Goodness

Can you think of a word that has as many “cinnamons” as GOOD? We toss the word good around all day, don’t we?  

• “I slept good—no alarm!”  
• “This coffee is good.”  
• “Those brakes don’t sound good.”  
• “Insurance only up 5%—that’s good news.”  
• “War in the Middle East? Not good.”  
• “Team lost—sad face.”  
• “Mom’s health isn’t good.”  
• “That smoothie? So good.”  
• “Tragic accident on the news—how does a good God let good people suffer?”

Ask your kids or grandkids and they’ll tell you that your meaning for GOOD is out of date!

Most of us define good by what feels nice right now—senses, circumstances, “I like / I don’t like.” God’s creation (and human ingenuity) gives us a buffet of delightful options. But when we define good in a moral sense, our options shrink. Few ask the ultimate question:  who gets to define GOOD?

GOD IS THE FINAL STANDARD OF GOOD

Jesus met a man who called Him “Good Teacher” to butter Him up. Jesus cut through the flattery: “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” (Luke 18:19)
.  

• Psalm 19 sings of God’s law, precepts, commands—all perfect, all good.  
• Goodness is God’s moral DNA, infinitely perfect.  
• Standard: whatever receives God’s approval.

ALL THAT GOD DOES IS GOOD

• Genesis 1:31 – Creation: “Very good” = beautiful, flawless.  
• 1 Timothy 4:4 – Everything God made is good.  
• James 1:17 – Every good gift descends from the unchanging Father of lights.

The Psalms are most prolific in proclaiming God's goodness:

Ps 25:8	Good + upright → teaches the humble
Ps 54:6	Name is good → delivers from enemies
Ps 86:5	Ready to forgive, abounding in mercy
Ps 100:5	Eternal truth + steadfast love
Ps 119:68	“You are good and do good”
Ps 145:9,15-16	Opens His hand, satisfies every living thing

Common grace: Rain falls on the just and unjust.

Bottom line: God never acts outside His goodness.

3. WE NEED A RIGHT UNDERSTANDING OF GOD’S GOODNESS

It is one thing to acknowledge that God is the final standard of good and that all he does is good.  But acknowledgement is not always understanding, and we must learn to possess a right understanding of God’s goodness.  The portrayal of God’s goodness in Scripture makes two things clear.  God’s goodness has an object and a purpose.

The primary object of God’s goodness is mankind. Creation was “very good” for us—until sin. Now?  

• Romans 3:10-12 – “No one does good.”  
• Jeremiah 17:9 – Heart deceitful above all.  
• Isaiah 64:6 – Our best deeds? Filthy rags.

We need God’s goodness because we aren’t good.

Secondly, God's goodness has a purpose.

• Romans 2:4 – God’s kindness leads us to repentance.  

• Romans 11:22 – Behold goodness AND severity. Continue in goodness—or be cut off.

This is an important theme throughout Scripture.  God is infinitely and eternally good, but he also hates and will judge that which is not good, that of which he does not approve.  He hates sin.  Sadly, liberal theologians in the 19th century propagated teaching that, in short, attacked the substance of Christian faith by minimized sin and the redeeming work of Christ on the cross.  Thus, the corresponding need to be saved and brought into God’s good favor by genuine repentance became no longer viewed as essential.  Over time, this supposed enlightened teaching flooded greater Protestantism and has led to the modern day in which there exists a confused and distorted view of God as being something like an eternally benevolent grandfather.

Author J.I. Packer, in his 1973 book, “Knowing God” writes that man has come to view God as a “celestial Santa Claus, where sins create no problem, and atonement becomes needless; God’s active favor extends no less to those who disregard his commands than to those who keep them.  The idea that God’s attitude to me is affected by whether or not I do what he says has no place the thoughts of the man on the street, and any attempt to show the need for fear in God’s presence, for trembling at his word gets written off as impossibly old-fashioned.”  

