God Is Good

With praise and thanks, they sang this song to the LORD: “He is so good! His faithful love for Israel endures forever!” Then all the people gave a great shout, praising the LORD because the foundation of the LORD’s Temple had been laid. [Ezra 3.11]

When referring to God, The Bible contains a consistent phrase: "He is good, His faithful love endures forever!"

Of course, it is found in different contexts and in varying English arrangements, but the main idea of the phrase remains the same. God is good. His faithful love endures.

There are no 'abra cadabra' phrases in the Bible - no secret or mysterious combination of words that I know of. However, the phrases discussed here are often associated with great demonstrations of God's power. He is good - His faithful love endures forever.

If this combination of words recurs in the Bible, I think it would behoove us to understand as much as we can about these words! The nice thing is, the words are not difficult to understand! 

God is good: We really have no issue understanding the word "God." Nor do we have much trouble understanding the word "good." However in recent history "good" has suffered some re-definition - but we will stick with the Bible-definition of good here. So, if we know "God" and we know "good" then we are simply left with the task of associating One with the other! God is good. The problem with this association is that the question of its validity is at the root of man's sin problem. Satan's first encounter with man included his questioning of God's goodness, "Has God really said...?"

His faithful love (mercy in some places) endures forever: So, not only is God good, but He is faithful in not only His goodness, but His mercy - His love. "Enduring" is a powerful word. It is the opposite of what the Bible records as the history of Israel. While Israel was predictably unfaithful, God remained immovably faithful. What God said, He abides by - He always has and always will. He is unchanging in His love and mercy. He is unaltered by circumstances because He is in control of every circumstance. Consequently, every circumstance serves only one purpose: to bring man closer to God as gold is purified in fire (fire is unnecessary for pure gold - but makes for great change and alteration of impure gold). 

So we have goodness and loving faithfulness as enduring characteristics of God. And, we have repeated rehearsals of these facts throughout the Bible. What is the lesson? Simply that we can depend on these characteristics and set our "life compass" by them. We can measure every situation and circumstance by them. We can discern what is God's doing and what is the work of an enemy by them. We can depend on these facts: God is good and He is faithful in His love and mercy.

Father in heaven, You are indeed good - not because I say so, but because it is eternally true. And, because it is eternally true, Your goodness - Your love and mercy are the standard forever.