Categories: Old Testament, Psalms, Word of SalvationPublished On: October 8, 2024
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Word of Salvation – Vol. 40 No.13 – April 1995

 

Is The Lord Really Good?

 

Sermon by Rev. Prof. R. O. Zorn on Psalm 145:9

Suggested Hymns: BoW 145, 51a, 365, 91, 149:4

 

Dear Congregation.

INTRODUCTION

Psalm 145 is a song of praise to the Lord.

The superscription also tells us that it is a psalm of David.  David, you remember, was known as the “sweet psalmist of Israel” (2Sam 21:1, KJV).

How many of the treasured psalms of our Psalter are ours because God inspired His servant, David, to write them for us.  Do we still read them?  Sing them?  Know them?  Value them as we should?  Martin Luther valued the Psalms very much and considered them a miniature Bible.

Psalm 145 is a testimony of faith about God and His ways in human experience.  And David had much of human experience in his life to reflect upon and to share with us in the Psalms.

Our text speaks of the Lord being good to all.

This is obviously a testimony of faith.  And in faith we may say this about God and His providence.  There is no doubt that we regularly do this in prayer, in our worship services, etc.  Perhaps at times, when all is going well, we may even be glib about it.  “God is good.  Yes of course He is!”

But let us pause and think about it.  Is it really true that God is good?  Don’t we at times struggle with what we confess on the one hand, and what we experience in life on the other?

There is, at least to some extent, a mystery involved here, as we also recognise in what we have just finished singing: “What God ordains is always right; His will is just and holy.”

Let us therefore in the light of our text consider:

  1. Is the Lord really good?
  2. The Lord is really good.
  3. The Lord’s goodness involves fulfilling His purposes.

I.  IS THE LORD REALLY GOOD?

Not according to the testimony of unbelief.

The unbeliever sees much in the world that contradicts the testimony that the Lord is good.  “If the Lord is good,” he asks, “why is there so much evil in the world?”  As if the Lord, rather than sinful man, is to blame for evil!

We must confess that, by nature, we too are continually inclined to murmur against God and His ways.  Are we any different, for example, than the Israelites who could murmur against God and His providence even when they had just experienced His miraculous deliverance from Egyptian bondage?  In Exodus 15, we read how Moses and the Israelites sang of the greatness of the Lord and of His mighty power and provision.  But in Exodus 17:3, they blame Moses and the Lord for their thirst and act like they wish to return to the fleshpots and slavery of Egypt!

Israel was experiencing a faith crisis, as we all do when times get tough.  Who has not been tempted to feel that, if only I had control of life’s affairs (as God does), things would be different (and better too!).

David himself faced this faith crisis when he became convinced that Saul would ultimately kill him.  So, in this difficult situation of his life, what did he do?  Did he continue to trust the Lord, as he confidently sings in Psalm 27:1 No, he says, “One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul.  The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines” (1Samuel 27:1).

Think of it.  He went over to the side of the enemy Philistines!  Where was his faith in what he says in Psalm 145:18?  (read)

But let’s not blame David and the Israelites too much.  We must confess that the faith conflict that God’s people have is more than just an infrequent temptation.  Even when things are going comparatively well, we can have an experience that tests our faith.  We make plans and have goals for the future, and then things go wrong.  Drought kills crops; businesses fail; jobs are lost; children turn away from the faith; we get sick; we lose our money in bad investments; etc, etc.

We reluctantly recognise that sometimes it is necessary for our heavenly Father to chasten us – for our good (read Hebrews 12:5-6).

But what are we to make of the prosperity of the wicked?  The Skases, the Bonds, and those who seem to get away with wrong-doing in our society while godly aims and plans are dashed upon the rocks and come to grief?  How can the Lord allow wicked ways to prosper while at the same time allowing plans that would have glorified Him to crash to ruin?

The struggle of faith’s answer seems to be inadequate at this point.

