That says, the chorus says, some
through the water, some through the flood, some through the fire,
but all through the blood. Some through great sorrow, but
God gives us all in the night season and all the day long.
That's so true, isn't it? Go with me, if you would, back
to Psalm 100. Psalm 100 verse 1 says, make
a joyful noise unto the Lord all ye lands. Serve the Lord
with gladness. Come before his presence with
singing. Know ye that the Lord, he is
God. It is He that hath made us and
not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep
of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving
and into His courts with praise. Be thankful unto Him and bless
His name. For the Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting. and his truth endureth to all
generations. You know, rest is a good thing. We just had a little rest. Rest
is such a good thing. A moment to recharge, shut everything
down. You need that, just a moment
to shut everything down, declutter your mind, and rest. It's a good thing. Sometimes you're so concerned
about what's right in front of you that usually whenever I go
on vacation, I cannot get excited about it until I'm on the road
because I'm so concerned about what's in front of me. We're
so concerned about that or we're so concerned about what's right
around the corner, what we can't see it yet, but it's coming. Sometimes we're so concerned
about all of that, we don't ever have the ability to reflect on
what has been. We don't have the time, we don't
have the mental capacity to think about what has happened to the
point where I am. So concerned about here and forward,
we can't really enter into what has happened up to the point
where we are. I had a little time this week
to ponder some things. I had some rest. I thought about,
um, Mary, the wife of Joseph. When all these things happen
concerning the Lord of glory being born, everything that was
announced, everything the angel said, it says she pondered all
these things in her heart. I had some time to ponder some
things in my heart. I had moments where I was able
to really think on the Lord's dealings with me. And what a
thing to think on, um, the Lord's dealings with
my family, the Lord's dealings with our congregation. Every time that I did in, in
the moments throughout the week, every time my mind went to the
Lord's dealings with me and the Lord's dealings with us. Every
time I came to this conclusion, the Lord is good. I feel like that's what my week
was filled with. I had moment after moment, they
came in spurts. Every morning, Hannah and I drank
coffee on this little back patio that we had. And we would sit
there for two cups, that's how long it takes me to sit there,
two cups, however long that is. After that, we started every
day with a family bike ride. We had bikes down there every
day. We rode bikes. And then we spent the rest of
the day sitting on the beach. That was our week. We'd go out
in the water a little bit every now and then. We'd walk up and
down the beach a little bit every now and then. But I spent pretty
much all of my time either sitting on a patio, sitting on a bike,
or sitting on a beach. And in all of those moments,
in those different scenarios, I was able to spend some time
reflecting on the Lord's dealings with me and us. And every time I had to come
to this conclusion, the Lord is good. This Lord that our lives are given to. He's God. And we're just the
sheep of His pasture. We belong to Him. He made us. And He owns us. And this God
that we worship and serve and Our lives revolve around this. This does not revolve around
our life. Our lives revolve around this. This Lord is good. So good. Verse one says, make
a joyful noise unto the Lord. All ye lands serve the Lord with
gladness. Come before His presence with
singing. Know ye that the Lord, He is
God. It is He that hath made us and
not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep
of His pasture. So enter into His gates with
thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. Be thankful unto
Him and bless His name for the Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting,
and His truth endureth to all generations." The Lord is so
good. He is so, so good. The Scripture
says, "...out of the heart the mouth will speak." And when it comes to God the
Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit, dealings with us
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only way God
has dealt with his people. In, through, by way of the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we think of his dealings
with us through Christ, all that the heart of a believer can dwell
on, if we're really thinking on his dealings with us, All
that the heart of a believer can dwell on. And therefore all
that the mouth of a believer can speak on is his goodness
to us. The goodness of the Lord to us,
looking at what we were, what we are and what we deserve. when the Lord really causes us
to see that, because the flesh thinks it's something that it's
not. It thinks it deserves something that it doesn't. But when we
consider all that, when God's people get a moment to truly
ponder in their hearts God's dealings with them, in and because
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the only resolve that a child of
God can come to is The Lord has been so good to me. He's given
me a breath of air one right after the next now for 43 years. He allowed me to go through everything
I've been through. I believe to bring me to this
place where I am. And he has been so good to me.
