Knowing the God who is Good

Psalm 145:1-21

Psalm 145:1–21 ESV

1 I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. 2 Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. 3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. 4 One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. 5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. 6 They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. 7 They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness. 8 The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9 The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. 10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your saints shall bless you! 11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power, 12 to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. 13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works. 14 The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. 15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. 16 You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing. 17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. 18 The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. 19 He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them. 20 The Lord preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. 21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

1 I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever.

2 Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever.

3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.

4 One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.

5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.

6 They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness.

7 They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

8 The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

9 The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.

10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your saints shall bless you!

11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power,

12 to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.

14 The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.

15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.

16 You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing.

17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.

18 The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

19 He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.

20 The Lord preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.

21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

Goodness of God

Synopsis

All God’s perfect qualities are made freely available to all for the benefit of the whole world.

God alone is good

(ESV) — 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.

God demonstrates his goodness

In his actions

(ESV) — 68 You are good and do good; teach me your statutes.

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(ESV) — 18 For a majority of the people, many of them from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise than as prescribed. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, “May the good Lord pardon everyone

(ESV) — 20 You gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst.

(ESV) — 1 Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.

(ESV) — 10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!

(ESV) — 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

(ESV) — 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

In his work of creation

(ESV) — 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,

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(ESV) — 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.

(ESV) — 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

(ESV) — 9 The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.

In his love

(ESV) — 5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

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(ESV) — 34 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

(ESV) — 7 Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord! 8 Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.

(ESV) — 16 Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.

(ESV) — 5 For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

In his gifts

(ESV) — 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

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(ESV) — 27 And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.

(ESV) — 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills,

(ESV) — 11 And you shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.

(ESV) — 11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation)

In his promises

(ESV) — 14 “And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed. 15 But just as all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the Lord will bring upon you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the Lord your God has given you,

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(ESV) — 28 And now, O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant.

(ESV) — 56 “Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant.

(ESV) — 10 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.

In his commands

(ESV) — 39 Turn away the reproach that I dread, for your rules are good.

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(ESV) — 7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;

(ESV) — 12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

(ESV) — 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.

(ESV) — 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

God’s goodness is to be experienced

God is good to those who trust him

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(ESV) — 8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

(ESV) — 7 The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.

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(ESV) — 19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

(ESV) — 10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their homes, joyful and glad of heart for the prosperity that the Lord had granted to David and to Solomon and to Israel his people.

(ESV) — 11 Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold.

(ESV) — 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! 20 In the cover of your presence you hide them from the plots of men; you store them in your shelter from the strife of tongues.

(ESV) — 11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.

(ESV) — 17 Show me a sign of your favor, that those who hate me may see and be put to shame because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

(ESV) — 25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.

(ESV) — 14 Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said. 15 Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

(ESV) — 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

God’s people can rely on his goodness

(ESV) — 40 I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.

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(ESV) — 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

(ESV) — 13 I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!

(ESV) — 11 If you then, who are 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!

(ESV) — 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

God works positively for good in unfavourable circumstances

(ESV) — 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

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(ESV) — 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

(ESV) — 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

(ESV) — 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,

(ESV) — 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.

God’s goodness is to be praised

(ESV) — 3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing to his name, for it is pleasant!

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(ESV) — 10 And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.

(ESV) — 13 and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord), and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the Lord, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever,” the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud,

(ESV) — 3 When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”

(ESV) — 5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

(ESV) — 1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

(ESV) — 7 They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.