The testimony of history doesn’t give us all that much encouragement, either.  From the time of the cry of Abel’s blood from the ground, the tale of the believer’s misfortunes has multiplied.  Think of the prophets; John the Baptist; King Herod’s murder of little children in Bethlehem!

Even times of triumph in God’s kingdom are usually alloyed with defeat and tragedy.  The apostolic age claimed the apostles among its martyrs.  How could God allow James to be killed by the sword?  Couldn’t He have rescued him with an angel’s miraculous power, as He did in delivering Peter from prison?  Yes He could.  But He didn’t.  That’s the mystery of His providence that we all struggle with.

The sad testimony of personal experience.

Is the Christian really better off than his neighbour when he suffers from the same diseases, misfortunes and tragedies of life plus death in the end, like everyone else?

Doesn’t God seem to help those who help themselves?  If you’re weak, or without talent or money, aren’t you just out of luck?

And as to tragedy, Christians seem to suffer even more than their fate-trusting neighbours.  Here’s an example we’re all familiar with.  Godly parents have children, some of whom respond to the teaching and training in the ways of the Lord, while some do not.  Here’s a son who, despite all effort, turns out to be a real spiritual problem.  The more his parents do for him, the worse he seems to become – do you know anyone who has had that experience?  They have another son who follows in their steps and shows great promise regarding service in God’s church and kingdom.

But one day tragedy strikes.  While the two sons are travelling in a car, there is a terrible accident.  The godly son is killed, while the ungodly one escapes with hardly a scratch.  Why did God in His providence allow this to happen?  Is it indeed true that, “What God ordains is always right…!”? – especially when it doesn’t lead to the conversion of the wayward son who continues his ungodly life and, if anything, even seems to get worse?  While for the parents the light of life has gone out, leaving them in the darkness of bitter despair!

It’s the story of Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, etc, all over again, re-duplicated many times in history with the people of God.  Yes, is the Lord really good?

II.  THE LORD IS REALLY GOOD (read the text again)

It is true that faith’s testimony here seems simplistic.

What answers can you give for the many things that seem to contradict the Lord’s goodness, especially to all?

Is there a satisfactory answer to the Jewish holocaust of World War II?  Some have even become atheists as a result of this.  For they say, “If there is a God, He could not allow such a terrible thing to happen.  But it did.  So it proves that there is no God.”

Can the drought and famine in Somalia, the killing in Bosnia and Rwanda be satisfactorily explained?  The same with the continuing persecution of Christians in China, Pakistan and Iran.  Not to mention disadvantaged children who need the continuing care of long- suffering parents, the abortion of the unborn, and innocent AIDS victims.

We must not overlook the fact that sinful people have brought, and continue to bring, much of this world’s woes upon themselves.  While it is also true that we must be careful not to equate all the above examples simply with the judgments of God.  Remember how Jesus warned about this in Luke 13:4-5 (read).

Because man is a fallen creature, he is selfish and greedy, he exploits others, neglects or abuses his health and environment, and brings retributive divine catastrophes upon himself.  “The wrath of heaven,” of which the Apostle Paul speaks in Romans 1 is still visited upon the ungodly.

David mentions this, too, in Psalm 145:20 (read).  The wrath of God and the eternal punishment of hell have never been popular subjects, but they are nevertheless still as true today as they ever were.  Much of God’s providence is arranged so that the wicked will be warned to repent and flee from the wrath to come before it is too late; while for the righteous God’s providence is arranged for their sanctification and growth in Christ-likeness.

The testimony of our text, therefore, is based upon more than meets the eye.

Man is not his own boss, as he so often likes to pretend.  We can be thankful for this, otherwise things would be even in far worse shape than they are now – economically, politically, socially, personally and individually.

The prophet Jeremiah had it right when he said, “It is not in man to direct his steps” (Jeremiah 10:23).  And that’s why he added, “Correct me, Lord, but only with justice – not in your anger, lest you reduce me to nothing.”

How much of what we see today may be due to the judgment of God?  More than meets the eye, to be sure.

