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God's Goodness

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God's Goodness

5 minuten leestijd Arcering uitzetten

“Oh how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee” (Psalm 31:19a).

That goodness is so great that the poet's view could not compass it. He could find no words to express it adequately. Therefore he cried out, “Oh how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee.” He did not speak of his own goodness, but of God's goodness. The Lord Himself had laid it up for him. If David himself had to keep it, it would have been lost. But it lies firm in the Lord. It is possessed by God Himself; it is eternal peace, and communion with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

That goodness is the eternal rejoicing before Him, a holy, perfect joy, an incorruptible good, a perfect knowledge of God, an adoration of the eternal covenant Jehovah in His faithfulness. All the ways He takes with His people, that are often so dark, shall there be bright, and those who have learned to know the principle of the fear of God shall sing of those ways. It is the enjoyment of full salvation.

When Asaph had a glimpse of it, he was willing to let the world keep its own goods, and he said in Psalm 73:25, “Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee.” That goodness is not laid away for good people, but for the rebellious, that they might dwell with God eternally. It is an eternal wonder. That such should be partakers is the Father's good pleasure. The Son has merited it for them; the Holy Spirit makes them fit and receptive for it. It is the eternal love of God.

Of that love of God the church testifies, “Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned” (Song of Solomon 8:7). Compared to this love, all is naught. What is a handful of the dust of this earth compared to that? Ownership of this world is nothing compared to that eternal goodness.

Not many nobles and not many rich shall inherit these goods. God has chosen the poor and the base people of this world. What an entrance into that inheritance it shall then be! Then they who here feared the Lord shall be seen, and how confused the poor world shall be. In the day of days, the nobles of this world shall see this and say, “There comes another of that despised people. In the world he was rejected. All men looked down on him.” He had but little significance in the eyes of worldlings. But hear! It is being said to him, “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). That person is robed in glory. He is one for whom that great goodness is laid away, one who now receives his eternal inheritance.

Lo, there comes another! On earth she was but a poor housemaid. She never had fame or honor in this world. But she received the beginning of that inheritance, and she now appears in splendor and glory before those whom she formerly served, and who did not regard her. There the worldling with all his seeming possessions perishes, but the people of the Lord are taken up into the eternal victory with God and the Lamb. There unconverted children shall see their God-fearing parents inherit that great good. They shall wish to share with them, but an eternal gulf shall be between them. Then a sighing father and mother shall be loosed from their own flesh and blood to acquiesce completely in the will of God. There a child who had learned to fear God shall condemn his godless parents. There God's servants shall stand with their seed. However, they shall no more call to those who have hardened their hearts, saying, “Be ye reconciled to God.” No, but they shall justify God in His perfect sentence.

What does a little affliction mean when compared to that great good? It is very light and lasts but for a moment. It caused Paul to testify, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). It causes that people to sing while still here on earth. All God's people know that heritage. The small and great are there, but only that people know in what it consists. The hypocrite with all his religion knows nothing of it, and he never has any real interest in it. He does not need God, and he feels no need for communion with Him.

The devil cannot touch that great good. No matter how much he distresses God's people at times, he may not touch it. He knows that, and therefore he tries to work on the flesh and blood of those people. But in Christ they are more than conquerors.

Tell me, my hearers, what do you know of that great good? Have you an interest in it? Can you tell who and what God has become for you? The nominal Christian cannot; he only talks about it. But talking about it is not possessing it. They want to imitate God's people, but they know nothing about it.

That happy people that fear the Lord, however, shall partake of that goodly heritage forever. They will be privileged to die in order that they may live forever. Then they willingly leave all behind on this earth. Perhaps you ask, “Their wife and children, do they not love them?” Oh, yes, but the love of God exceeds everything. That God is their greatest good. In His hands they leave all their concerns. Above all else they cry out, “Oh how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee.”

(an excerpt from a sermon)

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God's Goodness

Bekijk de hele uitgave van zondag 1 juni 2003

The Banner of Truth | 28 Pagina's