June 28, 2016
Worship: The Goodness of God by Seth Irby and Josh Irby
Verse 1
My God is a giver
An overflowing river
Pouring his lavish love on us
Season after season
We give him every reason
To stop, but he never does
Chorus
Oh, the goodness of God
Is flooding my heart with peace
Oh, the goodness of God
Is bringing me to my knees
Verse 2
My God is a father
Who ransoms sons and daughters
Pouring his costly love on us
His greatest treasure given
So we can be forgiven
His Son crushed to make us whole
Bridge (3x)
We say… We believe you are good
We believe you are good, you are good
We believe you are good
We believe you are good, you are good
©2009 ViRay Publishing Inc
Video: https://youtu.be/xrpJoM3L4Qs
This song is rare. I found only two videos of it, both which are of poor quality. Never-the-less, for those who wish to learn the tune to sing this song, I am sharing one of them.
Witness:
As I put the dishes in the dishwasher and turned on the dishwasher I pondered what I would include in this portion of my Journal. Next, I pulled out a bowl to get some ice cream and a piece of banana snack cake I had made yesterday. I thought about my Bible reading habits. I use to score myself high on this because after all look at this journal replete with biblical references and a study in the Psalms. However, as I meditated on this I realized that my Bible reading record was actually very poor. Yes, my study of the Word may be viewed by some as being at least a little above par, yet when it comes to just reading the Word and meditating on it, I fail miserably. You may ask, “well don’t you meditate on what you are studying?” Yes, I do, but it does not continue after that very often. Once I save what I have written I don’t give much thought to it until the next time I open my journal back up and continue with my study. The irony concerning this is the fact that I studied Psalm 1 already which begins with these words:
Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
Ps 1:1-2 NIV
Having greater light than David himself, because I have the completed revelation of God found in Scripture, I have a greater depth to plunge into and meditate on. Lord let me desire Your Word more than earthly riches, relaxation, or refreshment. Amen!
Word
I believe I have come to the end of this portion of Psalm 25 and will move on to the next portion of verses. Before I do, just some remaining thoughts and perhaps a clip from a commentary or two.
The topic of the goodness of God comes up often. Usually, it is ignored by many until they are going through a period of testing or trial. Others around them may be suffering, but they do not question God until things happen to them personally.
I use to think about this and judge others who acted like that. That is until I went through this season of suffering. A time that has not ceased to this day. However, while I have questioned God from time to time, my real issue is not with His goodness, but His timing. My question is not “why God?” I believe I know the answer to that – to draw me to a closer walk with Him. My question is more of “when God- when are You going to deliver me from this time of suffering?” In the back of my mind, I hold on to the hope of my wife returning to me. Yet, I know that may not be in His sovereign plan for my life. Perhaps the suffering will cease when I yield it all to God, my thoughts, my anxieties over it, and my desire to fix it myself. I am journeying in that direction, but feel I have taken a few steps backward this month in my feelings because this is the month of our anniversary. It does not help that my daughter next door has a man living with her. She claims it is purely non-sexual in nature, but how long will that last.
But I digress. Some use the suffering in the world as an excuse not to believe in God at all. However, that is a contradiction of sorts. If there is no God, then who is to say what is good and evil in the first place?
As I was thinking over verse 7 the other day I felt this tension well up in me. How can I testify to your goodness to others when I am suffering like this? Do others think I am a monster? Why else would my wife leave me in the first place? Do they think God is judging me? Out of all these thoughts emerged the thought that David too was going through tough times as he wrote this. I’m sure he was concerned about what others were thinking about him in the present situation he was in whatever it was, but he also recognized that sin in his life was part of the cause. He was also concerned that God’s goodness would be called into question – “If your God is so good why are you suffering so?”. He also wanted to be found faithful in hope and not be put to shame (vs 2-3). He wanted God’s guidance in his life as well as His tender mercy and steadfast love (vs 4-7).
In my suffering is this my attitude or am I more concerned with just feeling better? Is my faith a desire to just feel good or is it to exalt my God and find my happiness and satisfaction solely in Him? These are questions I ponder as I leave this portion of Psalm 25.
Here are a few gleanings from some commentaries on this portion of the verse.
According to thy mercy remember thou me, for thy goodness' sake, O Lord! Still, put me not from thy mind. "Remember thou me" always - but in the light of thy tender mercy, with the rays of thy love streaming over me and hiding the deformities of my transgressions.
(from The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
According to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O Lord. David and the dying thief breathe the same prayer, and doubtless, they grounded it upon the same plea, viz., the free grace and unmerited goodness of Jehovah. We dare not ask to have our portion measured from the balances of justice, but we pray to be dealt with by the hand of mercy.
(from The Treasury of David, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
According to thy compassion do thou remember me. When God casts our sins into oblivion, this leads him to behold us with fatherly regard. David can discover no other cause by which to account for this paternal regard of God, but that he is good, and hence it follows that there is nothing to induce God to receive us into his favor but his own good pleasure. When God is said to remember us according to his mercy, we are tacitly given to understand that there are two ways of remembering which are entirely opposite; the one when he visits sinners in his wrath, and the other when he again manifests his favor to those of whom he seemed for a time to take no account.
