Just how good is “goodness”?

Posted by kylenighman on Nov 18, 2009 in Daily Bread | 2 comments

The first thing that jumps out to me in this passage is the word “goodness”. I think to myself, shouldn’t it be ‘how great is your greatness/awesomeness/unbelieveableness’? When you read the verses preceding verse 19 in the psalm, you can see the “goodness” David is talking about:

“…you are my rock and my fortress…”
“…you are my refuge…”
“…save me in your unfailing love…”

I don’t think the English translation to the word “goodness” does it justice. It seems that David is speaking of goodness the same way Jesus speaks of it in Luke 18: “…there is no one good except God alone…” It’s a goodness that we can’t attain on our own. Only God can be described by this type of goodness.

With this picture of goodness, I sometimes doubt that God really wants to give it to me. Could the God of the universe really love me like that? It’s something I can’t comprehend. But even if (and when) we doubt that we are deserving of God’s goodness, it doesn’t void the fact that he freely lavishes it upon us. That is a very cool reality.

And because of this reality, we, like David, can gratefully cling to the promise that no matter the circumstances, good or bad, God constantly wants to bestow his goodness upon us – not only for our own sake, but for his glory. He does it in the presence of men so that we can point back to him. We get his goodness, and at the same time, we get to be an ambassador for God and give him the honor he deserves.