Well, the message that we had earlier today was a perfect introduction to the message this afternoon, talking about the goodness of God, the goodness of God. We were reminded this morning that sometimes things don't happen in the timeframe that we wish them to happen, things that we long for and prayed for don't always come about like we have prayed for and longed for. But does that mean that God is not good? Absolutely not. Our God is good. And so, in the time allotted this afternoon, I would like for us to look together at three realities and then three reasons, or responses rather, in regard to the goodness of God. Three realities and then three responses. And as we begin, let's look to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to bless our time. O Father, we pray, Lord, as we consider these thoughts of You, O Lord, direct us, hem us in to what Your Word describes You to be. Lord, may we in no way go outside of those bounds laid before us. For we need to worship you, not as we wish, not as we think, but as you are. O grant us understanding. Lord, You know how weak and puny our minds are, unable to grasp all that You have for us. But, O God, come by Your Spirit, who searches out the very deepest things of You and reveals them to us. And may He come unhindered, and may He reveal You, the triune God, to us today, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Three realities concerning the goodness of God. First of all, God is good. God is good. Psalm 119, 68 says, you are good, and do good. So let's look at the first truth declared in this verse. God is good. A.W. Pink defines the goodness of God as follows, the goodness of God refers to the perfection of His nature. There is such an absolute perfection in God's nature and being that nothing is wanting to it or defective in it, and nothing can be added to make it better. That's the goodness of our God. Nothing is lacking, nothing is defective, and there's not a single thing you can add to it. Nothing. Mary and Martha could not add the healing of their brother to God to make him good. This goodness found in God is something that God clothes Himself in. It's not something that He clothes Himself in. It's not something that He learns. It's not something that He grows in. It's not something that He attains to or obtains. Remember what we've said throughout this study. All that is in God is God. And so He doesn't add things and grow. It's His essence. He's good. He's good. For God to not be good would be for Him to not be God. To not be good would mean that He is not God. This goodness in God is not dependent on how we treat Him, nor of how we think of Him, or of how we respond to Him. In other words, God, who is without passions like we are, He does not experience a rise and a fall of the attribute of goodness within Himself as a result of how we perform. It's not something that we do and then God dishes out goodness in response to what we do. He is goodness. It's His essence. The Puritan Thomas Manton wrote, God is originally good, good of himself, which nothing else is. For all creatures are good only by participation and communication from God. He is essentially good. Not only good, but goodness itself. The creature's good, our good, is a super added quality. In God it is His essence. 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. And He is eternally and immutably good, for He cannot be less good than He is. as there can be no addition made to Him and no subtraction from Him." But the second part of Psalm 119.68 points to another reality. Not only is God good, but secondly, God does good. God does good. Now, note the order. Note the order found in this verse. It's not accidental. You are good and do good. God is not good because He does good. That is how men judge men. It's often said of a kind, generous, unselfish man, he's a good man. He's considered good because he does good. But the order of these divine truths as dictated by the Spirit declare to us that God does good because He is good. It flows out of His essence. As Pink says, God was good before there was any communication of His bounty or any creature to whom it might be imparted. God didn't all of a sudden get good at creation. He didn't become good at creation because now there's an outflow. No, He was good already. He was good already. The goodness of God permeates all that He does. He is good in His decrees. He is good in His judgments. He is good in His providence. He is good in His laws. Think for a moment about the goodness of God that you have experienced today, just today, even the little things. Psalm 33 5 states that the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. Are you awake to and aware of this reality, that the earth is full of the goodness of God? In studying this, I was struck afresh with how often my soul forgets all his benefits. For example, imagine children, imagine a world with no variety, no variety. Okay? The same food every day and all day. Mom, what's for breakfast? Here it is. What's for lunch? The same thing you had for breakfast. What's for dinner? Same thing you had for breakfast and lunch. The next day comes. What's for breakfast? What you had for breakfast yesterday. What you had for lunch yesterday and for breakfast today. Imagine, children, a world with just that one food. Imagine only one type of vehicle for sale at the car dealership. Imagine that. Imagine you, seven, eight brothers and sisters all trying to fit in a little small vehicle. Or imagine if you're single having to drive a 15-passenger van everywhere you go. But imagine, there's only one car for everybody. The parking lot looks the same. Boy, oh boy, trying to figure out which car's yours when you go outside. Imagine one car. Imagine one kind of each species of animals to appreciate. Go to the zoo to go see that one animal. Imagine that, children. Imagine only one type of scenic landscape to admire. If you're like me and love the mountains, imagine life is just the coast, and that's it. Or vice versa, if you love the coast, imagine every scenic landscape's a mountain. Imagine just one vacation spot to choose from. Just that one. Imagine only one kind of hairstyle. Some of us may not have much choice, but imagine only one hairstyle, one type of clothing that we wear, and that's it. Imagine only one color. for that food, for that animal, for that car, and even for the clothes you wear. Just one color, that's it. Only one style of music, only one type of instrument, only one type of writing style in literature, and the list could go on and on and on. God could have done that. He could have done that, but His goodness to us is fantastic. We actually see, hear, taste, smell, and feel every day the