Biblical ABC’s: G is for – God Is Good
Do you remember that simple prayer that we used to say as children?
God is great,
God is good,
Let us thank Him for our food.
By His hands we are fed,
Thank you Lord for daily bread.
I thought this month we would stay with the positive and look at our GOOD GOD! The Bible has nearly sixty references to the “goodness” of God or to our “good” God! That should be a real encouragement to us! Not only as children saying a simple prayer, but as adults living our daily lives, we should be able to take comfort in knowing we have a good God:
“The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the LORD.” – Jeremiah 33:11. 1 Chronicles 16:34 – “O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.”
PRAYER
I.God is Good
In the truest sense of the word, no one is good. In the biblical sense, to be “good” is to be perfect, and none of us can say that we are perfect. In each of the first three gospels, there is recorded an experience of Jesus in which a rich young ruler comes to Him, seeking an easy way to get to heaven. So he asks, “GOOD Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” The answer from Jesus is put this way in each gospel: Matthew 19:17 – “And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” Mark 10:18 – “And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God,” and Luke 18:19 – “And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.” Jesus was trying to get the young man to admit that if he believed Jesus was good, he must believe that Jesus was God! The Bible says that he “went away sorrowful.” How sad not to be a believer in the one true God, “For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” (Psalm 84:11)
II.God is Good in Creation
I know this is a theme I repeat in nearly every lesson, but it can’t be said enough. God is our Creator, and what a magnificent world we live in! I had the privilege of my dear husband taking me over to the coast to see the changes of the coastline as Hurricane Irene skirted by and I was in awe! Just to be able to be a small part of the magnificence of what turned out to be such a huge problem up the east coast – it’s just amazing to experience! Genesis 1:31 – “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”
III. God is Good in Promise Keeping
What is your track record in keeping your word? We are well-meaning, most of us! But, there are times when intentionally, or, more often than not, unintentionally, we fail to keep our word. Somehow, the promises we make are not followed through. But we have a Holy God who keeps His promises! And He reminds us in His Word that He is good in doing so! In Jeremiah 33:14, we read, “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.” 1 Kings 8:56 says, “Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.” Philippians 2:13, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”
IV. God is Good in Spirit
I love how a careful reading of the Word of God reveals a clear understanding of the Trinity of God! Here we see that God is good, Jesus is good if we believe He is God in the flesh, and now, the Holy Spirit is good: Psalm 143:10 -- “Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness,” and again in Nehemiah 9:20 – “Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.” And, of course, not only is the Holy Spirit good, but we read in Luke 11:13 – “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” Isn’t it wonderful to serve such a GOOD God?
V. God is Good in Trouble
Where do you turn when the storm clouds are swirling all around you? Do you put your trust in God? Nahum 1:7 says, “The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.” But the key to that verse is the last part, the fact that one already trusts in God! Remember those familiar verses in Proverbs 3:5 & 6? “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Again, Psalm 34:8 says, “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.”
Not only is the Lord our stronghold in our day of trouble if we trust in Him, but think about this. Remember the life of Joseph? Think about all the days of trouble that he had. Starting early in life, he had trouble in his family life – not being well-liked even among his siblings. Then he was sold into slavery by those same brothers, some of whom had conspired to kill him. He worked hard, made a name for himself, earned a place of importance in the household of Potiphar and was subsequently accused by Potiphar’s wife after she was unable to persuade him to please her sexually. This earned him a swift trip to the prison house, but through it all, because of his unwavering trust in the Lord, Joseph’s life was spared and eventually he was, as we all know, lifted out of prison by telling Pharaoh the meaning of the dreams warning of the drought soon to come. At the end of Joseph’s father’s life, when his brother’s thought Joseph might get revenge for what they had done to him so long ago, this is what he said to them, “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.” – Genesis 50:20.
VI. God is Good to All
Psalm 145:9 says, “The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.” There’s an interesting thought in the book of Ezra, when the people came together to rebuild the temple. In Chapter 8, towards the end of verse 22, Ezra says, “The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.” Then he goes on to say in verse 23, “So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was entreated of us.” They understood the goodness of God, but it didn’t stop there! They put their understanding into action! So, what is it that we should do in light of the goodness of God? Here are a couple of things I found:
1.Psalm 122:9 – “Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek thy good.” This Psalm begins with “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.” This is the Old Testament version of Hebrews 10:24 & 25, “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” Our attendance in church is an encouragement to our Pastor and to one another and should provoke us to love one another more and seek to do good for one another!
2.Psalm 135:3 – “Praise the LORD; for the LORD is good: sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant.” SING!! Doesn’t matter if we’re on key or off! Do you ever sing to yourself when you do your chores? What sort of songs are we singing? Are we singing praises to God? Try to make a point of doing that next time – sing them yourself or put on Christian music to sing-along with! Listen to what David wrote in the book of Psalms about singing: 66:1 – “Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands:” 89:1 – “I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.” 95:1 & 2 – “O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.” 98:4 & 6 – “Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King,” and finally, 100:1 – “Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.”
3.Psalm 136:1 – “O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.” We are coming upon the Thanksgiving season and it cannot be stated enough: give thanks! We, of all nations, of all people, have so much to be thankful for! We must remember it is by the mercies of God that we have all the wonderful things in this life! 1 Chronicles 16:34 – “O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.” Psalm 79:13 – “So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations.” Psalm 106:1 – “Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.” Ephesians 5:20 – “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;” and in Revelation 11:17, “Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.”
God is great,
God is good,
Let us thank Him for our food.
By His hands we are fed,
Thank you Lord for daily bread.
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