The Goodness of God
Psalm 107:1

For most of us, the first prayer we are taught is, God is great, God is good, now we thank Him for this food. Amen. From infancy we are taught to think of God in terms of His greatness, His goodness, and His provision.


A study of God’s good nature must begin where the Bible itself begins, with Genesis where we read that God created everything and He created it good, Gen. 1:4,10,18.
This is affirmed in the New Testament also, I Tim. 4:4 where we read,...every creature (creation) of God is good…


Gen. 2:18-25...When God created Adam and Eve He placed them into an perfect environment, the Garden of Eden, where they were told that they could freely eat from every tree except one, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
In that perfect place, they had everything they could possibly want except the one thing which God withheld from them for their own good.
It is ingrained in the fallen nature of man to want to have the authority to declare what is good and what is evil. (Of course, what might be good for me might be bad for you.)
In His goodness, God has withheld from mankind the authority to say what is good and what is evil; what is right and what is wrong.
In His greatness, God is able to turn evil to good, Rom. 8:28.


Ex. 33:17-23; 34:5-7...Moses prayed that God would reveal His glory to him,
Faith comes by hearing and receiving God’s word, Rom. 10:17.


Psalm 73 tells us that apart from God and His revelation in the Bible, man is incapable of recognizing goodness.


The word “good” appears only in the first and last verse.
V. 1...Truly God is good to Israel...
V. 28...It is good for me to draw near to God…


Asaph’s problem was his definition of “good” was different from God’s. Remember, we do not have the right to say what is good and what is evil, as God reserves that right for Himself.

Ps. 73:2,3...Asaph admits that he had strayed from the right path.
- He envied the wicked...he did not hate their sin, but coveted their success.
- He was self-righteous...thinking he was better than he was, he was convinced he deserved God’s blessings because of his good behavior, and God “owed him.” . (That’s not Christianity, that’s called karma).
- He was consumed with self-pity, v. 13-16.
Remember too, that Asaph was referring to wicked Jews, not pagans.

The turning point for Asaph comes in v. 15.
- Formerly, good to him meant health and wealth alone.
- But when he came into the sanctuary (God’s presence), then he could see clearly viewing things from God’s perspective. What he realized:
- The foolish and wicked were doing good for now,
but they were actually in danger of judgment.
- Their prosperity had hardened their hearts against
God
- They loved their blessings more than they did the Blesser.
- Nearness to God ( a close, intimate relationship) is a greater blessing than prosperity.

Now Asaph understands more about God’s goodness:
In v. 1 he thought that goodness was only the absence of pain, difficulty, trouble, sorrow, sickness, poverty, etc.

In v. 28 he came to realize that goodness is nearness to God regardless of his outward circumstances, and whatever interferes with our personal relationship is evil.
Job’s sufferings brought him closer to God, Job 42:5,10
Joseph’s brothers treated him badly and he suffered greatly, but God was in it and turned it for good, Gen. 50:20
Paul’s suffering kept him from becoming prideful and brought him closer to God, II Cor. 12:1-10
God’s discipline always works in us for the good, Heb. 12:1-14

God’s goodness is most evident in the person and work of Christ, that’s why the gospel is called the “Good News.”
It is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance, Rom. 2:4

In the temptation of Eve, Satan tried to get her to doubt the goodness of God. When we don’t understand why God says “no,” or, when bad things happen or, when God is silent to our prayers we should not be discouraged or tempted to give up because it is then that we are privileged to exercise our faith while remembering all of God’s goodness to us in the past.

We can’t always understand why some things happen the way they do, but we can rest in the knowledge of knowing that when it has fulfilled its purpose God will deal with it in His own time and in His own way which is always good. I Thess 5:18