(from Calvin's Commentaries, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2005-2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
It is God's goodness and not ours, his mercy and not our own merit, that must be our plea for the pardon of sin and all the good we stand in need of. This plea we must always rely upon, as those that are sensible of our poverty and unworthiness and as those that are satisfied of the riches of God's mercy and grace.
(from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible, PC Study Bible Formatted Electronic Database Copyright © 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All Rights reserved.)
Ps 25:6-7
6 Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.
7 Remember not the sins of my youth
and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
for you are good, O Lord.
NIV
|
Ps 25:6-7
6 Remember, O LORD, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old.
7 Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O Lord.
KJV
|
Ps 25:6-7
6 Remember, O LORD, your compassion and unfailing love,
which you have shown from long ages past.
7 Do not remember the rebellious sins of my youth.
Remember me in the light of your unfailing love,
for you are merciful, O Lord.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.
|
Ps 25:6-7
6 Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old.
7 Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me,
for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!
ESV
|
I believe I have come to the end of this portion of Psalm 25 and will move on to the next portion of verses. Before I do, just some remaining thoughts and perhaps a clip from a commentary or two.
The topic of the goodness of God comes up often. Usually, it is ignored by many until they are going through a period of testing or trial. Others around them may be suffering, but they do not question God until things happen to them personally.
I use to think about this and judge others who acted like that. That is until I went through this season of suffering. A time that has not ceased to this day. However, while I have questioned God from time to time, my real issue is not with His goodness, but His timing. My question is not “why God?” I believe I know the answer to that – to draw me to a closer walk with Him. My question is more of “when God- when are You going to deliver me from this time of suffering?” In the back of my mind, I hold on to the hope of my wife returning to me. Yet, I know that may not be in His sovereign plan for my life. Perhaps the suffering will cease when I yield it all to God, my thoughts, my anxieties over it, and my desire to fix it myself. I am journeying in that direction, but feel I have taken a few steps backward this month in my feelings because this is the month of our anniversary. It does not help that my daughter next door has a man living with her. She claims it is purely non-sexual in nature, but how long will that last.
But I digress. Some use the suffering in the world as an excuse not to believe in God at all. However, that is a contradiction of sorts. If there is no God, then who is to say what is good and evil in the first place?
As I was thinking over verse 7 the other day I felt this tension well up in me. How can I testify to your goodness to others when I am suffering like this? Do others think I am a monster? Why else would my wife leave me in the first place? Do they think God is judging me? Out of all these thoughts emerged the thought that David too was going through tough times as he wrote this. I’m sure he was concerned about what others were thinking about him in the present situation he was in whatever it was, but he also recognized that sin in his life was part of the cause. He was also concerned that God’s goodness would be called into question – “If your God is so good why are you suffering so?”. He also wanted to be found faithful in hope and not be put to shame (vs 2-3). He wanted God’s guidance in his life as well as His tender mercy and steadfast love (vs 4-7).
In my suffering is this my attitude or am I more concerned with just feeling better? Is my faith a desire to just feel good or is it to exalt my God and find my happiness and satisfaction solely in Him? These are questions I ponder as I leave this portion of Psalm 25.
Here are a few gleanings from some commentaries on this portion of the verse.
According to thy mercy remember thou me, for thy goodness' sake, O Lord! Still, put me not from thy mind. "Remember thou me" always - but in the light of thy tender mercy, with the rays of thy love streaming over me and hiding the deformities of my transgressions.
(from The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
According to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O Lord. David and the dying thief breathe the same prayer, and doubtless, they grounded it upon the same plea, viz., the free grace and unmerited goodness of Jehovah. We dare not ask to have our portion measured from the balances of justice, but we pray to be dealt with by the hand of mercy.
(from The Treasury of David, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
According to thy compassion do thou remember me. When God casts our sins into oblivion, this leads him to behold us with fatherly regard. David can discover no other cause by which to account for this paternal regard of God, but that he is good, and hence it follows that there is nothing to induce God to receive us into his favor but his own good pleasure. When God is said to remember us according to his mercy, we are tacitly given to understand that there are two ways of remembering which are entirely opposite; the one when he visits sinners in his wrath, and the other when he again manifests his favor to those of whom he seemed for a time to take no account.
(from Calvin's Commentaries, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2005-2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
It is God's goodness and not ours, his mercy and not our own merit, that must be our plea for the pardon of sin and all the good we stand in need of. This plea we must always rely upon, as those that are sensible of our poverty and unworthiness and as those that are satisfied of the riches of God's mercy and grace.
(from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible, PC Study Bible Formatted Electronic Database Copyright © 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All Rights reserved.)
The psalmist succinctly asks the Lord to forget these sins but to remember him according to His lovingkindness and for His goodness’ sake. Such a prayer is irresistible.… What release there is in knowing that our sins are under the blood, removed as far as the east is from the west, buried in the sea of God’s forgetfulness, forgiven forever!
MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. (A. Farstad, Ed.) (p. 583). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. (A. Farstad, Ed.) (p. 583). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
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