“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations.” Psalm 100:4,5
It is a remarkable thing that the eternal King, Maker of Heaven and Earth, and the sole Redeemer of men, calls forth from believing hearts, loud singing, a joyful noise, thanksgiving and praise. Why? It is because of His immaculate, perfect, and eternal goodness. Why is this such a wonderful truth for the human race? The answer lies in the benefits, or blessings, of that goodness, of which man partakes. Scripture tells us that, “…Every good and perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1:17) Not only do gifts, good gifts, come from heaven, from God Himself, but Jesus would even bring us before the fact that, “…there is none good but one, that is, God.” (Matt. 19:17) So, perhaps one of the greatest attributes of God that separates Him in His holiness from sinful man is this. He is perfectly, and practically, good. There is no fault in Him, no injustice, only righteouusness, truth, and blessing.
It was J. Hart, who wrote, “How good is the God we adore, Our faithful unchanging Friend; His love is as great as His power, And knows neither measure nor end.” The application to the lives of men of this great truth is found in Hart’s second stanza of his hymn: “‘Tis Jesus the first and the last, Whose Spirit shall guide us safe home; We’ll praise Him for all that is past, We’ll trust Him for all that’s to come.” Here is a man who is brought face to face with the unchanging God who is good, there being nothing less than goodness in Him. He speaks of the extent of that goodness in its power without measure, revealed supremely in the Lord Jesus. Not only is the matter of redemption foremost in the manifestation of the goodness of God towards men, but also, the promise of Christ’s Spirit, who “…shall guide us safe home,” and that, every day. The subject of God’s eternal goodness calls forth praise from the believing heart with regard to God’s gracious dealings with men, and with his own, personal dealing with the individual in the past, but stretches forth with regard to the future, and “…all that is to come.” In the present moment, the response to the revelation of God’s goodness, is praise and thanksgiving, a “full- assurance” of His blessed favor, and daily working in and through the believer. But the reaction also is that of a faith in the goodness of God concerning the future, and all that it might mean, so that He be praised, worshipped, and adored. It is in part that for this reason, the Apostle Paul would say, and reiterate again and again, for the believer to “Rejoice in the Lord always.” There is never a moment of any day, or in any circumstance, when the goodness of God changes, or diminishes, or is taken away. He is the everlasting Constant, Beginning and Ending, First and the Last, forever seeking to reveal Himself to men, to bless them fully. The revelation of His goodness is to provide men with a motive and means by which they, though they be sinful, can become aligned with the wonder and beauty of that which is in heaven, the very God and Maker of us all. It is in blessing Him for what He IS, that we are blessed, for we have been brought to see Him as He is.
Where then does this knowledge of God take us, and what is the result of the revelation of Him as such? When Moses, in the wilderness, asked God to show him His glory, God revealed “all His goodness.” Moses, “…made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth and worshipped.” (Ex. 33:8) The revelation of God’s goodness calls forth true worship and devotion.
Dear Father, Show us Thy goodness. In Jesus’ name, Amen.