Daily Bible Challenge: Day 613 Psalms Chapter 135

In this chapter, the psalmist says something that is very common in other Psalms. He says, “Praise the Lord for the Lord is good.”

I'm reminded of an incident that occurred in a third world country shared by Tony Campolo who was there with a mission team. Starvation was a serious issue with people dying everyday. I don't remember all the details as it was told to us, but I remember Tony sharing how 15 of the people within this tribe we're going to be chosen. This mission team was able to take 15 of the healthier people back to their mission quarters where they would feed these 15 and train them survival techniques that could be taken back to their tribe. It was understood by the tribe that those not chosen were at a high risk of starving to death. The people prayed together and as the 15 were gathered to leave, those left behind we're singing this song, “God is so good. God is so good. God is so good. He's so good to me.”

They got it. They truly understood that “God is good.” They understood that God's goodness is not based upon worldly possessions. It's not based upon whether or not we are “blessed” with a job or we have a large family nor is it based upon life circumstances. We can't define God's goodness based upon weather or not we HAVE or HAVE NOT.

I'm not confident that I understand this. I have the tendency of falling into the thought process that God's goodness IS defined by MY HAVE or HAVE NOTS, or based upon my happiness,  or my “blessings”. When something good happens in my life I'll say, “God is good.” Should I not be saying it even when something good from my perspective is not happening? Romans 8:28 says God works all things together for good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose.  When “BAD” comes, we only see the “BAD” and we don't see the GOOD God is producing behind the scenes, whatever that GOOD is and whether or not it affects me or just other people.

Isn't it God who demonstrated the greatest act of goodness when he sent his son Jesus to die on the cross for us? Am I now willing to follow him to the end even if I face persecution (not goodness)? The GOOD News is, if I follow him and persevere to the end, I get to receive God's Great GOODNESS of spending eternity with him in heaven.

A challenge for me is to be able to say, “God is good” without basing it upon my life circumstances or on whether I have or have not.

Let's praise the Lord today for God is good.