Surely God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.

Psalms 73:1, KJV

For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. 

But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the LORD God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.

Psalms 73: 27-28, ESV

 

I love the 73rd Psalm! The inspired author begins by extoling God's goodness to Israel. In the New Testament, the apostle Paul points out that all who are faithful to God are Israel, so that's you and me. And God is good to us!

 

Asaph, the man who wrote the 73rd Psalm, was going through some personal struggles. He had noticed how often wicked men seemed to get away with their bad behavior and it bothered him. A lot! He talked about how this almost caused his faith to waiver until he realized the ultimate reward for their behavior- in effect, that their life would eventually come to an end, and that this end would not be pleasant. And then Asaph turned to view the way that God took care of those who were trying to walk faithfully before Him, and he came up with the only conclusion that a reasoning person could make: God is good!

 

One of my favorite comedians is a man by the name of Jerry Clower. He had a book and a video with the title, "Ain't God Good!" Despite the improper English, Mr. Clower was saying the same thing that Asaph did nearly 3,000 years prior: God is so good to us that this goodness needs to be proclaimed! In fact, it needs to be exclaimed! If you and I are walking in the way that God wants us to, then God will take care of us in every way that we need taking care of.

 

Think about what that means: It means that we will always have our basic needs taken care of. We will never have to worry about food or clothing or shelter because God Himself will ensure that we have the opportunity to obtain these things. It is true that His plan is that we work for them, but He provides ample opportunity for pleasant and satisfying work for those who have chosen to walk in His ways. We all know of people who are starving and who do not have proper clothing or shelter, but we need to understand that these things occur not because people are trying to walk in His ways, but because sinful people pervert those ways and miss out on the blessings.

 

And though it is very true that the innocent will sometimes suffer because of wicked people's behavior, this is a result of the consequences of sin that God forbids, so the blame for this suffering is squarely upon the shoulders of the wicked, not on God. And even though the righteous do occasionally have hard things to go through because of the wicked, God will eventually reward them. Aside from these instances when the behavior of wicked men adversely affects the righteous, we have a pretty good life.  

 

I think about the goodness of God in my own life. Because my parents loved God, I had a great childhood. I woke up in a happy home with people who made me feel secure. I went to school to teachers who liked their jobs for the most part and who liked children. We played at recess with other kids who respected the rules of "kid society". We had nurses at school who took care of our ailments. We had crossing guards to make sure that we got across the street safely, and when we got home, we might even get a snack before Mom packed us back outside to play. We were excited when Dad got home from work because he was a good guy, and we ate a meal that was nourishing and tasty. 

 

Sometimes, there was dessert!

 

We went to worship and Sunday School on Sundays and prayer meeting and Bible class on Wednesdays. When we were sick, Mom took care of us, and when we were well and has our chores done, we played. We got a quarter for our allowance which allowed us to enjoy a variety of pleasures that were highly anticipated and greatly enjoyed. It is true that we had to set aside a nickel for God - this was part of our training, but the rest of that quarter was ours to spend any way we wanted. We got to go "home" to Lubbock at Christmastime and summer, where we got to see our grandparents and run wild with our cousins. And when the time came, we got to go to college where we often met our future spouse, and when we got out, we married and started the cycle all over again. 

 

Isn't God good!

 

I know that there will be those who disagree, but I also know from experience that these are typically people who have either never tried God's way, or they have rejected it altogether. God is good to those who love Him, and His desire is that everyone will. For those who don't, they are usually relegated to a life of misery, and they have a tendency to share that misery with every unfortunate soul that they cross paths with. But despite the misinformed opinions of the wicked, the righteous know! God is good!

 

We should think about this often. It will make our lives a whole lot better. And someday there will be Heaven, for God is indeed good!