peter says the same thing

1 Peter 2:12 “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God.”

God’s plan for how he will be glorified in the world is that his goodness would be displayed through his people so that others would see

And by seeing they would then turn and give God glory.

And I want you to notice what specifically the Psalmist says they will see

“that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations”

The goodness that we are meant to display with our lives is that God’s way is best and that God’s saving power works

When you want to know if a claim is actually true, one of the most powerful arguments for that claim is if it actually works

It’s called the “practical test of truth” - Does this claim, when you try to live it out, actually work?

Lots of diets and supplements claim to transform your body… some of them work… some of them don’t.

And when it doesn’t work, you won’t believe someone who says it does work.

The greatest argument for the truth of Christianity is the transformation of the lives of God’s people by his saving power.

I used to be one way, but God has changed me

I used to be a slave to sin, but I have been set free through Christ

I used to think one way, but now I think differently

You can argue against Christianity all you want, but you cannot argue against the transformation of a life by God’s saving power.

But the most powerful argument against Christianity is when Christians look no different than the rest of the world.

Because that screams, “This things doesn’t work!”

But when you and I see God’s way as right and good and we desire for his goodness to be displayed through us, then the saving power of God is made visible to the world

So, we need to pause and ask the question: Would someone looking at your life see that you are enjoying God’s goodness?

Would they see that his way is better?

Would they have a front row seat to the reality that God’s blessing and goodness is worth desiring and worth turning from sin to embrace?

Or would they look at your life, and see that your life looks no different than the world, and conclude, “This thing doesn’t work”?

God’s goodness is meant to be displayed through his people

And we should long to enjoy his goodness more and more so that we can display it to the world more and more.

[Transition] But it isn’t just that we want the world see the goodness of God

We should desire that, in seeing the goodness of God displayed through our lives, those who do not know Christ and are not enjoying God’s goodness would turn to him and give their lives to him

which leads us to our third point

The goodness of God is meant to be…

Satisfying to all peoples (3-5) [26:00][-14]

You have heard at a few points this summer about the “chiastic structure” of the Psalms - That the structure of the Psalm is such that it highlights what is in the middle of it and the verses build in to that middle focus and then build out from it

In this Psalm, v. 3-5 are the center of that structure

[SLIDE]

Now, what I want you to notice is that vv. 3 & 5 are identical

[READ THEM]

Psalm 67:3 “Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!”

Psalm 67:5 “Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!”

That is a signal to the reader that v. 4 is REALLY important

And then the addition of “Selah” after v. 4 reinforces that fact.

It is so significant, that you need to pause and reflect

So what does v. 4 say that we need to make sure we don’t miss?

Psalm 67:4 “Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.”

Grammar matters when we read our Bibles

And in this verse, the conjunction “for” is making a logical connection

“Because this is true, let the nations be glad”

Because you are a just judge, who shows no partiality, and because you are a good guide who leads people toward what is truly good…

Let the nations see your goodness displayed in us

And let them be glad as they see it as good for them as well.

When you look at the world today, gladness and joy are the furthest things from what we observe.

Our world is filled with sorrow, suffering, starvation, oppression, exploitation

Why?

Because people throughout all time have pursued their own vision of goodness rather than God’s design for goodness

And a human version of goodness will always mean, “Good for me but at your expense.”

Every human solution to the problems that we face is always a solution that benefits some at the expense of others.

And the reason for that is because no human solution can solve the underlying problem of sin

This is why the solution to the problems in the world is not a new leader, or a new system, or a new law

The only solution to the problems we see in the world is that people would first be made right with their Creator, seeing his way as good

When you look at your friends, your family, your neighbors, your coworkers who do not know Christ, you have to be honest with yourself that so long as they are pursuing their own version of goodness, they will never know the gladness and joy that comes from God.

What they need… is for you to see God’s goodness as a blessing and to display that goodness through your life

And then they need you to point them to the source of the goodness as the only one who can satisfy their souls

We all understand the reality of wanting others to know about something good that we have discovered.

When you eat at a great restaurant, you tell people about it… because you want them to experience how great it was

When you find a gym, you tell people about it because you want them to experience what is so great about it

When you see a great movie, you tell people about it because you want them to enjoy it too.

There is a direct connection between being satisfied in something and wanting others to know that same satisfaction.

So the question for us is: Do I see God’s goodness as the thing I want other people to be satisfied in?

If so…

[Transition] We must make it a priority to tell them about it.

Which leads to the final point

God’s goodness is meant to be…

Spread to all peoples (6-7) - [33:00][-7]

In Genesis 1, God created mankind in his image, as reflections of his goodness

And he told them to “be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth.”

As they multiplied, more people, more reflections of God’s goodness would spread to the ends of the earth.

Then, in Matt. 28, Jesus tells his disciples, to “Make disciples of all nations”

Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth with people who are reflections of God’s goodness.

Both the Old and New Testaments begin with the same command - Spread the knowledge of God’s goodness to the ends of the earth

Our mission as a church and as God’s people is the same mission that God has had for his people since the beginning

To spread the knowledge of the goodness of God to the ends of the earth so that God would be glorified in all the earth.

Look at what he says in v. 6-7

Psalm 67:6–7 “The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us. God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!”

To “fear the Lord” is to be devoted to him

The best thing for the world is not for them to have the same preferences and opinions as you

The best thing for the world is not for them to vote like you do

The best thing for our world is for all people to be devoted to the Lord

And the Psalmist is teaching us that we should desire that above all.

And listen to me:

Our desire should not be for our lives to be easier

Our desire should not be to just be left alone

Our deepest desire should be to spend our lives, giving up whatever good things we must, so that others might know God’s goodness and be devoted to him.

One of the most gut-wrenching scenes in all of cinema is at the end of Schindler’s list

If you haven’t seen it, it’s over 30 years old so if I spoil the movie for you, I feel like that is on you.

Throughout the movie, the main character, Oskar Schindler, used his wealth and possessions to save Jews from extermination camps during the Holocaust.

At the end of the movie he is greeted by all of the people he saved.

But he is still wearing a nice suit, about to get into a nice car, and he begins to realize that he could have done more if he had been willing to part with more.

And he says, “This car… this car could have saved 10 people… 10 people right there.”

It is the best depiction of the realization of what could have been done if I had just been willing to see the bigger picture.

Church family, there is a bigger picture to your life

As we have been the recipients of the goodness of God through Jesus Christ…

We must see our place in the mission of God to spread the knowledge of his goodness through Christ to all people.

If we don’t we will reach the end and say:

What more could I have done if I had just freed up my schedule?

What more could we have done if we had just prioritized the mission in our finances and with our resources?

Where else could we have gone if we had just said no to a few lesser goods?

Will it cost us good things? Will we have to let go of good things we were pursuing in order to spread the knowledge of the goodness of God to all peoples?

Yes, but it will be worth it.

Enjoying the goodness of God is our supreme good

Because it is the supreme good of all people, from all nations.

So it will be worth giving up any other good thing in order to be devoted to spreading the knowledge of that supreme good.

And this isn’t for some of us - There are no sidelines in the mission of God

This is why we are so vocal about Mission: Go as the heartbeat of our church

We must all see ourselves as participating in spreading the good news of Jesus Christ, near and far, that all the peoples of the earth would be devoted to the Lord.

[Conclusion]

Enjoying the goodness of God is the supreme good for all people.

His goodness is meant to be:

A blessing to his people

Displayed through his people

Satisfying to all people

And spread to all peoples.

May we be a church that knows his goodness, shows his goodness, and goes to all who need to know his goodness as well.

Amen.