The average person on a daily basis gives little thought of how gracious our God is to us. Many people live their lives with little regard to the goodness of God, unaware how He bestows many blessings in our lives because He is a good God. The Word says that God is good! This means He is! To really understand this, we need to look at what it means to be good. To be good means to be morally excellent, virtuous, righteous, and agreeable in quality. God is good, every part of Him. He is the standard that we measure everything else by.
“Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” Psalm 34:8
What does it mean to taste and see that the Lord is good? To taste means to try the flavor of, to perceive or to have or gain experience. When we taste that the Lord is good we are experiencing His goodness. His flavor makes us thirsty, wanting more of Him. To see that the Lord is good, we learn about, observe and watch and pay specific attention to His goodness. God demonstrates His goodness all around us, through the people that we meet and the experiences that we have.
The goodness of God is a true and genuine characteristic of Himself. God is infinitely good depending on no one else for His goodness. His goodness is boundless, without limits. He partakes of none, but all things partake of Him. He is so good, that He gives all. God’s goodness is absolute perfection, nothing can be added to make it better and it is not left in wanting for something more.
- His goodness is eternal: “Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever.” Psalm 119:160
- His goodness is unchanging: “Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged.” Hebrews 6:17-18
- His goodness is everlasting: “For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” Psalm 100:5
- His goodness is faithful: “But you, O Lord,are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.” Psalm 86:15
God gives us the opportunity to perceive and learn about how good He is. He is drawing us to Him, to show Himself and what He has done. He can use the things in our lives to show us how Good He is, such as bringing despair to joy, delivering us from our troubles, giving us comfort and so much more.
“I will praise the LORD at all times. I will constantly speak his praises. I will boast only in the LORD; let all who are helpless take heart. Come, let us tell of the LORD’s greatness; let us exalt his name together. I prayed to the LORD, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces. In my desperation I prayed, and the LORD listened; he saved me from all my troubles. For the angel of the LORD is a guard; he surrounds and defends all who fear him.” Psalm 34 1-7
God displays His goodness to us every day but because of our busy lives, we often don’t take the time to stop and acknowledge Him. When we take a deeper look, we recognize that He was there all along, right by our side. God is good all the time, all the time God is good!
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