He's been so good to me. I've had a lot of sadness and
sorrowful things happen. And you have too. But the Lord
has been good to us. He's been so good to us. We're
part of a congregation. This is a spiritual family. That's what this is. This is
a family. And this spiritual family is
made up of physical families, husbands and wives. Brothers and sisters, parents,
children, grandchildren, the Lord has been so good to us as
we sit here with our families. David didn't have that. The man who wrote this, he did
not have that. Do you know what David's last
words were? These be the last words of David. You know what
his last words were? He said, although it be not so
with my house, although my house be not so with
God, he has made with me an everlasting covenant. You talk about why me? Ordered
in all things, ensure. He said, this is all my salvation
and all my desire. He said, the Lord has been so
good to me. Just so good to me. It was his goodness that caused
him to think on us in the first place. Don't turn to any of these.
I'm gonna quote some scripture to you. But David said in Psalm
139, he said, how precious are thy thoughts unto me, O God. How great is the sum of them? If I should count them, they
are more in number than the sand." It's amazing, an amazing thought
to think on. In Psalm 8, David said, what
is man that thou art mindful of him? Job said, what is man that thou
shouldest set thine heart upon him? It was His goodness that caused
Him to think on us in the first place, just to even turn His
attention toward us. And it was His goodness that
caused Him to choose to put us in Christ, caused Him to give
us to Christ. That was His goodness. Again,
don't turn. But 2 Thessalonians 2.13 says,
we are bound to give thanks always to God. for you brethren, beloved
of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you
to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth." It was God's goodness that did that. It was his goodness
that caused Christ to give himself. I wrote in these notes, Give
Himself, in parentheses, give His life, give His blood. When I wrote that, I thought,
Lord, please don't let that become common to me. Please don't let
that become common to me. It was His goodness that caused
Jesus Christ, the God of heaven, to give Himself, give His life,
and give His blood. to redeem us from everything
we lost. God made us perfect and we lost
it all. He redeemed us from everything
we fell into, all of that sin and all that ruin, everything
that we still are in the flesh. When we look at this flesh, everything
this flesh is, all the pride against Him and the enmity against
Him and the selfishness and the self-righteousness Wickedness,
He gave Himself. Romans 5 says, for when we were
yet without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly.
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure
for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commended
His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. It was the goodness of the Father
to be mindful of us and to give us to Christ. It was the goodness
of the Son that gave Himself to save us. Gave Himself to save us. I think about when Job cried,
deliver them from going down to the pit, I found a ransom.
What was the ransom? Christ went into the pit. It's the goodness of the spirit
that calls us back. It was the goodness of the spirit
that called us back initially and calls us back continually. And I hope we can enter into
that. Do we have any idea how prone to wonder we really are?
Oh, it is the goodness of the spirit that called us and calls
us and calls and calls and calls. Every time we wander away from
him, Romans two says it is the goodness of God that leads us
to repentance. That, that changed mine back
to him. That's His goodness. 1 Corinthians
1 says, God is faithful by whom you were called unto the fellowship
of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. He has called and thank
God He'll keep calling. He will keep calling. He will
keep calling. He'll keep calling until we're
home with Him. It is His goodness that will
keep us all the way to the end. God's people are kept by the
power of God in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
literally where we are kept. We are kept in Him. God the Father
put us in Christ for safekeeping, kept in Him. When we have moments
of true reflection, those moments where the Lord sends, I believe
sends His Spirit and opens up the heart, opens up the soul,
And we have true, true moments of honestly entering into what
our God has done for us and how He has been to us, how He has
treated us in spite of us. Unprofitable servants, unworthy
children. When we enter into that, the
only thing that can truly fill our minds and our hearts, and
this is the only resolve we can come to the Lord is good. The Lord is so good. Oh, to grace. How great a debtor daily I'm
constrained to be. Let thy goodness. Like a fetter, like shackles, like handcuffs, bind my wandering heart to Thee. See if you can enter into this.
His goodness has bound our wandering hearts to Him. Just ponder that. Honestly, think on that, go get
a cup of coffee and sit on a patio somewhere and ponder that his
goodness has bound our wandering hearts to him like shekels, like
handcuffs. And there's, he allows us just
enough slack to let us see what we're prone to do. And then it
tightens up. Now this is what I want to get
across to us tonight. Because of His goodness to us
on the cross, we know that when we talk about His goodness, it
goes to the cross. It goes to everything that we
just mentioned. Because of His goodness to us on the cross,
He has secured nothing but goodness for us now and for all eternity. today and for every day that
is to come. Nothing but goodness for us.
