Go with me, if you would, to
Exodus 34. Exodus chapter 34. And let's read verse six. And the Lord passed by before
him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious,
long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth. That's the verse of scripture
that we have been looking at to see each of these characteristics
of our God. Tonight, we're going to look
at God's goodness. God's goodness. We're not going
to look at it like we have been, though, like we did with mercy
and grace and longsuffering. One of the scripture references
that I went to when I was turning and looking, one of the references
I went to was Psalm 107. And the Lord blessed that psalm
to my heart. He just blessed, opened up the
word to my heart. So I want to look at His goodness
through that psalm, all right? Go with me if you would to Psalm
107. Psalm 107 verse 1 says, O give
thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth
forever. O give thanks to the Lord, for
he is good. He is good. He's not just one
of the things that is good. He is good. He is the source of all good. He's where all goodness comes
from. All of it. He is good. We just
sang a minute ago, God is great, God is good. And He is. He's so good. Verse 1 says, O
give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endureth
forever. His goodness is what brought
mercy to sinners like us forever. That's what brought it to us.
That's what sent it to us. Verse two says, let the redeemed
of the Lord say so. And we do, don't we? Let the
redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the
hand of the enemy. Now this is the order of events
that took place in the salvation of all of God's children. It
started with God's goodness and love. That's where it started.
God's goodness and His love. Romans 5 verse 8 says, God commended
His love toward us while we were yet sinners. Ephesians 2 says,
but God who is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith
He loved us even when we were dead in sin. Even at that moment. Salvation began with God's goodness
and love. That is what led to Him not giving
us what we deserve. His goodness and His love. Sinners
like us deserve wrath. We deserve punishment. We deserve
death. We deserve eternal death. But God's goodness brought mercy. It brought mercy. It led to Him
not giving us what we deserve, by way of giving to Christ what
we deserve. Mercy. When Christ received the
gift of our sin, when He took that gift, and you think about
that, that was His gift. That was His gift. When He received
the gift and took it to the cross of Calvary, made the payment, That payment was shedding of
blood. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission. When he made that payment, that's
the moment we received the gift of redemption. Completely redeemed. Then, in his good time, through
the message of the gospel, through the preaching of the gospel,
he calls out and he gathers his redeemed into his sheepfold.
They all start coming into his Sheepfold the company of his
sheep verse 2 says let the redeemed of the Lord say so whom he hath
redeemed from the hand of the enemy and Gathered them out of
the lands from the east and from the west from the north and from
the south now That's goodness. He goes out and he brings us
in calls us in Look with me at Psalm 2 Psalm 2 verse 7, this is the
Lord Jesus Christ speaking. He said, I will declare the decree
the Lord hath said unto me, the Father hath said unto me, thou
art my son, this day have I begotten thee, ask of me and I shall give
thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the
earth for thy possession. The Father said to the Son, If
you ask of me, I'll give you all of my elect sinners and all
of their sin. If you desire it, I'll give it
to you. And then judgment will be served
accordingly. In John 17, the Lord Jesus Christ
said, Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me
be with me where I am. I want it. I'll take them, I'll
take their sin. God's goodness brought mercy. Mercy through the death of Christ. And that mercy brought redemption.
And redemption brought us back to Him. Redeemed us back. Alright, look back at Psalm 107. Verse 1 says, O give thanks unto
the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord
say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy, and
gathered them out of the lands from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness
in a solitary way. They found no city to dwell in. They tried this religion, they
tried that religion, they tried this church, that church, this
preacher, that preacher. Verse 5 says, hungry and thirsty,
their soul fainted in them. They craved the righteousness
of Christ, but they didn't know it. They were hungry, but they didn't
know what for. They were missing something,
but they didn't know what they were missing. Verse six says, then they cried
unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of
their distresses. You know, Matthew five, verse
six says, blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness,
for they shall be filled. They shall be filled. That's
goodness. That's the goodness of the Lord. Verse 7 says, and
he led them forth by the right way. Psalm 23 says, he leadeth
me in paths of righteousness. What is righteousness? What is
righteousness? Blessed are they that do hunger
and thirst after righteousness. He leadeth me in paths of righteousness. What is righteousness? Here's
the answer. Christ. He leadeth me in paths of Christ. He puts my eyes on Christ. If
He did not put our eyes on Christ, and if He did not put our minds
on Christ and bring our hearts to Christ and cause us to follow
Christ, would we ever do it? If He did not, in goodness, lead
us in the path of righteousness. We would never walk the path.
