The Lord Is Good
Psalm 100:1–5
For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. Psalm 100:5
This final verse of Psalm 100 invites us to thank God because of who he is. It tells us three things about him.
1. God is “good.” The gods of the heathen were not good. They were selfish and capricious. You could never know when they might turn against you and do you harm. Not so our God. The God of the Bible is and has always been good. When he created the world and all that is in it, he saw that it was “good” (Gen. 1:4–31). When he gave us his law, that law was “good” (Rom. 7:12). When he reveals his will to us, his will is “good, pleasing and perfect” (12:2 NIV). The word gospel means the “good news.” The very word God is a shortened form of “good.”
2. God is “love.” This steadfast love “endures forever.” God is many things. He has many attributes. But nothing lies so much at the very heart of God as love. Nothing so endears him to his people.
3. God is “faithful.” In the midst of a rapidly changing world it is a comfort to know that God himself is unchanging. He is today what he was for our fathers and mothers—and what he was for Paul and Mary and Joseph and David, indeed for all the patriarchs of the faith back to and including our first parents. Moreover, he can be counted on to remain as he has been. Has God been good in the past? Of course! Then he will always be good. You need never worry that he might cease to be good or change his good ways.
Has God been loving? Of course. Then he will always be loving. His very nature is love. You need never worry that he will cease to love you.
Has he seen you through difficult times? Very few Christians have avoided such difficult times altogether. Yet those who have gone through them testify that God has kept them securely. Well, then, he will do it for you also, whatever may come. Has anyone ever had greater reasons to thank God than we who are his redeemed people, who know him not only as our Creator but also as our loving Shepherd and Lord? Then let us shout with gladness: “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations” (Ps. 100:4–5).
Taken from Come to the Waters by James Boice ISBN 9798887790954 used with permission from P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg NJ 08865
Scripture quotations are from the ESV (the Holy Bible English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.