Psalm 145: 9 Yahweh is good to all!

"The Lord is good to all:

and his tender mercies are over all his works."

Psalm 145: 9 KJV

As I have considered this verse, I can already hear the complaints that I hear every time I preach the Gospel on the street, every time I confront someone with the truth from God's Word about their own condition. "That's not fair!" folks claim in light of the truth that every human alive today has knowingly and willingly transgressed God's standard of perfection, we have trespassed against the boundaries God puts before us, and we are living in a world cursed with sin, sickness, sorrow, death, and more. For today, as we look at this verse, we are going to apply to first to the hater of God, and then to the lover of God. These are the only two categories we find in the Scriptures. 

We read about lost sheep who need to be brought home to the Great Shepherd. We read of the separation of sheep and goats, but we never find goats turning into sheep. We read of the quickening/regeneration of the dead to life in Christ, but we never hear about those who weren't quite dead, just sick, that just needed a little help to find faith in Jesus Christ and true forgiveness of sin and eternal life. Ephesians chapters 1-3 speak much of who God is, how He chooses in His sovereign wisdom to rescue some from their sin while leaving others to die in their sin. So, in light of my assertions here about God's salvation and these two categories of people, it seems one group enjoys the goodness of God to all while others claim that if God truly exists as stated in the Bible, that He is an ogre, a tyrant, a monster. So how do we reconcile Psalm 145 with the rest of the Bible?

So, what is the complaint from the person who is rejecting God, mocking God, denying the very existence of the Creator who says that everyone knows Him? They might say that it isn't fair that God allows suffering, sickness, death, unplanned pregnancies (God plans every one of them) and more. Why do bad guys get away with doing bad things while the unsolved murder rate in the largest city near us is around 40%. This means that in 10 murder cases, 4 murderers will get away with it and never be punished. The atheist, agnostic, or other skeptic has no rational reason to be bothered by activities that are immoral because their worldview does not supply the justification for morality at all. Indeed, the same people who cry about God's unfairness to them is contradicted by their claims of autonomy and moral outrage when recently a married couple beat their 10 year old daughter to death here in Maine. Depraved Indifference Murder certainly seems like the right charge to me, but to those who think we all evolved from protoplasm to fish to human, where do you even get morality? Most people asked this question with one of two answers: 1) Pure democracy, or mob rule. If the majority of people say it is acceptable to kill everyone else, then it would be moral to do so. 2) The hater of God and His morality borrow His morality and try to accuse God of wrongdoing for letting man sin. Either of these answers is untenable, and yet the inconsistency of worldview on morality and justice is evident in every realm from public education to courts and politics, including whether or not it is acceptable in one's world view to kill babies in the womb. Some atheists argue against abortion, however they have to stand on a Biblical worldview of absolute right and wrong in order to do so. 

You may be saying right now that I haven't really dealt with the verse in regard to the unregenerate. However, when considering whether or not someone accepts the Word of God and the statements written therein as true, it is good to realize that God tells us that everyone knows He exists and about His divine nature and Godhead in Romans 1. Thus, the role of the professing atheist or agnostic is actually disingenuous on the face, and those who reject the existence of God then blaming Him for not being good to them is nonsensical. Yet in the face of the nonsense arguments, inconsistency, and irrational nature of the unbeliever's argument against the goodness of God, one must realize that in order to make an argument against God, they are making a moral judgement (while claiming there is no absolute morality), impugning the character of God (blasphemy), breathing air that God gave them, and pumping oxygenated blood around their vastly complex and intricate body in order to give them the ability to see, feel, taste, touch, smell, reason, and laws of logic that only make sense in the Christian worldview. So, to sum up, the one who rejects God as Creator and Judge over all that He has created is incapable of opening their mouth to speak without relying on God's good gifts of grace to all men every moment of every day of their lives. I could go on in this vein, but honestly I am bursting at the seams to get to the truth of this God who is "good to all" and whose "tender mercies are over all His works. "

Those who began this series with us extolling our God and King and proclaiming His goodness to the next generation and all throughout the world will easily agree with this statement of Yahweh/The LORD being good to all. In fact, goodness is a character attribute of God. He IS good, period! There is nothing bad in God, nothing evil, nothing lacking moral goodness, and as the Univeral Lawgiver and Creator of all things, the morality we rely on to govern our actions and cultures must come from such a source as an all good God who cannot do or be evil. 

As a Christian man, husband, father, friend, minister, and more, I will never have enough time or energy to fully proclaim the goodness of God to me, even (especially) when I was dead in my sin and living a life filled with wickedness in direct contradiction to all I knew to be true about God. I didn't think I hated Him, I tried being apathetic. But one cannot be apathetic about the redemption of the sinner's soul, the sacrifice of Jesus for a worm such as I, and I would urge you that if you think vague thoughts about God, not living a life dedicated to Him but merely acknowledging God when the topic comes up, but living your life outside of obedience to His commands, then you know not God. You cannot know the most marvelous, awesome, creative, loving entity in all the Universe and not be excited about it! The idea of the worldly, or carnal Christian is a recent invention, possibly a reaction to looking around churches and seeing a lot of worldliness and not much holiness, but moving the bar isn't our choice to make. God sets the standard, and while none of us are perfect in this life, we can live in humble obedience to our God as much as we understand about Him. We must desire growth, closeness in relations, and even correction when we sin against God. 

What are some ways in which we see the goodness of God to the Christian?

• You woke up today and are still alive. The sin you committed yesterday deserves death, but God in His mercy left you here to learn, to obey, and to enjoy fellowship with Him and His people. 
• You have the ability to read this post, which includes for most people eyesight, comprehension of language, a brain that can process light from your eyes into words that you understand, and whether you realize it or not, keeps your heart beating and your lungs breathing even if you aren't paying attention.
• You have been shown mercy from God in spite of your sin, Jesus took upon Himself the punishment you deserved, and now you are not only a new creation in Christ, but you have been called as an ambassador for Christ, with the duty of urging others to be reconciled to God in Jesus Christ.
• God has given you the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, God Himself, living in you and teaching you from the Scriptures, convicting you of sin, and interpreting your groanings that are too deep for words to Jesus Christ, the Advocate for His people, before God the Father. Your prayers are heard!
• Most everyone who is reading this has ready access to the Word of God, in many languages and translations, such that we can continue to learn about God and share His truth with others. 
• God has given faithful men the charge to preach the Gospel not only in churches, but on the town square, from house to house, and you live in a country where you can do this without going to jail or risking death for your beliefs. This cannot be said about everyone in this world, and even in America, a preacher was put in jail yesterday for telling people while preaching that they were "dead in their sins"and needed to be made alive in Christ Jesus. 
• We haven't even touched on family, friends, church, communities, caregivers, police, emergency medical staff, firefighters, and more. While these people are not perfect, they are a blessing from God to those whom they serve and protect. We ought to pray for our leaders and those who protect our communities, those who guide our churches, parents who lovingly provide for and teach their children. 

As I continue to endure the struggles of my current physical and mental condition, this blog has allowed me to work as I have time and clarity of mind to share with others. Thank you for reading, and share our posts if they bless you. May you spend the rest of your day, even all your life, and into eternity, singing and marveling in the praise of our gracious and merciful God!