Verse seven says, he led them forth by the right way that they
might go to a city of habitation. The city of habitation. Man,
we're trying to get there. This, the fellowship of God's
people. the congregation of God's people,
the fellowship of believers right here in this congregation. This
is a foretaste of glory divine. This is a foretaste of what our
eternal city of habitation is going to be like. When we gather
around the gospel and when God blesses it, when He sends His
Spirit and He blesses it, In those moments when we know He
is right here with us, and we're all right here together, it's
a foretaste of where we're headed, the beautiful city of God, the
habitation of God. Verse 8 says, Oh, that men would
praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to
the children of men. For he satisfieth the longing
soul and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. The word goodness
means pleasantness. It means agreeableness. It means
excellence. It means richness. I love this
one. It means better. They all start
crying, this is better. This is so much better. It means
happy. He fills the soul with happy. You know, the flesh may be miserable,
but the soul is happy. It means understanding, kindness,
rightness. And we can summarize every bit
of that by saying Christ. He fills the soul with Christ. Now who does he do that for?
Verse 10 says, such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of
death, being bound in affliction and iron. Why do they sit in
darkness? Why are they bound in affliction
and iron? Verse 11 says, because they rebelled
against the words of God and condemned the counsel of the
Most High. So what did He do for them in
His goodness? How exactly did His goodness
come to them? Verse 12 says, therefore He brought
down their heart with labor. They fell down and there was
none to help. The same thing He did for Saul
of Tarsus. That is the same thing He does
for every child of His. Every single child of His. The Apostle Paul said in 1 Timothy
1, I am a pattern for every soul that God chose to save. What
He did for me, He'll do it for every child of His. What did
He do for you, Paul? He brought me down. I fell down. There was none to
help but Christ. That's goodness. That's goodness. When centers become broken, and
when they become stripped down, that's the moment to get excited.
That's the moment to get excited. When we see God brings sinners
in and sit them under the gospel and break their hearts and strip
them down to where they have nothing left but Christ. That's
the moment to get excited. That's the moment to be hopeful
that God's goodness is coming to them. Now why would that be
God's goodness to a sinner? Him breaking them down, stripping
them down. It's because verse 13 says, then
they cried unto the Lord in their trouble. and he saved them out
of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness
and the shadow of death and break their bands in sunder. Oh, that
men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful
works to the children of men. For he hath broken the gates
of brass and cut the bars of iron in sunder. Once the truth
of sin is revealed to a sinner, not just the sin of mankind,
the sin of me, once that's revealed to a sinner, and once the truth
of Christ is revealed to a sinner, the truth of substitution, when that comes to a sinner,
it sets him free. It sets him or her free. This
is his goodness. He said in Isaiah 61, you can
just listen to it and I'll read it. Isaiah 61, this is the Lord
Jesus Christ speaking. He said, the Spirit of the Lord
God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good
tidings unto the meek. He hath sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening
of the prison to them that are bound. to proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort
all that mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give
unto them beauty for ashes," I'm going to make an exchange,
absolute beauty for absolute ashes, the oil of joy for mourning. the garment of praise for the
spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified." That's
goodness. I came to set prisoners free.
I came to bind up the brokenhearted. Turn with me over to Matthew
11. Matthew 11 verse 1 says, It came
to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve
disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their
cities. Now when John had heard in the
prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and
said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for
another? Jesus answered and said unto
them, Go and show John again those things which you do hear
and see. The blind receive their sight,
and the lame walk. The lepers are cleansed, and
the deaf hear. The dead are raised up, and the
poor have the gospel preached to them. That's goodness. That's goodness. All that physical
goodness represents spiritual goodness. Goodness to the sinful
soul. The spiritually blind all of
a sudden see Christ. The spiritually lame come running
to Christ. The filthy are washed in the
blood of Christ. The deaf hear the voice of Christ. The dead are given the life of
Christ. And the poor, the spiritually
poor, have the unsearchable riches of Christ preached to them. That's
the gospel. That's goodness. Go with me back to Psalm 107.
Verse 17 says, fools. That's who we just read about. That's us. That describes us. That's who he did all this for. Fools, because of their transgression
and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. Their soul abhorreth
all manner of meat, all sustenance, all Sustainment and they draw
near unto the gates of death Then they cry unto the Lord in
their trouble and he saveth them out of their distresses What
made him cry? What made them know to even cry
out to him in the first place it keeps saying that they cry
out to him How did they know to even cry in the first place?
verse 20 says he sent his word and and healed them and delivered
them from their destructions. He crossed their path with his
word, opened their eyes to his word. David said in Psalm 27,
when you said, seek ye my face, my heart said, thy face will
I see. Verse 21, oh, that men would praise the Lord for his
goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men. The Lord is good, start to finish.
