THE GOODNESS OF GOD
“Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy
statutes.”
(Psalm 119:68)
The goodness of God is asserted everywhere in Scripture. For examples:
The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and
gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth (Ex 34:6); The
earth is full of the goodness of the LORD (Ps 33:5); The goodness of God
endureth continually (Ps 52:1); Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and
plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee (Ps 86:5); The LORD is
good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works (Ps 145:9); The LORD
is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him (Lam 3:25);
The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that
trust in him (Nah 1:7); And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there
is none good but one, that is, God (Mt 19:17); Or despisest thou the riches of
his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness
of God leadeth thee to repentance? (Rom 2:4), etc.
But of all the declarations in Scripture on the goodness of God, the verse that
particularly captures the doctrine of the goodness of God with the most
succinct profundity, is no doubt Psalm 119:68a—“Thou art good, and doest good.”
In this statement, the Psalmist acknowledges that (1) God is intrinsically
good; (2) God’s goodness is manifested in His works; and (3) God’s goodness can
be personally experienced, and can and ought to affect our lives.
Nature of God’s Goodness
The Psalmist says, “Thou art good” (v. 68a). Simple as it may sound, this is
actually a very profound confession.
In the first place, it is a declaration that cannot be made about man. When the
rich young man came up to the Lord Jesus and said: “Good Master, what good
thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” (Mt 19:16), the Lord replied,
“Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if
thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments” (Mt 19:17). What does He
mean? He means that God alone is good in the absolute sense of the word. And
therefore, only God is truly good. The goodness of all of God’s creation
derives from, and is measured by, the goodness of God.
How do you know if a ruler is good or accurate? We measure it against the
standard ruler kept in the Smithsonian Institute. How do we measure the moral
goodness of a man? We must measure against the goodness of God, who is
absolutely good. When we do so, we will immediately discover by experience and
Scripture that all men fall short of the absolute goodness of God, and
therefore cannot be truly described as good. That is, all men except the Lord
Jesus Christ Himself. Thomas Manton puts it so beautifully when he says: “He is
infinitely good; the creature’s good is but a drop, but in God there is an
infinite ocean or gathering together of good.” But we must realise that even
that drop of good, if it were found in man, is polluted by evil. Were it not
for Christ’s robe of righteousness covering us, who may stand in the sight of
God as being righteous and good?
In the second place, since God is infinite, eternal and unchangeable, the
declaration, “Thou art good,” tells us that His goodness is perfect and
unchangeable. In other words, goodness is an intrinsic, essential attribute of
God. He cannot cease to be good and remain God. Thus, as the LORD declares: “I
am the LORD, I change not” (Mal 3:6), so the Psalmist proclaims: “The goodness
of God endureth continually” (Ps 52:1).
Manifestations of God’s
Goodness
When we talk about God’s goodness, we are talking about His benevolence, love,
mercy and grace. But God’s goodness has real meaning for us only when it is
manifested in His works relative to His creation and creatures; and thus the
Psalmist declares: “Thou art good, and doest good” (Ps 119:68).
How is God’s goodness manifested in His works?
It is manifested, firstly, in His Creation and Providence. So,
right from the beginning in Genesis, we are told: “And God saw every thing that
he had made, and, behold, it was very good” (Gen 1:31). What does it mean that
what is created was good, but that it was perfect and without flaw. Such was
God’s creation before it was marred by the Fall of man (Gen 3:17—19). We have
an idea of what is the original goodness of God’s creation, from the fact that
we speak of the intrusion of sicknesses, pain, tragedies and disasters. In
using these terms we acknowledge that there is such a thing as a state of
wellness or goodness, where the body is functioning healthily, and men dwell in
peace and nature exists in harmony. Why is there such a satisfactorily state in
every sphere of creation and life, rather than utter chaos, but that God is
good and has manifested His goodness in Creation and Providence. On account of
sin, God has ordained evil and disasters, and allowed such as is bad to intrude
upon what may be perceived as good and normal in God’s providence. Yet, it
cannot be denied that all, which may be regarded as good, must find its origin
in God. This the Psalmist declares: “Thy righteousness is like the great mountains;
thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast” (Ps
36:6).
Secondly, from a different angle, God’s goodness is manifested in His
Benevolence. This includes His benevolence and compassion towards all His
creatures, including the reprobates. This is the declaration of Scripture: “The
LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works” (Ps 145:9);
“The earth is full of the goodness of the LORD” (Ps 33:5); “For he maketh his
sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on
the unjust” (Mt 5:45). Benevolence includes His making provision for the relief
of those suffering, and His not judging the impenitent immediately, but
patiently forbearing them: “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness, and
forbearance and long suffering?” (Rom 2:4). Some would call this benevolence of
God towards His creatures “Common Grace.” But, we must be careful not to
entertain the Arminian concept that God is gracious to all men and desirous of
all men to be saved simply because He deals benevolently with men in the
temporal and providential sphere. No, all men must regard whatever they receive
in life that conduce to their temporal comforts as being from the benevolent
hand of God. Yet, these same blessings will become, for the finally impenitent,
dead weights to sink them into the lake of fire.
Conversely, in the third place, God’s goodness is manifested
in His Love, Election and Redemption of a people in Christ. While God
demonstrates a general benevolence to all, He reserves a special distinctive
love for His elect, which we may call “complacent love.” The word “complacent,”
in this context, must not be taken with the modern connotation of smug
satisfaction. Rather, it must be taken according to its Latin root, complacentia,
which speaks of being pleased with, taking the fancy of, or having affections
for. Thus complacent love is exercised towards a worthy object in which
excellencies are perceived. It regards the object complacently or approvingly,
because there is in the object something worthy of such regard.
