god is good

God is Good

I struggle with a depressive illness and find it difficult at times to think. At such times, I often repeat to myself ‘God is good… God is good’. To repeat this gently inside my mind can be a real balm for my soul. Metaphorically, it lifts up my head.

In this simple statement of faith I am expressing one of the central affirmations of Scripture.

In Genesis One, two qualities of the Creator are very evident. Firstly, he is great. God speaks repeatedly by fiat and and what he commands immediately happens. His word not only commands, it creates. This is unparalleled sovereignty. It is unrivalled power. God is great. But we also read, upon viewing what he created, ‘and God saw that it was good… it was good… it was very good’. The good creation proclaims the goodness of its Creator. God is good.

Tragically the story of humanity is one of rebelling against our Creator. Such rebellion is evil and chooses evil. It can be nothing else since turning against the Creator is to turn against goodness. To rebel against goodness is inevitably to choose evil and a way of disaster.

When we say ‘God is good’ we do not mean he conforms to some standard of goodness outside himself. If he did he would not be God. Rather, God is in himself the standard of goodness. His character as God is the definition of goodness. As creatures reflecting his image we define goodness as he does and whether we know it or not we are defining it in terms of who God is. Of course, our understanding of what is good has been distorted by the fall, however there remains an innate sense of goodness that points to the Creator; to think of what is truly good is to think of the ineffable; it is to think of God.

God’s goodness, however, is not an abstraction that cannot be defined. God reveals to us in Scripture what constitutes his goodness. A key incident where his goodness is revealed is when Moses meet God on Sinai (Ex 33,34). When Israel arrived at Sinai having been redeemed from Egypt, God entered into a solemn covenant with them. The covenant demanded Israel’s devotion to God in return for his devotion to them. He made himself known to them as Yahweh – the name is his special name for his people. It declares his self-existing sovereignty but a sovereignty that works on behalf of his people (Ex 3:15,16). The nation agreed to the covenant conditions including the warning that God would not pardon their transgressions if they broke the covenant,

Yet, no sooner had Moses gone up the mountain to receive details of the covenant and its summary two tablets than Israel made and worshipped a golden calf on the plain below. God was incandescent with holy rage. The covenant had said Israel would bot be pardoned for transgressions and God was minded to wipe the nation and restart his salvation plan through Moses and his family (Ex 22). However, his anger abated and instead of enacting the covenant judgements he decided to forgive. Why? The reason becomes clear when Moses requests to see the Lord’s glory. God agrees, at least he agrees Moses will see the rear trail of his glory; to see the full glory was more than Moses could have borne. He says to Moses,

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… The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation (Ex 33, 34).

Yahweh’s sovereignty is a sovereignty of goodness that acts in grace to his people. God’s goodness is expressed in his grace, mercy, committed love and faithfulness and forgiving iniquity… though the warning remains that God’s sin will have consequences that will affect generations to come. God did not wipe out Israel as the covenant stipulated instead he was guided by the goodness of his character and his sovereign prerogative as God to be gracious and forgive. Central to the goodness of God is his commitment to his people. He is a God who chooses to be merciful.

It is this goodness of grace that drives the biblical narrative. God’s goodness expresses itself in many ways but chiefly in his plan to create for himself a people that he will renew in his own image and bring into a renewed heavens and earth where righteousness dwells and sin is no more.

And so the goodness of God is stamped on the consciousness of his people.

The psalms often affirm God’s goodness. Sometimes in more or less the words used by God to describe himself in Exodus.

For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You. (Psalm 86:5).

Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts, and I will declare Your greatness. They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness, and shall sing of Your righteousness. The LORD is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy. The LORD is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works (Psalm 145:6-9).

How abundant are the good things that you have stored up for those who fear you, that you bestow in the sight of all, on those who take refuge in you. (Ps 31:19)

God’s goodness is not passive. His goodness is active. God works on behalf of others.

You are good, and do good. (Psalm 119:68).

Good and upright is the LORD; therefore He teaches sinners in the way. (Psalm 25:8)

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23:6

But you, Sovereign Lord, help me for your name’s sake; out of the goodness of your love, deliver me. (Psalm 109: 21)

The following texts convey a little of God’s goodness in action and provoke thanksgiving.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting. (Psalm 100:4-5)

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness. (Psalm 107:8-9)

The psalmist is looking beyond the covenant people and sees that his goodness reaches out to all peoples. He provides good things for all humanity – especially those who long for spiritual blessing . Psalm 145, cited above, makes the same point.

One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. 5 On the glorious splendour 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. (Ps 145:6-9

Jesus says

If you then, being 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! (Matthew 7:11)

James echoes this by saying,

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning (James 1:17)

If a gift is ‘good,’ it ultimately comes from God—the unchanging God. However, close to these texts. as noted above. is the gift of spiritual blessings which are the greatest of all God’s good gifts.

It is this multiplicitous goodness of God that sustains his people.

I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. (Psalm 27:13)

Hear me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good; turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies. (Psalm 69:16)

The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him. (Nahum 1:7)

And this same goodness ought to bring men to repentance.

Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? (Romans 2:4).

The psalmists words are like a gospel proclamation.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts. (Ps 34:8)

The words of Jesus reveal that the goodness of God, indeed the exclusive goodness of God had by the NT become part of Israel’s creed.

And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, ‘Why do you call me good? There is none good but one, that is, God. (Mk 10:18)

Jesus was inviting the man to whom he spoke to consider who he really was. If Jesus was good he was divine. The works he did were the good works of his Father expressing his goodness.

Jesus called out, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” (John 18:32). 

The great NT gospel affirmation that arises from God’s goodness coupled with its OT counterpart completes this meditation

All things work for good for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Roms 8:28)

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ (Jer 29:11)

Of course, we must remember that what we think of as for our good is not necessarily what God considers for our good. Our good is all that prepares us for coming glory – glory is our hope and future. And future glory is living forever in the goodness of God.

Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You, which You have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence of the sons of men! Psalm 31:19-20

How good is the God we adore,
our faithful, unchangeable friend;
whose love is as great as his power,
and neither knows measure nor end.

Tis Jesus, the first and the last,
whose Spirit shall guide us safe home;
we’ll praise Him for all that is past,
and trust him for all that’s to come.