good to his people. Verse 22, and let them sacrifice
the sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare his works with rejoicing. That is our reasonable service
in return. Christ made the great sacrifice
for sin. Our reasonable service is the
sacrifice of thanksgiving. But not only that, that's all
we want to do. That's our heart's desire. That's all a child of
God desires in his heart. We gladly offer up the sacrifice
of our heart. Thank you, Lord, for saving our
souls. Thank you, Lord, for making us
whole. Thank you, Lord, for giving to
us thy great salvation, so rich, so free. That's response to his
goodness. We sacrifice the sacrifice of
thanksgiving. And we try to tell everybody
we can about all of his wonderful works. And we do it with a joyful
heart. Joyful spirit. Do it with rejoicing. This is honestly the happiest
message that could ever be told. Happy news. God's goodness in
Christ. Verse 23 says, They that go down
to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these
see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep. For
he commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up
the waves thereof. These see his sovereignty in
all things. And God's people do. His sovereignty
in all things. Verse 26, they mount up to the
heaven, they go down again to the depths, their soul is melted
because of trouble. They reel to and fro and stagger
like a drunken man and are at their wits end. Then they cry
unto the Lord in their trouble and he bringeth them out of their
distresses. He maketh the storm a calm so
that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they
be quiet. So he bringeth them unto their
desired haven. Oh, that men would praise the
Lord for his goodness. and for His wonderful works to
the children of men. It's a never-ending cycle. This
is going to be a never-ending cycle. All the course of this
life, it's going to be trial after trial after trial. Every
now and then, God's people get to enjoy a lull between the trials. You get that lull between the
trials. In that moment, they thank God
for His goodness to them. They thank God. They know, God's
people know that the storm is what brings the realization of
the goodness. They're thankful for that too.
The storm is difficult, very difficult, but God's people still
see His goodness. And they praise God in all of
His wonderful works, even in the storm itself. Verse 32 says,
Let them exalt Him also in the congregation of the people, and
praise Him in the assembly of the elders. He turneth rivers
into a wilderness, and the water springs into dry ground. He turns running rivers into
an absolute dry wilderness. Sometimes that is the greatest
goodness He could bring to a sinner. Sometimes that is. Drying everything
up around Him. Crumbling everything out from
under Him. Making, as verse 34 says, a fruitful
land into barrenness. for the wickedness of them that
dwell therein." Just drying everything up. Why would that be goodness? Why would that be His goodness?
The reason is because He knows the frame of the soul of His
child. And I'm so glad. Aren't you so
glad He knows our frame? He knows exactly where we are. at all times. And He knows when
our souls are wildernesses. He knows when this is a parched
ground. In that moment, His great goodness
to His child is to make the fruitful land barrenness. that's his goodness, that he
might, verse 35 says, turn the spiritual wilderness of the soul
into standing water and dry ground into water springs, well springs
of living water. He turns everything that's taken
their heart away from Christ, he shuts all that down until
they have nowhere else to turn. Verse 36, and there he maketh
the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation. That's the seed of the gospel. Verse 37, they sow the fields
and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase, the
fruit of the spirit. He sends them the gospel and
the fruit of his spirit. And God's people want to dig
roots wherever that is. They want to be right wherever
that is. Verse 38 says, He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied
greatly, and suffereth not their cattle to decrease. He blesses
them, He blesses them, and He does. He will never stop blessing
His people. It may not be in the way that
they thought it would be, but He will never stop blessing His
people, and He provides for them all their need, everything they
need. Verse 39, again, they are minished
and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow. They're
going to suffer tribulation throughout their entire course in this world.
It's going to be nothing but tribulation. But verse 40 says,
he poureth contempt upon princes and causeth them to wander in
the wilderness where there's no way, yet setteth he the poor
on high. from affliction, and maketh him
families like a flock." In the end, he's going to carry
them up, he's going to carry them out, carry them away from
all this mess. And he's going to set them among
a family, like Noah the family, the family
of God. Verse 42, it says, "...the righteous
shall see it and rejoice." and all iniquity shall stop her mouth.
Those who have been made righteous in Christ, they shall see it
and rejoice. It is going to come to pass and
all sin is going to be put away. I love how, and I've told you
this before, but I love how in Revelation it says the gates
are never going to be shut. Never. And sin is never going
to enter in. It cannot enter in. I love that. I'm ready to be in a place where
sin cannot enter in. No sin without, no sin within.
Verse 43 says, who so is wise and will observe these things,
even they shall understand the loving kindness. of the Lord. Whoever is in Christ our wisdom,
if we have any wisdom, it's Christ our wisdom. He is made unto us
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption. Whoever's in Christ
and has his wisdom has been given eyes to see and ears to hear
and he's going to understand. He's going to see and he's going
to understand. All of God's people are going to come to a first-hand
knowledge of the goodness of the Lord. We're going to spend
eternity. He's going to carry us out of
this place, put away sin, and we're going to spend eternity
crying, the Lord is good. The Lord is good. God is great. God is good. Blessed be the name
of the Lord. All right, let's all stand together.