Is God Good? The Bible Teaches That God Desires Good For His People
Is God Good?
People everywhere wrestle with the question, Is God good?, especially in light of pain and suffering in the world and in our own personal lives.
This morning God’s goodness and desire for blessing and good for His people struck me a little differently as I read Psalm 81-85. There was a similar message that ran through these psalms that can easily be verified through the whole counsel of Scripture— God desires good for His people.
In summary of Psalm 81, I wrote,
“God wanted Israel to walk with Him and be devoted to Him so that He could provide for them, protect them, and allow them to live in His goodness. He had no pleasure in turning them over to their stubbornness but they wanted and chose their own way rather than the safety net of God’s covering.
God chose them. They rejected God.”
The emphasis I noticed in Psalm 81 was God’s desire for their good, but in the midst of that we see their response to God’s offer.
But My people would not heed my voice, and Israel would have none of Me.
So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart to walk in their own counsel.
Psalm 81:11-12
What really struck me as I saw God’s goodness and His desire for our good emphasized in my reading was another question altogether. Why do we focus on the negative—on what we see as a lack of God’s goodness?
In reading through all the psalms, I have noticed repetitions of God’s good actions and blessings on His people. Yet still, we often lean our attention into anything we perceive as a negative aspect of God. We somehow see God giving over people who want to go their own way as God not being good.
God Desires To Be Good To Us
I have always loved Psalm 84:10 but today Psalm 84:11 held a message that had escaped me in the past.
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper
in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield, the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
Psalm 84:10-11
Notice that God will give grace and glory.
We talk a lot about God giving grace. We are comfortable with God giving us grace. We need it and we know we need it. In our Christian communities, needing, receiving, and accepting God’s grace is acceptable and safe. Who is going to condemn us for wanting and needing God to give us grace? We can all say we are comfortable with that.
But what about God giving us glory. That seems to strike a different chord - a dangerous chord. Asking for or wanting God to give us glory and admitting that desire can easily stir up a wildfire of condemnation in Christian circles. But God wants to give glory to His people according to the psalmist. In fact, the psalmist goes on to say that God will withhold no good thing from those who walk uprightly.
If we look at the original language of grace, glory, and good as used in Psalm 84:10-11, we can see the richness of God’s good desire for us.
In Hebrew:
· Grace means grace, honor, favor, charm, and elegance.
The definition of grace expresses something beautiful God intends for us.
· Glory means glory, abundance, riches, honor in relation to splendor, glory, dignity, reputation, and reverence.
Glory defined also expresses something deeply beautiful, rich, and rare.
· Good means good, pleasant, agreeable to the senses and to the higher nature, excellent, rich, valuable in estimation, appropriate, becoming, better, glad, happy, prosperous, understanding, kind, right, benefit, welfare, prosperity, happiness, and bounty.
The definition for good expresses tangible, valuable, benefits—goodness that all humans desire.
Seeing God’s desire to give us such gifts of grace, glory, and good reveals His own nature of grace, glory, and good. Would you be willing to look at these definitions and consider how God may express these gifts in your own life and understanding of Him?
For instance, since we seem to easily embrace grace, but struggle with the concept of God giving us glory, could you see God’s gift of glory to you through the definition?
Can you see that the blood of Jesus and His work of salvation offers you:
· Abundance and riches rather than brokenness and poverty of the soul?
· Dignity instead of shame?
· A new reputation instead of dishonor?
· Honor in relation to splendor because the Holy Spirit lives in you?
· The capacity to bring reverence wherever you go?
Can you see God’s gift of glory to you through that lens? Maybe in seeing His heart toward you more clearly, you can also answer the question, “Is God good?”
Our Natural Tendency Toward Negative
However, in some religious circles, you might find yourself, as my mama would say, “in a heap of trouble” if you focus on God’s desire for our good. Sometimes we can find ourselves in Christian spaces where the preference is to focus on the problem with us, the problem with sin, rather than the goodness of God.
I have been there. And even still, I agree that our problem with sin is one that must be addressed and dealt with. And the truth is, it was dealt with. Jesus dealt with it because of the grace, glory, and goodness of God. Therefore, we don’t have to stay focused on us and our issues all the time, we can turn our attention and affection towards God, on all that He has done for us, and how He desires to benefit us.
My desire is to challenge our tendency towards the negative so that we aren’t held back from receiving all God has for us. As I stated in my opening statement, our problem with staying focused on God’s goodness is the reality of pain and suffering. We ask questions like:
If God is good, why is there pain and suffering?
If God is good, why would He let His people suffer?
If God is good, why is there disease and death?
If God is good, why do bad things happen to good people?
Building Life on the Foundation of God’s Goodness
Our humanity trembles at the prospect of holding the truth of God’s goodness and the presence of pain and suffering in the same frame. But in this earthly existence, neither one excommunicates the other. However, in our eternal existence God’s goodness does and will excommunicate pain and suffering. We have that assurance.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."
Revelation 21:4
In God’s goodness, He promises us excommunication of pain and suffering. Not yet. But it’s coming.
The Bible teaches that God is good, even when life causes us to wrestle with the question, Is God good? Does our experience mean God isn’t good? I cannot reconcile that based on what God’s word tells me and my personal experience.
Maybe you think, it is because I have not faced pain and suffering like you. And you are probably right. But in like manner, you may not have experienced the pain and suffering that I have because I have had my own share. I have experienced the violence of trauma, the agony of death, the shattering of rejection, and the deepest heartache of heartbreak. But in it all, I stand on a foundation of God’s goodness, grace, and glory.
Can I fathom it all? Do the components of my life align in this perfect mental framework that causes me no inner turmoil and wrestle? Definitely not.
But knowing and believing that God’s heart and plan for me are good, and that He desires to give me grace and glory, helps me stand strong and keep going. And I believe it can help you in your deepest personal pains and losses as well.
Do You Need To Reset Your Foundation?
Sometimes we simply need a fresh perspective in the midst of a difficult season of life. And sometimes we need our foundation reset. Maybe your circumstances have caused you to question or reject God’s goodness altogether.
We have a choice to make about our foundation. Circumstances shift and change all the time. God does not change. God’s nature and character does not change. His heart towards us and for us does not change.
Every good and perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,
who does not change like shifting shadows.
James 1:17
Yes, the Lord will give what is good.
Psalm 85:12
Let’s build our foundation on the goodness of God, even when life causes us to wrestle with the question, Is God good?
Here is a prayer for you today:
Precious Heavenly Daddy,
I need Your gift of your grace, glory, and goodness in my life. Help me to understand and believe that is Your will for me even when my circumstances try to cloud my mind from comprehending and embracing that truth. Help me build my life on the foundation of your desire for my good so that I am not shaken when life’s pain and suffering threatens my faith and resolve. I love You and need You, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
If you need more encouragement, in my latest HER Podcast, How to Trust God When Life Is Out of Your Control,I sat down with Jody Hudson and we talked about how God was present with her in a season when life felt completely out of control.
This conversation is a powerful reminder that even when life feels out of control, God’s grace, glory, and goodness is there for you.
