“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me, all the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever .” NKJV
David , the shepherd boy , knew one or two things about the goodness of God when he wrote Psalm 23. In verse 6, he talked about the goodness of God. So, what is the goodness of God? Is it something that we should desire? How can we experience it?
Merriam-Webster Webster Dictionary defines “goodness” as:
“Quality or state of being good”.
Other words that you can use to describe goodness are :
“Character, morality, decency, righteousness, honesty etc”
In the Bible, there are two types of goodness that we can see. There is the goodness that is an attribute or character of God. When we say that “God is a good God”, we mean that it is in his nature to be good. That is who he is. He is not an evil or wicked God. He is a God that wants to daily “load his children with benefits”. He is not an old man, standing aloof, waiting for man to commit a sin and come after him with a big stick.
No Sir!
God is loving father, kind, wonderful ,gentle, fair, just and a giver of great gifts.
Goodness is in his very essence.
Let us see how God describes himself.
In the Book of Exodus, Moses had asked God to show him his glory. In addition, he had asked for God’s presence to go with them in the wilderness, as they journeyed to the Promised Land. In Exodus 33:19:
“And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.”
Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” NKJV
In Exodus 34: 5-7:
“Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” NKJV
The second type of “goodness” that we can see in the Bible are the benefits that God bestows on those that he loves and favors.
We can see several examples of these blessings liberally sprinkled in the Bible. For example, in Psalm 31:19-20:
“Oh, how great is Your goodness, Which You have laid up for those who fear You, Which You have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence of the sons of men! You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the plots of man; You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.” NKJV
In Jeremiah 31:13-14:
““Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, And the young men and the old, together; For I will turn their mourning to joy, Will comfort them, and make them rejoice rather than sorrow. I will satiate the soul of the priests with abundance, And My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the Lord.” NKJV
In Jeremiah 33:6-11:
“Behold, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. And I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return and will rebuild those places as at the first. I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me. Then it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them; they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it.’ “
Thus says the Lord: ‘Again there shall be heard in this place—of which you say, “It is desolate, without man and without beast”—in the cities of Judah, in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast, the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who will say:“Praise the Lord of hosts,For the Lord is good,For His mercy endures forever”—and of those who will bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. For I will cause the captives of the land to return as at the first,’ says the Lord.” NKJV
In Psalm 107:31-32; 35-38;41-43:
“Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people and praise Him in the company of the elders.
He turns a wilderness into pools of water, And dry land into water springs. There He makes the hungry dwell, that they may establish a city for a dwelling place, and sow fields and plant vineyards, that they may yield a fruitful harvest. He also blesses them, and they multiply greatly; And He does not let their cattle decrease.
Yet He sets the poor on high, far from affliction, And makes their families like a flock. The righteous see it and rejoice, and all iniquity stops its mouth. Whoever is wise will observe these things, and they will understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.” NKJV
Since God’s goodness is unlimited, who may be partakers of these blessings?
Well, every child of God is a candidate for the uncommon and many blessings of the goodness of God. You see, goodness is one of the fruits of the Spirit that a child of God should enjoy. In Galatians 5:2:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” NKJV
Thus, as Christians.we are to enjoy all the benefits of the goodness of God, as well as showing the goodness of God to fellow human beings .This we can do by helping others, especially those that are less privileged in society, giving to help those in need, acting on behalf of those that cannot help themselves, speaking for others, correcting injustice.In other words, we are to mirror the goodness of God.
A good guide of what the Lord requires from us is found in Micah 6:8:
“He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”. NKJV
Even though we are to enjoy the goodness of God, we should never take this for granted. Sin can remove his goodness from his children who err and go on in their trespasses.
In Romans 11:19-22:
“Therefore, consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either”. NKJV
In Romans 2:1-11:
“Therefore, you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.” NKJV
We close today with this prayer found in 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12
“Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” NKJV
