The Goodness of God
“The Goodness of God” was preached by Pastor Mike Ray at Hopewell Baptist Church on Sunday Morning, 6/9/2024.
Introduction
If you have your Bibles, let’s open them to Psalms. Psalm 107.
In the book of Psalms, there are three types of Psalms. There are Psalms that deal with trials.
- Trials. Sometimes in the Psalms, you’ll hear David say, “Help, oh Lord, help,” and he’s going through trials.
- Trust. Then there are other Psalms that say something like, “I trusted in the Lord, and He inclined to me.” Some Psalms are about trust.
- Triumph. Then there are Psalms that say, “Oh, clap your hands,” for there’s victory in God, and those deal with triumph.
So you have the trials, the trust, and the triumph.
The book of Psalms is written by the man who had a heart like God’s. God knew each of us would always be in one of those three stages in our life. Today you’re either going through trials, and you don’t know when they’re going to end; or you’re entering that trusting stage, thinking, “I don’t know why God’s allowing this to happen, but we’re just going to trust Him. He knows more than me.” And some of you (and we hate you!), you’re in the triumph stage right now. “Yeah, things are going good. (Boo!)”
So whatever stage you’re in, if you don’t like your stage, you’ll be in another one soon. That’s just how life is. But I want you to know God never changes during any of those stages. He still loves you the same and still has a purpose no matter what you’re going through.
I just love the book of Psalms. We’re just going to jump right in. I’ve never spoken an entire message on this subject. Shame on me. Here it is. I think this is what we need to hear.
Psalms chapter 107. Notice what it says. I’ll read a few verses here and there.
1 O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: For his mercy endureth for ever. 2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,
8 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness…
9 For he satisfieth the longing soul, And filleth the hungry soul with goodness.
Skip down to verse number 20:
He sent his word, and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions. 21 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, And for his wonderful works to the children of men!
31 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness…
Four times that statement is used there. I want to speak on this subject: “The Goodness of God,” just the goodness of God. Or we could call this, “Stop Putting God on Trial.”
You ever hear people say,
“Oh, I got a raise. God is good!” “I got fired from my job. Where was God?”
“Hey, we got a new car. God is good.” “Someone stole my car. God is good.” (Well, it depends on what kind of car you had!)
When things are going good, God is good. When things aren’t going good, sometimes we don’t believe He’s good. But I want to tell you this — like the old saying goes, God is good all the time. All the time, whether we recognize it or not.
I want you to hear some of these Scriptures today. I think it’ll be a help.
Father, bless now the brief time we have. Help us to see a little bit more of one of Your hundreds of character traits. We want to be like You, so as we hang around You, I’m sure You’ll put this in us. Help us to see it today. Help us be focused, and help some of our problems to be minimized, some of our heartache, some of the tears to be dried, some of the emptiness in our hearts to be filled like only You can, and help us to believe what’s going to be said today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
In Psalm 107, we just read that. Then there’s another verse in Psalm 119. You don’t have to turn to it, but if you want to, you can. In verse 68, I love it. Here’s what it says:
“Thou art good, and doest good…” (Psalm 119:68)
It’s talking about God. “Thou art good.” He is good. And then it says, “and doest good.” Stop for a moment. That means this:
You can do good and not be good, but you can’t be good and not do good.
There was a man in World War II in Germany, and there was a big fire. He risked his life. He went into the fire and saved a German shepherd. It’s pretty good, huh? Wouldn’t you say that’s a good man? His name was Adolf Hitler. So he did something good, but he wasn’t good.
The Character of God
But here’s what the Bible says about God: “Thou art good, and doest good.” It’s all God can do because it’s who He is. It’s an extension of who He is. “Thou art good, and doest good.”
Then I like in Psalm 145:9, it says a little bit more about that: “The Lord is good to all…” So if we believe the Bible, we have to believe God has been good to me (because I am part of the all).
By way of introduction, if you’re struggling with that right now, what country did you wake up in this morning? What is the country people are risking their lives to jump over fences, swim to, and take boats to? It’s this one. How come? We’re blessed. We’ve got it good. Yeah, we have problems in our country, but most of us, our problem is, “Am I eating steak today or salad today? Is it Mexican food? Is it Chinese food? Which will I eat?” While much of the world says, “Will I eat today?” we say, “Well, I had to skip a meal. You know, I usually have five meals and I only had four yesterday.” Some people in the world say one meal would be great every day, if we could just have one meal. God has been good to us.
How Has Gone Been Good to Us?
- If you’ve got eyes this morning that see, He’s been good to you.
- If you’ve got ears that hear, He’s been good to you.
- If you’ve got a mind to think, He’s been good to you.
- If you’ve got an education and you’ve got a job skill and you’ve been hired and you’ve passed some classes and you’ve learned something, He’s been good to you.
- If you’re a man and you’re married, He’s been good to you because you probably married outside of your leauge. Every man that marries always marries up. Thank you, ladies, for humbling yourself to marry us men because you probably had a bad day when you said, “I do,” or something.
- If you’ve been able to bear children, God’s been good to you.
- If you’re a grandparent, God’s been good to you.
- If you heard the gospel and you’ve accepted Christ, He’s been good to you.
- If you’ve been able to share Christ with others and you’ve had friends saved, they’re going to spend eternity with you, God’s been good to you.
God is good, so He does good; it’s who He is.
In the beginning, God is good. Genesis 1 and 2: God created… and it was good.
Jesus went about doing good (Acts 10:38). So everywhere Jesus went, whatever He did, it was good.
Exodus 33:19: I love this passage. Moses is really close to God and he says, “Lord, can I see you?” And God says, “No man’s ever seen Me and lived.” He says, “I’ll just kind of put you in this cleft of the rock on this mountain. I’ll pass by and I’ll put My hand to cover you so My glory doesn’t blind you or kill you.” That’s where we get the song “Rock of Ages, cleft for me.” That’s where we get that. And guess what the Bible says? Exodus 33:19: God’s goodness passed by Moses. It didn’t say His “judgment,” it didn’t say His “wrath.” His “goodness.” So the word that He brought up, He says, “Moses, just want you to know one thing about Me. I am just loaded with goodness.” I love that thought.
Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd.” It ends up by saying: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”
I love Psalm 27. It says,
“I had fainted unless I believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”
When you start seeing the goodness of God to you, it’ll keep you from quitting. How come? Because He’s been so good to you. How could you quit on God?
For the rest of the message, be sure to watch the video above or visit our church website. You can watch archived services on YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, or audio podcast. Stay up to date by following us on Facebook and Instagram.
Hopewell Baptist Church is an Independent Baptist Church in Napa, California pastored by Mike Ray. It is Bible-based with a warm, friendly atmosphere. Hopewell is dedicated to bringing the water of life to the Napa Valley and beyond.