Packer goes on to identify the problem with this distorted view of God’s goodness.  “It cannot cope with problem of evil.  How can we possibly see the goodwill of a celestial Santa Claus in all of the terrible and destructive things that go on in our world?  The only way to have a God like this is to dissociate him from this evil and deny that he has any direct relation to them or control over them;  in other words, to deny his omnipotence and lordship over his world….Thus, people are left with a kind God who means well but cannot always insulate his children from trouble and grief.  When trouble comes, therefore, there is nothing to do but grin and bear it.  In this way, by an ironic paradox, faith in a God who is all goodness and no severity tends to confirm men in a fatalistic and pessimistic attitude toward life.”  

How can a good God allow bad things to happen to good people?  Now we can perhaps better understand questions like this and the despair in which people, even Christians, can find themselves without a right understanding of God’s goodness.  

Moses earnestly sought a right view of God’s goodness as he led the children of Israel in the wilderness.  We are acquainted with the events of Exodus when God called Moses up the mountain to receive the law.  In unbelief, the people descended to idolatry and gross sin. Having just been with God for 40 days, Moses, in righteous anger, broke the stone tablets when he saw the people’s depravity.  Then, prostrated before God, he pleads for the people’s lives.  After this intense experience, Moses sincerely and desperately asks God to show him his glory as assurance that God will go with him and help him lead the people.  God graciously invites him back up the mountain and in awesome glory and omnipotent voice declares: (Slide 7) Ex 34:6-7  “And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and fourth generation.”

Friends, it is vitally important that we contemplate the object and purpose of God’s goodness. We desperately need an omnipotently good God, not a celestial Santa Claus.  

WE CAN EMULATE GOD’S GOODNESS
Some of God’s attributes he does not share with us.  The “Omni’s” would be a good example. However, goodness is an attribute which God shares with us, to a degree.  We are commanded to emulate God’s goodness.

• Gal 5:22 – Fruit of the Spirit  

• Gal 6:10 – Do good to all, especially the family of faith  
• Phil 4:8 – Think on whatever is good  
• 1 Tim 6:18 – Be rich in good works  
• Luke 6:27 – Do good to enemies  
• Heb 13:16 – Don’t neglect—goodness often costs.

WE CAN GROW IN EXPERIENCING GOD’S GOODNESS

As we are honest, our feelings or view of God’s goodness is something we struggle with at times.  Perhaps, even now, you have mixed thoughts on this topic.  Maybe you agree with all of the facts about God’s goodness but sense a disconnect of it with your own life.  Your circumstances seem so often swirling/overwhelming that it is hard to distinguish where God’s goodness is.   Maybe you’re at a later stage in life and feel as though you have exhausted all the goodness that there is to receive from God.  As you deal with current life/health situations or reflect back on some of the enduring heartaches of life, you may struggle to see that God really has been or is still good.

Well, I’m glad you brought those things up, because our God, in his omniscience, knows about your unique situation today.  The Bible is the grand story that his perfect goodness is over and in all of life.   Thankfully, the men he chose to write this story experienced this for themselves.

Moreover, through their experience, they reflected on and learned from God’s goodness and passed this along through their inspired writings.

Psalm 34 is one of those precious stories.  Please turn there with me.  I would like to conclude this message with a mini exegesis or examination of this wonderful poem.  Some of the Psalms relate to specific events in the life of the writer.  We are sometimes informed of this at the beginning.  This is one such as the introductory words point us to a specific event in David’s life (read it).  This is described for us in greater detail in I Samuel 21.  The broader story begins in chapter 16 and could conclude in chapter 22.  This is a fascinating period in the life of one of the most complex men in Scripture.  I would encourage you to read this text yourself. It does help in “setting the table” so to speak, as we approach Psalm 34.