superabundance of the goodness of God lavished upon us. We know and we enjoy that goodness and what God has done, but do we stop to think about it? Do we stop to think about it? We complain because what mom fixed isn't our favorite food. I'll imagine if that non-favorite food was the only food you did have. It only can be you're not favorite because you have a favorite, and your favorite has the goodness of God. Another Puritan, Richard Sibbes, wrote, if therefore we love other things for the goodness which we see in them, why do we not love God in whom is all goodness? All other things are but sparks of that fire and drops of that sea. See thou any good in the creature? Remember, there is much more in the Creator. Leave, therefore, the streams and go to the wellhead of comfort." God is good. God does good. And now third, God is always good. God is always good. Psalm 52.1 says, the goodness of God endures continually. The goodness of God endures continually. The very first acts of God recorded for us are His acts of creation. At the end of each day and at the culmination of all of these days, God declared all that He had done what, children? He declared it what? He looked and said, it's very good. It's very good. The goodness of God, first seen in creation, endures continually, says the psalmist. He is always good. He is perpetually good. Now at this point, someone may raise his hand and seek to raise an objection or two. After all, he may point out, the afflictions of the righteous, the afflictions of the righteous are many. If that's the case, how could God be called good? We saw that today, right? Jesus could have healed Lazarus from where he was those many miles away, but He didn't heal Lazarus. He didn't keep him from dying. Was that a reflection on a lack of the goodness of God? Well, let's consider what the Scriptures say. Consider the life of Joseph. What was the testimony of godly Joseph to all the things that God's providence had brought to bear upon him? And none of you have faced the kind of things that Joseph did. What did Joseph say? God meant it for good. God meant it for good. All of these things were in actuality God's goodness to him as a creature. What does the psalmist say in Psalm 119.71? It is good for me that I have been afflicted. It's good for me. It's good for me that I have been afflicted. our afflictions and trials in this life, the correction that we may receive from God actually prove the goodness of our God who knows best what we need, who is working all of these things together for our what? For our good. They're working together, every single one of them, not one thing's wasted. on God's goodness to us, not one thing. Another objection that one might put forth is that a good God would never send someone to hell, that a good God would never send someone to hell. Well, A.W. Pink argues the opposite. He says, it will be no bad reflection upon God's goodness but rather the brightest exemplification of it when God shall rid the earth of those who have broken His laws, defied His authority, mocked His messengers, scorned His Son and persecuted those for whom He died. A good God must do those things. God is always good. The goodness of God permeates every other attribute. We can't take God and divide Him up into portions. Well, here's a section of holiness, and here's a section of mercy, here's a section of goodness, They're all interrelated. He's one being, and He's a simple being. Simple being that He's not dissected in many parts. We've talked about that already, but it's always important to understand that we're dealing with each of these attributes, but they all are His essence. One God, a simple God, not divisible. And it's the true and enduring testimony of every child of God that it is a sure thing that goodness and mercy are following them all the days of their lives. Brother and sister, look over your shoulder. Goodness and mercy are following you. They're like sheepdogs driving you to Christ. They are following you. They're there constantly. God is always good, both in His essence and in what His sovereign hand does. Now let us turn our attention to three responses, three responses to this goodness of God. Number one, we should give thanks. We should give thanks. Our brother Abraham read for us a few minutes ago from Psalm 107. That's our text, Psalm 107.1. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for he is good. Psalm 107, verses 8, 15, 21, and 31 say all the same thing. They repeat. It's a repeat. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men." Now note, just like we saw a minute ago, God is good and does good. Here we're to give thanks to the Lord for He is good and that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works. He calls on us first to give thanks to God for the fact that He is good. Praise Him for who He is. He's good. Give thanks to the Lord for He is good. But He also goes on in this passage to call to us four separate times to give thanks to God for the display of that goodness toward us in our daily lives. My dear friend, are you a thankful person? Are you a thankful person? Do you take time to note the goodness of God lavished upon you? Even those who do not love God have much to give Him thanks for. So you can't sit there this morning and say, well, I'm not a Christian, I don't have to give God thanks. No, you have much to give God thanks for. And to not give Him thanks is sin, it's wicked. The Apostle Paul in the very first chapter of Romans tells us that it is just such an unthankful attitude that is coupled with misplaced worship and eventually leads to God turning men over to the most extreme wickedness. Where does it start? It starts with a heart that won't render thanks unto God. But it just doesn't happen to those that are cast off like in Romans 1. It can also happen to us. We can lose a sense of thankfulness to our God, even as His blood-bought children. Pink sounds forth-awarding to us. He says, gratitude is often withheld from our great benefactor simply because his goodness is so constant and so abundant. It is lightly esteemed because it is exercised toward us in the common course of events. It is not felt because we daily experience it. He says, we just don't know any better. God's goodness comes in wave after wave after wave after wave. And we get used to it. We get used to it. And we're not thankful for it. I remember way back in my early days, back when I was a teenager, I remembered my youth pastor talking about the goodness of God and the mercy of God and the grace of God and how we can get to the point where we are accustomed to it. And he gave an example of, you're there in your house and You hear this knock at the door, and you go and answer