THE GOODNESS OF GOD

“Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thystatutes.”
(Psalm 119:68)

The goodness of God is asserted everywhere in Scripture. For examples:

The LORD, The LORD God, merciful andgracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth (Ex 34:6); Theearth is full of the goodness of the LORD (Ps 33:5); The goodness of Godendureth continually (Ps 52:1); Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; andplenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee (Ps 86:5); The LORD isgood to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works (Ps 145:9); The LORDis 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 thattrust in him (Nah 1:7); And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? thereis none good but one, that is, God (Mt 19:17); Or despisest thou the riches ofhis goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodnessof God leadeth thee to repentance? (Rom 2:4), etc.

But of all the declarations in Scripture on the goodness of God, the verse thatparticularly captures the doctrine of the goodness of God with the mostsuccinct profundity, is no doubt Psalm 119:68a—“Thou art good, and doest good.”

In this statement, the Psalmist acknowledges that (1) God is intrinsicallygood; (2) God’s goodness is manifested in His works; and (3) God’s goodness canbe 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 isactually a very profound confession.

In the first place, it is a declaration that cannot be made about man. When therich young man came up to the Lord Jesus and said: “Good Master, what goodthing 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 ifthou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments” (Mt 19:17). What does Hemean? He means that God alone is good in the absolute sense of the word. Andtherefore, only God is truly good. The goodness of all of God’s creationderives from, and is measured by, the goodness of God.

How do you know if a ruler is good or accurate? We measure it against thestandard ruler kept in the Smithsonian Institute. How do we measure the moralgoodness of a man? We must measure against the goodness of God, who isabsolutely good. When we do so, we will immediately discover by experience andScripture that all men fall short of the absolute goodness of God, andtherefore cannot be truly described as good. That is, all men except the LordJesus Christ Himself. Thomas Manton puts it so beautifully when he says: “He isinfinitely good; the creature’s good is but a drop, but in God there is aninfinite ocean or gathering together of good.” But we must realise that eventhat drop of good, if it were found in man, is polluted by evil. Were it notfor Christ’s robe of righteousness covering us, who may stand in the sight ofGod as being righteous and good?

In the second place, since God is infinite, eternal and unchangeable, thedeclaration, “Thou art good,” tells us that His goodness is perfect andunchangeable. In other words, goodness is an intrinsic, essential attribute ofGod. He cannot cease to be good and remain God. Thus, as the LORD declares: “Iam the LORD, I change not” (Mal 3:6), so the Psalmist proclaims: “The goodnessof God endureth continually” (Ps 52:1).

Manifestations of God’sGoodness

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 ismanifested in His works relative to His creation and creatures; and thus thePsalmist 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 thathe had made, and, behold, it was very good” (Gen 1:31). What does it mean thatwhat is created was good, but that it was perfect and without flaw. Such wasGod’s creation before it was marred by the Fall of man (Gen 3:17—19). We havean idea of what is the original goodness of God’s creation, from the fact thatwe speak of the intrusion of sicknesses, pain, tragedies and disasters. Inusing these terms we acknowledge that there is such a thing as a state ofwellness or goodness, where the body is functioning healthily, and men dwell inpeace and nature exists in harmony. Why is there such a satisfactorily state inevery sphere of creation and life, rather than utter chaos, but that God isgood and has manifested His goodness in Creation and Providence. On account ofsin, God has ordained evil and disasters, and allowed such as is bad to intrudeupon what may be perceived as good and normal in God’s providence. Yet, itcannot be denied that all, which may be regarded as good, must find its originin 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” (Ps36:6).

Secondly, from a different angle, God’s goodness is manifested in HisBenevolence. This includes His benevolence and compassion towards all Hiscreatures, including the reprobates. This is the declaration of Scripture: “TheLORD 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 hissun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and onthe unjust” (Mt 5:45). Benevolence includes His making provision for the reliefof those suffering, and His not judging the impenitent immediately, butpatiently forbearing them: “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness, andforbearance and long suffering?” (Rom 2:4). Some would call this benevolence ofGod towards His creatures “Common Grace.” But, we must be careful not toentertain the Arminian concept that God is gracious to all men and desirous ofall men to be saved simply because He deals benevolently with men in thetemporal and providential sphere. No, all men must regard whatever they receivein life that conduce to their temporal comforts as being from the benevolenthand 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 manifestedin His Love, Election and Redemption of a people in Christ. While Goddemonstrates a general benevolence to all, He reserves a special distinctivelove for His elect, which we may call “complacent love.” The word “complacent,”in this context, must not be taken with the modern connotation of smugsatisfaction. Rather, it must be taken according to its Latin root, complacentia,which speaks of being pleased with, taking the fancy of, or having affectionsfor. Thus complacent love is exercised towards a worthy object in whichexcellencies 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 Godirrespective of the nature of the object. It speaks of God as being notmalevolent but doing good to all. Thus we are taught to love even our enemiesthat we may be children of our heavenly Father (Mt 5:44–45). But this lovecannot 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 lovebased on our approbation of them, on our special relationship with them, or ourconsidering them to be good or useful to us.