Turn with me to Isaiah 63. Isaiah 63, the heading at the
top of my page says, Christ showeth who he is and his power to save. This is the goodness of his cross. This is Christ speaking right
here. Verse one says, who is this that cometh from Edom with
dyed garments from Basra? This that is glorious in his
apparel traveling in the greatness of his strength. I that speak
in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine
apparel and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine
fat. Why are your garments stained
red? He said, this is the reason why
verse three. is because I have trodden the winepress alone.
And of the people, there was none with me. For I will tread
them in mine anger and trample them in my fury and their blood
shall be sprinkled upon my garments. And I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in
my heart and the year of my redeemed has come. And I looked and there
was none to help. And I wondered that there was
none to uphold. Therefore, mine own arm brought
salvation unto me, and my fury it upheld me. And I will tread
down the people in mine anger and make them drunk in my fury,
and I will bring down their strength to the earth." What he's saying
is, I will deal with them in myself. I'll pour out my wrath
in my own self. Now watch verse 7 after he said,
I fought this battle alone. I bore that cross alone. I by
myself purged their sins. Verse 7, he said, I will mention
the loving kindness of the Lord and the praise of the Lord according
to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us. and the great goodness
toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according
to his mercies and according to the multitude of his loving
kindnesses. For he said, surely they are
my people, children that will not lie. So he was their savior. In all their affliction, he was
afflicted. And the angel of His presence
saved them. In His love and in His pity,
He redeemed them and He bear them and carry them all the days
of old. He said, because I redeemed you,
I'll bear you and I'll carry you all your days of old. He
said, I am speaking of my goodness to you. And this is what I want
us to get a hold of. Because His goodness redeemed
us, His goodness will bear us and will carry us today and for
the rest of our days of old. No matter what it is, it's gonna
be goodness now and forever. This brings such peace into my
heart. This brings such comfort, such
encouragement, Now and forever, it is not going to be easy, but
it's gonna be goodness, no matter what it is. As His people, we
are going to be able to say in it and after it, always, as we're
sitting there pondering how He dealt with us. Every time, we're
gonna be able to say, man, the Lord is good. We'll say it every
time. Oh, the Lord is so good. The
Lord has been nothing but good to me, and we'll mean it. The
Lord has been nothing but good to me. Turn with me to Psalm
23. Psalm 23, verse six, David said,
surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my
life. Goodness and mercy. He said, surely goodness is going
to follow me. Does that mean prosperity and
ease, David? No. Verse four, he said, I'm
walking through the valley of the shadow of death right now. That's where I am right now.
Death is all around me. Not prosperity, death. Verse
five, he said, I'm right now in the presence of mine enemies. I'm not at ease, I'm at war.
David was constantly at war. Fighting without, fighting within. David said, I don't live on easy
street. I live on the road of trouble,
the road of trials. But he said in verse two, I can
still lie down in green pastures. I can enjoy the quietness of
still waters. Why? Why is that, David? Verse
one, he said, it's because the Lord is my shepherd. Verse three, he said, The Lord
has led me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Every path
he leads me down is bringing me to him. Every path he leads
me down is bringing me to him. So he said in verse six, for
that reason, I know with absolute certainty, surely goodness and
mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. and I will dwell
in the house of the Lord forever." Goodness, it's all bringing goodness. Psalm 107 talks about men who
are in all kinds of trouble. It's a wonderful Psalm, just
all kinds of trouble because they've been put in a place where
they have to cry out for help over and over again. And the
reoccurring verse in that Psalm is, Oh, that men would praise
the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the
children of men. By God's grace, we preface with
by God's grace, by Him bringing these things to our mind, creating
this heart of faith in Him, by His grace, we will. We will. If His goodness will
bind our wandering hearts to Him, then we will praise Him
for all of His goodness to us. Now let's close by reading the
text one more time. Go with me back to Psalm 100. Verse 1 says, Make a joyful noise
unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord,
he is God. It is he that hath made us and
not we ourselves. We are his people and the sheep
of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving
and into his courts with praise. Be thankful unto Him and bless
His name, for the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting, and
His truth endureth to all generations. I pray every generation here
will be able to say, the Lord has been good to me. In Christ,
because of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray every generation
will be able to say, God has been so good to me. He chose
me, He saved me, He called me, He kept me in spite of me. He's just been
so good. The Lord is so good. Praise and
thanks, praise and thanks be unto Him. All right, let's all
stand together.