Whoever was used of God to write Psalm 136 saw a great deal about the goodness of God. He begins by singing, “O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.” He continues by praising God for who He is, then what he has done, and what He continues to do. He notes God Himself, His mighty acts, and the blessings many of us take for granted.
If you noticed, in the above KJV translation “lord” is in all capitals: LORD. This represents the fact that the divine Name was used. While many English translations use Jehovah for this word, many of us feel it is to be pronounced Yahweh. What is most important though is the meaning of the Name: “The existing One.” This gives the sense He has no beginning or ending and needs nothing to sustain Him.
However, He sustains His creation, including us. Sadly, only a few recognize that fact. It is also only a few that know God is good, and somewhat how good He really is.
Satan would have us blame God for everything that goes wrong. After all, He is omnipotent, is He not? However, we must factor in our will for one thing. When we fully surrender to Him, we find out how good God really is.
The balance of verse one, which is repeated throughout the psalm, gives us a gem of His goodness–His mercy. Mainly I have to think of the mercy He supplied for us through His death upon the cross as He took the punishment for our sin. This was one of His acts of love that provides salvation for us.
It is up to us, though, to enter in, to surrender completely to Him. There have been many people who have been really angry with God. Yet, when they came to Him to gain His mercy and surrendered to Him, their eyes were opened and they saw how good He is.
By the way, this is the Old Testament and too many people have the incorrect idea that the God of the Old Testament is not the same as the God of the New Testament. The former is the wrathful God, the latter the merciful. Nay, it is the same God. People just see what they are led to see by their sinful flesh.
Whether it is the Old or New Testament, yesterday, today or tomorrow, it is the same God, and He, indeed, is good. And for this we need to be truly thankful.
Very inspirational. It is hard sometimes to think that God is always good, but you are right, it depends on what we want to see. God bless you.
God is good is proven for me. When I feel trouble I cry to Him like David in Psalm 18 and He always come to save me.
Our view of God changes when we choose Him. Those who only see Him from the other side of fence never get to experience the peace that passes understanding, or the mercy of His forgiveness, or the truth that sets us free.
I had a conversation on the forum recently about God. The people with whom I was conversing said that God is cruel for giving us free will but threatening us with hell unless we chose Him. But this fence only has two sides, we are either with Him or against Him.
I choose to join you in giving thanks, for God is good!
http://relijournal.com/christianity/why-im-glad-to-be-an-atheist/
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the inspiration.