The goodness of God cannot be fully comprehended because of the limitations of the finite mind.
Neither thought nor word can encompass the goodness of God. A lifetime of meditation would not exhaust the avenues of thought on this matter. We can only think in terms of righteousness, mercy, truth, loving kindness, long – suffering, patience, and that all embracing word: love. Yet so wide are these terms that each one opens up a train of endless thought as its depths are searched. The finite mind of man marvels at the revelation which unfolds as we meditate on these things. The righteousness of Christ —who can comprehend it? When we speak of the goodness of God, what do we really mean? Are we conscious of just what we are saying?
Goodness conveys more to us as we ponder upon it, not just on the intellectual side, but as the mind responds to the spiritual consideration, for the whole plan and purpose of God with man was conceived in goodness: his plan for his creation was founded in love, put into operation with mercy, maintained in truth, and sustained with loving-kindness: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. . . . For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world, through him, might be saved”.
In these wonderful words shines forth the love and the goodness of God in all its beauty. How eloquent are those words: “God so loved the world”. They speak of mercy, long-suffering, enduring love for man whom he created.
God is to be praised—yes indeed—but how? Not only in word and deed (although this is necessary). But to give full expression to our love for God, to praise him in sincerity and in truth it is necessary to go beyond this. There must be an inward stirring—a spiritual comprehension an in ward response to the call of the goodness of God which is in evidence on every hand and yet is best perceived only on the spiritual plane. David, the psalmist of old, gives voice in praise to God many times and reveals to us the high spiritual plane to which a man may rise, so that his words become an outward expression of the inward reaction and his response to the love and goodness of God.
Why don’t we, if not speak, then think in the exalted tones of spiritual perception as is evidenced in the Psalms?
Is it that life today is too full, so that we lack the quiet hour? Is it because there are so many things to distract? Or is it that we have not attained to the spiritual conception of the Psalmist, because we have not the desire to grow spiritually? Or, if we have the desire, we do little, perhaps, to cultivate it so that it might become, instead of a dormant desire, an urge growing within us and altering our lives to make them conform to the pattern of godly things. To the extent, therefore, that we develop our spiritual thinking are we equipped to render praise to God for his goodness.
What is our conception of God?
How real is he to us? In Jesus Christ we can come near to him: we can come nearer to a comprehension of him, of his thoughts and of his ways, which are as high above man’s thinking as the heavens are above the earth. Thus we may give praise to God for his goodness and mercy, through the Christ of God—our Saviour. He it is who, as a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, can direct and guide us into the ways of God.
In Jesus we see manifested all the thinking and the ways of God. His life was, in itself, a continual praise to God—a living testimony to God’s goodness. Here again is the lesson we must learn. Praise is not a matter of utterance, nor yet is it confined to thought. If we are to praise God for his goodness, then it can only be done by a manifestation—that is, by a way of life, which, in itself, testifies that we are striving to conform to the pattern that he gave us in his son.
In these days of waiting God has richly blessed us in that we have been led into the way of life in Christ Jesus. “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Cor. 4. 6, 7). If we really understand these words, then our praise to God will be expressed in thankfulness born of humility. Let us learn of praise to God from the psalmist David’s thoughts expressed in Psalm 145. 5, “I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works”. Can we reach up to that thought? Truly God’s greatness is unsearchable! The infinite has no bounds —the goodness of God knows no limits—it transcends man’s conception.
From a contemplation of the glorious honour of God’s majesty David then speaks of God’s goodness and compassion, his loving kindness and mercy, as we follow through this psalm, verses 8-10, 14-20: “The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works. All thy works shall praise thee, 0 Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee. . . . The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down. The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. The Lord preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.”
For his care of each of us, day by day, God is to be praised, but above all should we render thanks to God and give praise and honour to him for the spiritual enlightenment of his word, which both heals and saves, which illuminates the mind so that we can discern and assess true spiritual values. The apostle Paul refers to it as “the light of the glorious gospel of Christ”. Its effulgence dissipates shadows and doubts—the everyday cares of this life—so that the outlook is changed and a spiritual concept becomes the microscope through which we view all things.
David, in speaking of the goodness of God, says: “All thy works shall praise thee, 0 Lord, and thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power; to make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and glorious majesty of his kingdom. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations”.
As the prophet Nahum declares, “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him”.
“The Lord is good”; again we pause to consider these words and again is brought home to us the inadequacy of our ability to think and to feel and to comprehend the fullness of this expression. We can obtain some small realisation of God’s goodness only so long as we travel along the pathway of thankfulness and humility.
The prophet Micah brings this home to us in chapter 6. 8, where he declares, “He hath chewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”, or as the margin has it: “To humble thyself to walk with thy God”.
This is the acceptable way —God’s way! As against this we read of Christ’s rebuke of the Pharisees, when they asked him why his disciples did not adhere to the tradition of the elders. To them Jesus said, “Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me”. There is the warning for us.
God is to be praised for his goodness, not just with our lips. but in our daily living—a testimony in itself of God’s goodness.
In conclusion let us heed the instruction of David and follow his counsel as set down in Psalms 29 and 50: “Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness”. For God says: “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God”
Reflections on the Potter and the Clay