Thou art good and doest good” (Psalm 119:68). God is so good; He is the ideal person, the sum total of all perfection. There are no defects or contradictions in Him, and nothing can be added to His nature to make Him any better. He is excellent to an infinite degree, possessing every desirable quality, and therefore of inestimable value.
God is good. He is also the source and fountain of all other good. He does good things. He extends His goodness to others. It is His nature to be kind, generous, and benevolent, to demonstrate good will toward men, and to take great pleasure in making them happy. Every good thing we now enjoy or ever hope to enjoy flows from Him, and no good thing has ever existed or ever will exist that does not come from His good hand. In addition, everything God does is good—specially tailored for our benefit. Asaph began Psalm 73 by stating quite literally, “Only God is good to Israel.” In other words, God is nothing but good. He can do nothing but what is absolutely best.
Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; Sing praises to His name, for it is lovely (Psalm 135:3).
(Genesis 1:31). No one can observe the grandeur of God’s handiwork and deny that it is good
“The earth is full of the goodness of the LORD” (Psalm 33:5 KJV).
The LORD is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works (Psalm 145:9).
The person who knows Him personally, who understands and appreciates His goodness, will not only enjoy His blessings fully, but use them thankfully and unselfishly, giving glory to Him.
How great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast stored up for those who fear Thee, which Thou hast wrought for those who take refuge in Thee, before the sons of men! (Psalm 31:19)
The Psalmist goes further: “No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11).
Objections?
Of course, not everybody agrees that God is good, and it should be no surprise that His goodness is being called into question today. It was probably the first attribute of God to be attacked in human history. When Satan met Eve in the garden, he implied that God was less than good for denying her the luscious fruit of that one forbidden tree (Genesis 3:1-5). Men have been challenging God’s goodness ever since. How can a good God allow evil to exist in His world? How can He permit disease, pain, suffering, poverty, hunger, prejudice, greed, exploitation, crime, violence, war, bloodshed, catastrophe, and destruction? They argue, either He is not very good or He does not have the power to stop it.
God tells us that His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9), therefore we cannot expect to understand everything. We know that God in His sovereign good pleasure created man with volition—the ability to choose good or evil. The first man chose evil of his own will, and his sin affected all of God’s creation. All of the heartache and suffering in this world today are the direct result of that choice, the consequence of living in a world affected by sin.
Response to God’s goodness
When we become aware of God’s goodness, it should elicit a certain kind of response from us.
God’s goodness prompts songs of praise and thanksgiving
Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His loving-kindness is everlasting (Psalm 106:1).
Regards
Kachel
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