the door, and this guy says, are you so-and-so, Bob, Susie, whatever your name? And he pulls out a check, and he hands it to you, and you look at that check, and it's like, what is this? He said, just a check for $5,000, just for you. And he walks off. Wow. I mean, you get on your phone, you start telling people, this guy, the blue just came up, what if the next day, same time, Knock at the door and you go and you open the door, same guy, he reaches in his pocket and he pulls out another $5,000 check. Third day. You know what you're gonna be doing at the end of the week? You're gonna be standing there at the window, looking at the clock. And sure enough, there he comes again, you see him. He drives into sight, he parks his car right out in front of your house, he gets out, he walks up to your house. He didn't have to open the door, you've already got it wide open. And he reaches in his pocket, and he takes out that check, and he hands it to you. Next day, you're there waiting for it. Here he comes again. Then after about four weeks, you're there waiting, and sure enough, right on time, there he comes, and he parks in front of your house. He gets out of his car, gets on the sidewalk, but instead of walking up your walkway, he turns and goes down the sidewalk, and you step outside, and you watch him, and he goes down to your neighbor's house. He knocks it, reaches in, Yo, wait a minute, wait, no, you got the wrong house. What, what, what are you, that's my neighbor, remember me? And that's how we can get with the goodness of God lavished upon us. We think it's due us and we lose a sense of thankfulness of what God is doing for us. the reality of losing the wonder of God's goodness due to the regularity of receiving. It was probably what led David to say in Psalm 103, bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. Forget not all his benefits. But we should not only give thanks in response to God's goodness, secondly, we should hope. We should hope. Psalm 27, 13 says, I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of God in the land of the living. Unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. My good friend, Pastor Bill Hughes, has a quote written in the inside cover of his Bible. It says this, never doubt in the dark what you know to be true in the light. Never doubt in the dark what you know to be true in the light. We, like David, should have confidence in the promise of God that we will see the goodness of the Lord in the land. of the living, and this confidence should strengthen us when the dark closes in, when we have more questions than we have answers, when we don't know the way out of the given situation and God seems to be a million miles away. We, like David, are apt to lose heart, to doubt the goodness of God, and to actually question His promises. What has you down today? What has you discouraged? Think about it. What has you down? What has you discouraged? The devil would whisper in your ear that you are far from God and he is far from you, that your circumstances are deserved, that there is nothing left for you. You brought this on yourself, that God is done with you and you have no right to pray. You, after what you did, no place for pleading. no business at the throne of God. Look past the circumstances and lay hold of the unchanging goodness of your Father." In Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, we read of Christian and his traveling companion, of all people hopeful, falling into the hands of giant despair who locks them up in that dungeon beneath Doubting Castle. Bunyan goes on to describe their escape, how they got out of there, It says, now a little before it was day, good Christian, as one half amazed, break out in his passionate speech. What a fool, said he, am I thus to lie in a stinking dungeon when I may as well walk at liberty? I have a key in my bosom called promise. That will I am persuaded open any lock in doubting castle. Using the key, Christian and hopeful escaped. That's the key, my friend. That's the key. The promise of God. I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Hope in God. Hope in God. And now the third response. We should repent. We should repent. Romans 2, 4 says, or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? We have contemplated this afternoon the riches of the goodness of God, goodness that has not ceased to you, even because of your hardness of heart, unbeliever. The goodness of God has not ceased to you, a goodness coupled with forbearance and longsuffering towards you, even in your present state of heart. But Paul here has a question. Do you despise the riches of this goodness? Do you despise the riches of this goodness? This very expression of God's goodness toward you should take you by the hand and lead you to repentance. The fact of the matter is, if you have not repented of your sins, you are despising the riches of His goodness. You are. You are despising the very ultimate demonstration of the goodness of God to a sinner like you, the sending of His own Son to take away the sin that separates you from Him and has made you an enemy. The fact that you haven't repented means that you are despising the goodness of such a great and awesome God. The cross of Jesus Christ is the greatest demonstration of the goodness of our God. Consider the goodness of God in the following passages, 2 Corinthians 5, 21, for He, the Father, made Him who knew no sin, that is Christ, to be sin for us. that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." Philippians 2, 6-11, Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery, something to be held on to, to be equal with God. but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness, not of angels, but of men. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. I close with an appeal to you, my unconverted friend. It's an appeal sent from the very throne room of heaven, because you see, I am an ambassador of the king who sits on that throne. This is his appeal to you, my friend. The King of Kings, an appeal for you. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in Him. Psalm 34, 8. Come and taste. Come and taste. Come and see. Come! Come! God is good. God does good. God is always good. Blessed is that man who trusts in this good and gracious God. Oh, Father, we thank You for Your goodness to us. The riches of this goodness lavished out. Lord, we live in the new covenant. We don't deal with the crumbs that fall from the table. We deal with the banquet that's set before us and we bid to come to taste and to see that you are good, that you are good. Oh, may all come to know firsthand this goodness that you have prepared for your people for all eternity. Pray in Jesus name. Amen.