With the world caught in the web of disease outbreaks, sky-high inflation, bear markets, natural disasters, wars and rumours of wars, no wonder the people of the world may wonder if there is a God out there and if there is One, is He a good God?
When Moses requested for God to show him His glory, God replied in Exodus 33:19, that He “will make all [His] goodness pass before [Moses]. Let’s examine what God’s goodness look like (Exodus 34:6-7):
“Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger (i.e. patient), and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin (i.e. forgiving); yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations (i.e. just).”
The glory of God is His goodness which is expressed in all these attributes. So when we say “God is good”, we are saying a mouthful. The amount of importance that Scripture placed upon the need for God’s people to recognize His goodness can be seen in the temple dedication. When King Solomon dedicated the temple to God, the Holy Spirit recorded for us the lyrics of the song that was sung before the Shekinah Glory of God rushed in:
“For He is good, for His mercy endures forever” (NKJV) 2 Chronicles 5:13
The dedication of the temple during Ezra’s time was also met with the same praises (Ezra 3:11). In Mark 10:18, Jesus tells the rich young ruler that “No one is good except God alone”. Indeed no other being is infinitely and innately and immutably good. Paul certainly spoke on behalf of all mankind when he says that in him, no good thing dwells (Romans 7:18). If there is anything good in us, it has to find its source from God. We are simply not capable of producing any goodness in and of ourselves.
Amidst the storms of life, we all need to anchor ourselves in the truth that God is good – all the time. We may not have full revelation of our predicament but we can always trust that God’s goodness towards us remain unwavering simply by virtue of who He is. God is simply someone incapable of being anything but good. For example, God is incapable of lying since lying is not good (Titus 1:2).
A fantastic song that I learned when I was a youth is: “God is Good” by Don Moen. This is a song that parents can consider teaching their kids too. “God is good” is good theology for kids to be established in while they are still young.
“Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good” Psalm 106:1