In succinctly summarizing this period of life, it would be an understatement to say that David experienced a wide range of circumstances.  Some seemed good, others were not.  Some events were allowed by God as he molded and shaped a man who loved him.  Others seem to come as a result of David’s own choices as he grew and matured.  In summary, he is selected by God out of total obscurity as a teenager and anointed by Samuel as his chosen King of Israel.  Yet, Saul is still king, so that creates an odd and difficult situation.  He confronts and kills Goliath and begins to increasingly lead Israel in successful warfare against the pagan Philistines in God’s name.  Saul is fearful and jealous of David’s rise; he alternates his relationship with David between acts of indulgence and attempts to kill.  David flees to the enemy Philistines for perceived escape, taking with him for protection the sword of the giant he killed with a stone.  Realizing his tenuous situation in enemy territory, he fakes madness to escape.  He winds up hiding in a cave, where his reputation attracts the company of a growing number of outcasts, misfits and ne’er do wells whom he begins to lead and forms into an armed band for mutual protection.

Can you imagine reflecting on a series of events like that if they occurred in your life?  Let’s look at how David communicates this to us in the six paragraphs of this poem.

Vs 1-3 – David openly, expressively and vocally blesses, praises and boasts in God, inviting his audience to magnify and exalt God’s name with him.  This is a common pattern in the Psalms and a good one for us to emulate in any situation of life.  It is a powerful thing in our Bible reading to look for and praise God for his attributes.

Vs. 4-7 – In reflecting on his past circumstances, he recognizes his propensity toward fear.  We can identify with that.  The temptation to fear is strong.  Often when we face fear, we attempt to run and/or hide.  David did some of that but realized the folly of that path and sought the Lord.  He identified the circumstances and his fear and cried out to the Lord. He altered his posture, turning his face toward God and subsequently reflecting the radiance of God which eradicated his fear and shame.  We have to recognize that fear is a temptation to sin.  Fear itself, if not submitted to God is sin.  Repentance means to literally turn around, change our direction or our mind toward God.  David describes his turning from fear to the Lord and the resulting forgiveness, restoration and salvation he experienced.  Friends, do not neglect the power of repentance and restoration as the on-ramp toward growing in experiencing the goodness of God.

Vs 8-10 – This seems to be a pivot point and key emphasis of this song.  We are invited to “Taste and see”.  God’s goodness is experiential, not theoretical.  You and I will not learn of God’s goodness merely from a book, a class, a sermon, or even a Bible study, as good as all of those are.  We must experience it.  How?  Fear the Lord, David says.  Ok, what does that mean?  We see that phrase repeatedly in Scripture.  I’m not going to try and summarize it with another short phrase.  It would be worth your while to study this out as often as it is emphasized.  There are multiple aspects to it.  David offers one here as he describes receiving and lacking good things.  He uses the picture of young lions as flannel graph example.   David, as a shepherd in the wilderness, had a front row seat to the cycle of life and death in the natural world.  His immediate audience would likely have understood.  We have a harder time as most of us don’t live up close and personal with predators.  I remember as a boy watching the nature show – Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom.  The star, Marlin Perkins, led viewers on a close-up view of life in the wild.  Lions seemed the most popular, and it was common to watch a family of lions function.  With short attention spans, the young cubs would watch their parents hunt game and figure “that’s not as hard as it looks”.  As they grew into young lions, they would demonstrate their self-reliance by trusting in their own strength and speed, seeming to ignore most of what they had watched their parents do.  The film would often show them embarking on a mad chase of violent energy and extreme speed, only to wind up missing the prey and going hungry.  So, David likens this to us, even himself as a young man.  He teaches that to fear the Lord is to stop trusting in myself and seek/trust in the Lord.  “Those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.”

Vs 11-14 – pivots on a question.  First, he calls “Come children, listen to me” – who are these
children?  Perhaps it was the group of immature men gathering around him at Adullam’s cave.  Perhaps it was his own children later in life, or a tender call to his people in general. It could very well be a call to those who will humble themselves as children to listen and learn the fear of the Lord.  Jesus likened true faith as embodied by the attitude of a child.  Now that he has the attention of those humble enough to identify as a child, he relates how he learned the fear of the Lord in his own life which led to growing in his awareness and experience of God’s goodness toward him.  Vs. 12 brings us to the question – it is fascinating one – “Who is the man who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good?  I think there may be two ways to interpret this question, identified by two distinct paths, one or the other on which we find ourselves.  On one hand are those people who prioritize their lives around fearing and following God.  Desiring, following, obeying and prioritizing a long life of service to God will result in experiencing good, and in some cases, even lengthening time which God allows us on this earth as the fifth commandment promises.  Desiring a long life centered on continuing and growing service to God is a good thing and has no age limit.  