God’s love for the elect is a complacent love. But why does He love uscomplacently? What is it in the elect that differs from the reprobate that Godshould love them complacently? The answer to this question is simply that weare loved in Christ (Rom 8:39; Eph 1:3). Complacent love must be exercised byGod in its highest degree, in the love of one who is infinitely excellent. Who isinfinitely excellent but God Himself? And thanks be to God, Christ whorepresented us in the Covenant of Grace is fully God and fully man.

By this special love and mercy, God demonstrates His goodness towards His ownpeople; in choosing them, in redeeming them, in calling them, in pardoningthem, in adopting them, in sanctifying them, in preserving them, and ultimatelyin glorifying them and giving them possession of His kingdom hereafter. Againthe Scripture testifies of this special love: “The LORD God, merciful andgracious,… abundant in goodness…, keeping mercy for thousands, forgivinginiquity 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 themthat wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him” (Lam 3:25); “And we know thatall things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are thecalled according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28).

What a tremendous comfort it must be for the child of God to know that thegoodness of God is especially demonstrated in His special love for us, and thatlove is independent of who we are, for we are not only unworthy but doconstantly make ourselves hateful by our sins. So we exclaim with the ApostlePaul:

Who shall lay any thing to thecharge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? Itis Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the righthand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from thelove of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, ornakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed allthe day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all thesethings we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I ampersuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, norpowers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor anyother creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is inChrist Jesus our Lord (Rom 8:33–39).

Experience of God’sGoodness

The goodness of God, moreover, must not be seen as a speculative theologicalconcept. The fact that it can be experienced by the child of God can be seen fromthe fact that the declaration: “Thou art good, and doest good,” though writtenunder inspiration, was born out of the Psalmist’s personal experience of God’sprovidential dealings with him. So he begins the stanza with the words: “Thouhast 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 thegoodness of God, is declaring his confidence in God’s ways, for he immediatelyadds: “teach me thy statutes” (Ps 119:68b). But astonishingly, the “goodness ofGod” experienced by the Psalmist is not what the world will call good. Noticehow he puts it in verses 67 and 71: “Before I was afflicted I went astray: butnow 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 everychild of God ought to bear in mind in our pilgrimage on earth.

Firstly, we should be reminded that God must be the standard ofgoodness. Let us therefore not be too quick to judge any turn of event as beingbad. Yes, we may indeed grieve when something untoward happens to us. Yes, weought to regard evil as evil. Yes, we ought not to be rejoicing when we shouldbe weeping. But at the same time, we must never entertain any thought ofunfairness or wrongness on the part of God.

Secondly, we must realise that God has a purpose in everything that Hebrings to pass. Though the constituent events, which leads up to God’s ultimategoal may not appear good in isolation, yet we must agree that: “We know thatall things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are thecalled 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 cloudof 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 warnyou of greater evil if you remain unrepentant (Heb 12:6)? Or did He bring aboutthe calamity in your life as a trial of faith and to strengthen your resolve totrust 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 thereason for our present suffering. But we must believe that God is good and doesgood, and we must respond in the same way as the Psalmist: “Teach me thystatutes” (Ps 119:68b). We may pray for wisdom to know how best to conductourselves under the trial so as to bear spiritual fruit and testimony (Jas1:5), but we must never demand an answer from the Lord. Instead while our proudhearts are being softened by the tears of trial or the fire of tribulation, wemust meekly resolve to learn of God’s revealed will and seek to obey itdespite, and in spite, of our circumstances. Only then can we resound with thePsalmist: “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thystatutes.”

Conclusion

May the Lord grant us a proper apprehension of the goodness of God, especiallyof His goodness towards those in Christ that we may run our Christian race withjoy and confidence.

Just as the Psalmist contemplates and is deeply assured of God’s goodness, letus also appreciate the goodness of God. Let us count our blessings, but let uslearn not to see blessings only with the eyes of the world. And so let us thankGod in every circumstance (1 Thes 5:18). But as we live in a time of greaterlight as compared to the Psalmist, let us, furthermore, look to the Cross ofCalvary to see the paradox of the Cross. For the Cross appears to be thegreatest evil conceivable, in that the Son of God should be afflicted withinfinite injustice and pain for sin not His own. But it was there on the Crossthat God most clearly manifested His goodness and love for us all.

—J.J. Lim