Man is an undeserving, as well as, dependent creature.  Unless the Lord provides, man and his environment are soon reduced to nothing.  Does the farmer realise this, as he waits for sunshine and rain?  The inhabitant of the city, as he works for the bread on his table?  The housewife, as she goes to the store for groceries?  The hospital patient, as he awaits the healing of his pain-racked body?  The doctor or nurse as, they prescribe medicine?  “It is of the Lord’s mercies…!”

How beautifully David reflects a recognition of this in Psalm 145:15-16 (read).

“Yes, the Lord is really good even though His ways may often be unsearchable and His paths beyond tracing out” (Romans 11:33).  So the person who loves God won’t need the answer to everything – including why God chose to save him when He could just as easily have condemned him to eternal punishment for his sins.  As the hymn writer expresses it, “I know not why God’s wondrous grace…!” (read the rest of Hymn 372, vs 1).

III.  THE LORD’S GOODNESS INVOLVES FULFILLING HIS PURPOSES  (and not necessarily ours, though we might like it to be our purposes rather than His).

Why we need to remember this.

Because we’re fallen creatures – even though we’ve become new creatures in Christ we’re tempted to share the world’s picture of God.  To the man on the street, God is just a big sugar daddy who is there to provide for people’s needs; to answer prayers; and to exist for the benefit of mankind.  And when this doesn’t prove to be the case, the unbeliever says that there is no God; while the believer has all sorts of hang-ups and unsolvable “whys” connected with his faith.

But God has created us for His glory, not vice versa (and this world and mankind in it have been made to serve and to glorify Him.  And when people do so, we might add, they also enjoy God!

It’s easy to love God when all goes well for us.  But that’s having little more than a cheap faith!  Remember, this was Satan’s accusation of Job (read Job 1:6-11).  Do we see now why God allowed Satan to test Job?

An easy love may really not be love at all.  Is simply taking and continuing to take, an expression of love?  Isn’t it more likely to be simply an expression of selfishness?

Real love gives, serves, has the welfare and benefit of the other uppermost in mind and heart.  And what is true in human relationships is simply a reflection of what is just as true in the divine-human relationship.

And so tests of our love for God must come, and must continue to be an important part of our life’s experience.  You see, to love God, not because of everything He gives, but in spite of everything He permits – that’s the acid test!  Ask Job how eloquently he learned this (read Job 42:1-6).

God doesn’t want our love because of the things He can and does give us.  We ought to love Him for this, yes, but anyone can “buy” love with gifts, too – which is not real love at all, as Satan was quick to point out against Job.

God wants us to love Him because of Himself.  In another Psalm, the Psalmist put it right when he said…  (read Psalm 73:27, then vss.23-26).

St Augustine also expressed it properly when he said, “You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You.”

Then the storms of life may come (and come they will for everyone sooner or later); but our refuge is the living God who is a most adequate shelter because His grace is all sufficient for every need.

How do we know?  Two texts in Romans give us the altogether adequate promises of God (read Romans 8:32 and 8:28).

Do you see now why the Gospel is indeed good news?  In Christ, God is for us and with us, and that is more than enough, isn’t it?

This world (and we in it) belong to God.

“And He’s got the whole world in His hand.”

David has this perspective, and this is what he brings to our attention in Psalm 145.  Notice what he tells us about God.  David knew the true God, and here God reveals Himself as He really is.

He is sovereign (read vs.3).

He is compassionate and caring (read vss.8-9).

He is generous to all (read vss.15-16).

He is lovingly righteous, but also just (read vss.17,20).

Are we therefore safe in the arms of the Good Shepherd, as David was?  Jesus is our Good Shepherd.  And He completely cares for every one of His sheep!

Then let us praise Him, as David tells us to do (read vss.1-2).

Then let us tell others of His great redemptive deeds which we have experienced in Christ as a result of God’s rich mercy and grace (read vs.4).

Fathers, tell your children of Christ’s mighty redemptive power as we read of it in His Word, and as you have experienced it in your own life!  Yes, let us, too, praise the Lord, now and evermore!  (Conclude by reading vs.21).

Amen.