On the other hand, the construction of this question could be a cautionary warning to those who would prioritize a good life as a futile attempt to pursue good and not find it.  Perhaps David came to realize that.  This concept is a prevalent temptation, especially in our culture. The so called “American Dream” has great appeal and is earnestly, if ignorantly sought after. Most people, Christians included, invest great time, talent and treasure in constructing carefully crafted and manicured lifestyles which prioritize health, wellness, family happiness and comfort, financial security, a curated, though chaotic schedule with ample time for the internet, social media, sports, hobbies and “down time” in pursuit of a trouble free, long life that is thought of as good.  This temptation afflicts people of all ages.  The problem is that there is only so much time and what inevitably gets squeezed out of this lifestyle is God.

Growing in personal relationship with God and church family, time spent in his word and prayer, serving God with Holy Spirit supplied gifts, obeying Jesus in the making of disciples all takes a back seat in pursuit of the good life. They even buy clothing labelled “Life is Good” in effort to convince themselves of this elusive cause.  In answer to David’s question, which of these paths best describes you?

In addition to the deep reflection which this question demands, David clearly outlines other ways in which to grow in experiencing God’s goodness in vs. 13-14.  Turn from evil, seek, pursue and do that which God approves of.  The true Christian life is not a complex series of rules and abolitions which are often derogatorily made out to seem onerous, unpopular and mocked.  Simply turn from evil/sin, pursue what God approves of (what is good).  This echoes throughout scripture.

Vs 15-18 show us the wonderful, incredible response of our God to those who will do this.  He is present.  Notice how David describes God’s senses in his engagement with those who seek him; He sees, he hears, he gives personal attention and presence, he acts in deliverance and salvation.  He is not distant and removed from our lives or circumstances.  Our Good God is present with those who fear and seek him.

Vs 19-22 “Many are the afflictions of the righteous”….Afflictions will come, suffering will be real, bad things will happen, but God is faithfully present in our circumstances, and he also pays attention to the smallest details.  Look at v. 20.   “He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.”  You may wonder why that sentence is there.  In chapter 19 of John’s gospel, he related the events of the crucifixion.  In the power of his substitutionary, atoning death, Jesus was not killed but gave up his life in v. 30.  John goes on to confirm this by the actions of the Roman soldiers in response to the Jewish request that the bodies of the three crucified men would be taken down before the Sabbath began.  The soldiers brutally broke the legs of the two thieves, but coming to the Lord Jesus, they saw that he was already dead and did not break his bones.  John witnessed this and wrote it so that “you also may believe” and then quotes Psalm 34:20 as fulfilled prophecy.  Our Lord and Savior, who gave himself for us, even in his suffering and agony, was not outside the infinite and protective goodness of the Father, even in the smallest of details.  How could David know that what he wrote was a beautiful picture of goodness toward his descendant.

I could see Jesus teaching the truth of this Psalm to his disciples, the apostles who obeyed his command to go and make disciples.

This is why Peter quoted this Psalm in his first epistle as he himself went through and encouraged his readers as they suffered persecution.

Finally, this is why Paul could confidently tell the Roman Christians…

"We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

This is not a promise to fulfill the American dream, derogatory to those who don’t achieve it, nor a fatalistic resolve that all is good if we just grin and bear it.  Far from it.  To translate/paraphrase this another way….

God sovereignly orchestrates the circumstances of life in order to bring about the Christlikeness of those who seek after and obey him.  These are the people God called and saved to do his will for his glory.

Ps 27:13 – As David contemplates all of the ways in which God has cared for him, he cries out:

“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he will strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord.”