MEDITATION
God the only good thing
Psa
16:2 I
said to the LORD, "You are my Lord; apart from you I have no
good thing."
The
idea that God is good almost seems too obvious to comment upon, but
therein is the very reason we should meditate upon it, because very
often we take things for granted so don't think about them and don't
appreciate what we read. A dictionary defines good' as having
suitable or desirable qualities; promoting health, welfare or happiness;
benevolent, not troublesome and goes on to give reams
more uses of good.' Good' signifies in our thinking something that
is pleasant, something positive that we are happy with.
When
David brought the ark into Jerusalem the song (psalm) he composed
spoke of God in a variety of positive ways and in one line he declared,
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is
good; his love endures forever. (1 Chron
16:4). When Solomon finished the temple, they sang of the Lord this
single refrain, "He is good;
his love endures forever." (2 Chron 5:13). When they
sacrificed and fire came down to consume it at the dedication of the
Temple, again they sang this single refrain of the Lord, "He
is good; his love endures forever."
(2 Chron 7:3). When Zerubbabel laid the foundations of the new temple
this refrain was yet again used, "He
is good; his love to Israel endures forever."
(Ezra 3:11), a refrain that cropped up various times in the Psalms
(Psa 106:1, 107:1, 118:1,29, 136:1). When Jeremiah prophesied restoration,
one of the signs of it would be that this refrain would be heard again
(Jer 33:11).
David
reminded himself of this truth when he needed lifting up:
- according
to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD.
(Psa 25:7),
- Taste
and see that the LORD is good
(Psa 34:8),
-
You
are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to
all who call to you. (Psa 86:5),
-
You
are good, and what you do is good
(Psa 119:68),
-
Praise the LORD, for the LORD
is good (Psa 135:3).
In
the midst of his terrible prophecies of judgment, Nahum declared,
The LORD is good,
a refuge in times of trouble.
(Nahum 1:7). Jesus emphasized this when he replied, Why
do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except
God alone (Mk 10:18).
Peter knew something of this when he wrote: now
that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (1
Pet 2:3). It is a truth that is repeated again and again
The
result of this, we should see is that, Every
good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father
(Jas 1:17)
everything that comes from God is good! Moses declared, He
is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways
are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he
(Deut 32:4) and all of that description could be summed up in, He
is good! Everything that God thinks, says and does IS good.
Now
this must challenge all casual talk about why does God allow evil,
why isn't God doing something. We may not know full answers this side
of heaven but Habakkuk's declaration, Though
the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though
the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there
are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice
in the LORD (Hab 3:17,18) emphasises what he had learnt,
the truth that God is good and can be trusted in the face of adversity!
We feel negative when we look at the world around us, at what people
are saying and doing and we realize than sinful mankind is not good,
and we have to agree with David, apart
from you I have no good thing. But we do have
the Lord, and He IS good! Hallelujah!
Response:
Ask the Lord to give you real understanding of this truth:
He is good! Ask Him to burn that truth in your heart and mind
so that all of your life revolves around it and is based upon it.
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