“The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want for any good thing.” Psalm 34:10
It was Cecil F. Alexander who wrote in a hymn: “Complete in Thee! each need supplied. And no good thing to me denied; Since Thou my portion, Lord, will be, I ask no more, complete in Thee.” The basis for God’s goodness manifested to the believer in a most tangible manner, is expressed in Christ’s final words on the cross: “It is finished.” In those words is blessing beyond what man could ever conceive of, or grasp. Indeed, it will certainly take a new, and glorified body, to be able to see, and know, such depths of the wealth of knowing God. But what do those infinite, eternal blessings, have to do with the present moment, especially in the times in which we live? The answer lies in the provision and promises of God.
When the prodigal son returned home, who had left home with his inheritance in hand, and then squandered it in a foreign land on loose living and sin, the story tells us that the father saw him afar off. Certainly, by the manner that he walked, he recognized him. The reaction of the father was a most remarkable one, for in one instant, he put aside every thought or consideration of his son that would keep him from receiving him, casting all aside, every consideration, to run to meet him. He then, and as Scripture relates, fell upon his neck and kissed him. The son had lost all. More than that, he had tasted the depths of rejection, condemnation, and hopelessness, by his actions. Though he remembered how his father treated the servants in his own household, he did not realize something about the father until there was nothing left but the mercy, grace, and love of the father. The son had nothing else to contribute to the relationship, except what the father so very much desired in the first place. It was at that moment, when the son, so crushed by his failures and unfaithfulness, was received by the father, that the father did a most remarkable thing. He called for a ring to be put on the finger of the son, new fresh, and clean clothing to be taken and put on, and then, a feast to be declared in celebration of the son’s return. What kind of a father is this? In this story, or parable, that Jesus told, he sought to reveal something of the love of God, a love that does NOT have its beginning and ending on this earth, only in heaven. He sought to reveal to the whole of mankind through this story in the gospels that the goodness of God is something that only God can reveal or show and communicate to those who do not have this love naturally. That which we see in the father is His goodness, perfect goodness, amplified by eternal love, and applied in exactly the right manner at the right time, and in the right circumstance.
Why then do we consider the matter of the “good thing?” And how does it apply to the believer in being able to receive and live by it, for the glory of God? The eternal God has never changed from before the beginning of time, until this very day. He remains the waiting Father, looking down that lonely road, ever waiting to catch a glimpse of His lost son. His great desire is that he should live. But how can He give, if the son has not returned? The basis for the Father’s earnest desire is Christ’s finished work on Calvary, a work that deals with all sin and every enemy, in order to enable the lost son to receive power to live. All that is IN Christ, and in the Father, to be received and known, is good, perfect, and abundant in provision. The promise is: “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:19)
Dear Father, Show forth Thy goodness. In Jesus’ name, Amen.