When we talk about God’s benevolence or benevolent love, it is a love of God
irrespective of the nature of the object. It speaks of God as being not
malevolent but doing good to all. Thus we are taught to love even our enemies
that we may be children of our heavenly Father (Mt 5:44–45). But this love
cannot be the same kind of love, which we should have towards our parents,
children, spouses or even friends. Our love for these is a complacent love
based on our approbation of them, on our special relationship with them, or our
considering them to be good or useful to us.
God’s love for the elect is a complacent love. But why does He love us
complacently? What is it in the elect that differs from the reprobate that God
should love them complacently? The answer to this question is simply that we
are loved in Christ (Rom 8:39; Eph 1:3). Complacent love must be exercised by
God in its highest degree, in the love of one who is infinitely excellent. Who is
infinitely excellent but God Himself? And thanks be to God, Christ who
represented us in the Covenant of Grace is fully God and fully man.
By this special love and mercy, God demonstrates His goodness towards His own
people; in choosing them, in redeeming them, in calling them, in pardoning
them, in adopting them, in sanctifying them, in preserving them, and ultimately
in glorifying them and giving them possession of His kingdom hereafter. Again
the Scripture testifies of this special love: “The LORD God, merciful and
gracious,… abundant in goodness…, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving
iniquity and transgression and sin” (Ex 24:6–7); “Truly God is good to Israel,
even to such as are of a clean heart” (Ps 73:1); “The LORD is good unto them
that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him” (Lam 3:25); “And we know that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28).
What a tremendous comfort it must be for the child of God to know that the
goodness of God is especially demonstrated in His special love for us, and that
love is independent of who we are, for we are not only unworthy but do
constantly make ourselves hateful by our sins. So we exclaim with the Apostle
Paul:
Who shall lay any thing to the
charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right
hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all
the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am
persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any
other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 8:33–39).
Experience of God’s
Goodness
The goodness of God, moreover, must not be seen as a speculative theological
concept. The fact that it can be experienced by the child of God can be seen from
the fact that the declaration: “Thou art good, and doest good,” though written
under inspiration, was born out of the Psalmist’s personal experience of God’s
providential dealings with him. So he begins the stanza with the words: “Thou
hast dealt well with thy servant, O LORD, according unto thy word” (Ps 119:65).
It should be noted further more, that the Psalmist, in expressing of the
goodness of God, is declaring his confidence in God’s ways, for he immediately
adds: “teach me thy statutes” (Ps 119:68b). But astonishingly, the “goodness of
God” experienced by the Psalmist is not what the world will call good. Notice
how he puts it in verses 67 and 71: “Before I was afflicted I went astray: but
now have I kept thy word”; and “It is good for me that I have been afflicted;
that I might learn thy statutes.”
These statements immediately confront us with two important facts, which every
child of God ought to bear in mind in our pilgrimage on earth.
Firstly, we should be reminded that God must be the standard of
goodness. Let us therefore not be too quick to judge any turn of event as being
bad. Yes, we may indeed grieve when something untoward happens to us. Yes, we
ought to regard evil as evil. Yes, we ought not to be rejoicing when we should
be weeping. But at the same time, we must never entertain any thought of
unfairness or wrongness on the part of God.
Secondly, we must realise that God has a purpose in everything that He
brings to pass. Though the constituent events, which leads up to God’s ultimate
goal may not appear good in isolation, yet we must agree that: “We know that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28).
Are you experiencing some frowning providence in your life right now, beloved?
Do not be discouraged. God has a purpose in our trial. Behind every storm cloud
of providence is the Sun of Righteousness who knows what is best for us.
Did He ordain suffering for you at this time to chastise you for sin and to warn
you of greater evil if you remain unrepentant (Heb 12:6)? Or did He bring about
the calamity in your life as a trial of faith and to strengthen your resolve to
trust Him (Jas 1:2–4) as was the case with Job (Job 23:10), Joseph (Gen 50:20)
and Paul (2 Cor 12)? Or is this trial simply for God’s ultimate glory (Jn 9:3;
11:44; Rom 9:21–23). Until the day we meet the Lord, we may not understand the
reason for our present suffering. But we must believe that God is good and does
good, and we must respond in the same way as the Psalmist: “Teach me thy
statutes” (Ps 119:68b). We may pray for wisdom to know how best to conduct
ourselves under the trial so as to bear spiritual fruit and testimony (Jas
1:5), but we must never demand an answer from the Lord. Instead while our proud
hearts are being softened by the tears of trial or the fire of tribulation, we
must meekly resolve to learn of God’s revealed will and seek to obey it
despite, and in spite, of our circumstances. Only then can we resound with the
Psalmist: “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy
statutes.”
Conclusion
May the Lord grant us a proper apprehension of the goodness of God, especially
of His goodness towards those in Christ that we may run our Christian race with
joy and confidence.
Just as the Psalmist contemplates and is deeply assured of God’s goodness, let
us also appreciate the goodness of God. Let us count our blessings, but let us
learn not to see blessings only with the eyes of the world. And so let us thank
God in every circumstance (1 Thes 5:18). But as we live in a time of greater
light as compared to the Psalmist, let us, furthermore, look to the Cross of
Calvary to see the paradox of the Cross. For the Cross appears to be the
greatest evil conceivable, in that the Son of God should be afflicted with
infinite injustice and pain for sin not His own. But it was there on the Cross
that God most clearly manifested His goodness and love for us all.
—J.J. Lim