The Goodness of God
Psalm 103
Perhaps the greatest fact in all the universe is that God is good.
He does not just do good things, He IS good.
There is a difference there.
Bad people can do good sometimes, yet their hearts remain corrupt.
But God does good because He IS good.
This fact is stated multiple times in Scripture:
Exo 34:6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
1Ch 16:34 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 25:8 Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way.
Psa 145:9 The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.
Psa 27:13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
Psa 33:5 He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.
Psa 34:8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
Psa 100:5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
That is just a sampling of the Scriptures that teach us the fact that God is good.
But what good is a fact without evidence?
Do we have proof that God is good?
To that, again we find proof again and again in Scripture.
God was good in creating this wonderful world of ours.
God was good when had mercy on Adam and Eve and provided means of atonement for their sins.
God was good when He spared Noah and his family in the Flood.
God was good to Abraham when He made him the father of the Jewish nations and provided an heir.
God was good to the children of Israel time and time again in delivering them from Egypt, guiding them through their wilderness journeys, and ultimately in giving them the land of Canaan.
God was good in that He sent His Son to be sacrifice for our sins.
Well, that may be academic.
Illus – kid asking if they will ever use math in real life.
What about to us personally?
Friends, if you are breathing today, it is because God is good to you.
Anything good that has come your way is because of God:
Jas 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
If you are saved this morning it is because of God’s goodness to you as a sinner.
No matter how slice it, the fact is indisputable that God is good.
Our text this morning is a beautiful psalm written by David that reminds us of the fact that God is good.
Sometimes we need a reminder that God is good.
We get our eyes off of Him and see the storms and troubles of life.
We forget about His love and care because of the heavy burdens we may carry.
When you get that phone call in the middle of the night, when the doctor gives you the diagnosis you were dreading, when your heart is broken into millions of tiny shards – oh, these things do not negate the goodness of God.
The presence of evil and darkness does not eradicate the good and the light.
I tell you this morning that it is not the good days when you really sense the goodness of God.
It is that dark days – the valley of the shadow death – that you really experience the goodness of God.
God is good all the time, all the time God is good.
Psalm 103 reinforces this.
It is more of a celebration of God’s goodness than an encouragement for the dark times.
It may have been written as one of the songs sung by the people as they brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem.
A remarkable aspect of it is that is an escalation of praise for the goodness of God.
It begins with the individual, spreads to the nation, spreads to all of mankind, then finally too all of creation.
I will follow these divisions as we escalate our own praise and thanksgiving for the goodness of God.
I. The Goodness of God to the Individual
Psa 103:1 Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
Psa 103:2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
Psa 103:3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
Psa 103:4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
Psa 103:5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
We begin with a call to praise God for His goodness to us personally.
It is an internal call – Bless the Lord, O MY SOUL.
This is not a call to just repeat some phrase or mantra.
No, it is call to recognize the goodness of God and properly respond to it.
We must recognize the “benefits” of vs. 2
David said in another Psalm:
Psa_68:19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.
How light our burdens become when we realize the benefits God bestows upon us!
Our text lists a few, the first three are His mercy upon us:
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities;
who healeth all thy diseases;
Who redeemeth thy life from destruction;
The second two are His grace upon us:
who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things
Can you relate to these five benefits this morning?
If you can, then you know the goodness of God on a personal level.
If you know that, you need to praise Him for it!
II. The Goodness of God to the Nation
David shifts here from the first person SINGULAR in the first five verses, these next nine verses are in the first person PLURAL.
Psa 103:6 The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.
Psa 103:7 He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.
Psa 103:8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
Psa 103:9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.
Psa 103:10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
Psa 103:11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
Psa 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
Psa 103:13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
Psa 103:14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
David appeals to the history of Israel as proof that God is good.
That is true – God has been good to His chosen people from the call of Abraham and will continue to be on through the day when they accept Christ as their Messiah and He rules and reigns upon this earth.
I love the fact that David makes this shift from himself to his people.
The reason is because it goes beyond personal observation to a greater proof that God is good to others also.
We can see His goodness in our families, our churches, our communities, our own nation!
I love that God not only moves on the local level but on greater levels, caring not just for personal needs but also controlling national and international affairs.
Do we deserve such goodness?
Did Israel deserve such goodness?
No, but it is not about our own merit or righteousness.
The fact is that God is good.
If you are an American this morning and enjoy the freedoms only we possess in this world, you should thank God for His goodness to you.
III. The Goodness of God on the Human Race
David shifts now from the first-person plural to third person singular.
He pulls back his focus even further than individual or nation and looks at the entirety of humanity.
Psa 103:15 As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
Psa 103:16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.
Psa 103:17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;
Psa 103:18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
The Bible’s honest assessment of humanity is not positive.
We are broken and sinful, doomed under the judgment of the holy and righteous God.
David asked the question in an earlier psalm:
Psa_8:4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
What do we offer to God?
Isa_64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Yet, in spite of sinfulness and our rebellion and rejection of God, God is good to us.
He could have, and would have been justified in doing so, eradicated us as soon as Adam and Eve sinned.
He could have obliterated us immediately upon birth because He knows our sinful nature and the future sins we will commit.
But God is good to us.
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Joh 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
IV. The Goodness of God to all Creation
This psalm ends in a crescendo.
We have seen God’s goodness on the personal, national, and global levels.
Now we pull back even further and see the goodness of God in all of Creation from a Heavenly perspective
Psa 103:19 The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.
Psa 103:20 Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.
Psa 103:21 Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.
Psa 103:22 Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul.
God is good.
He will always be good.
The angels who witness this firsthand are called to join the symphony of His praise.
All of creation – all the universe – is called to add their voices.
Doesn’t that make our problems look pretty insignificant?
It makes us look rather insignificant!
Why, oh, why would God care about us amid all the angels and planets and stars, the number of which we cannot being to comprehend?
Because He is good!
Why does He love us?
Because He is Good!
Why does He care for us?
Because He is good!
Why does He provide our needs?
Because He is good!
Why would Christ endure the agony of the cross to bear our sins?
Because He is good!
CONCLUSION:
- We have no excuse to not praise God for His goodness.
- It is not debatable – He Is Good!
- Because He is good, He deserves to be praised.
- Because He is good to us personally – that is irrefutable, He deserves to be praised.
- Note the progress of the praise here.
- It does not start with peer pressure – the universe pressing us to join in.
- It starts with one person, then spreads to his family and community and nation until it fills the universe.
- Have you tasted the goodness of God?
- If you have not experienced the goodness of God in salvation – there is not time like today!
- Psa_34:8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.