For thou, Lord, art good, Psalm 86:5. When I was a teenager, a preacher asked me how I was doing and I said, “I’m pretty good.” He looked at me for a second and said, “Nope, you’re neither one.” I was offended by the first, but I knew I wasn’t the second. I’m not good, but God is. It’s not just the fact God does good things, but His nature and essence is goodness. God is infinitely (Psalm 119:68) and abundantly good (Exodus 34:6) which means the goodness He shows to His creation is plenteous. He’s overflowing with goodness. He is infinitely, inherently, abundantly good.
Look around and see the goodness of God in His creation. The Almighty could have created one type of plant, and made it sufficient for pollination, oxygen and food. Rather, He gave us a variety of unique, beautiful plants and trees. Flowers don’t have to smell, but God is good. How many billions of dollars will we spend trying to colonize Mars, when God in His goodness, created a place for man and gave it to us, with the perfect amount of light, heat, air, and water? Not only do many deny God’s goodness in creation, but he longs to escape it.
The Lord is good and created a variety of animals, with different uses, characteristics, and even tastes. You could eat a steak, drink a glass of milk, then loosen your leather belt because you ate too much, and it all came from the same blessed animal. Veganism (the philosophy, not the diet) stands in opposition to God’s goodness and refuses God’s good gifts (1 Timothy 4:4). Speaking of a good steak, God’s goodness gave you taste buds. A friend of mine enjoyed fine foods and one afternoon went and bought a very expensive variety of cheese. He sat it on the counter and went to the fridge to get a drink, turned around and it was gone. His dog was by the counter staring at him, licking his lips. He told me the worst part was the dog didn’t even enjoy it. You and I were given the great gift of taste buds where we can distinguish and enjoy various tastes.
We don’t think about God’s goodness much because we get so much of it without asking or thinking about it. God is so good we take his goodness for granted and complain at inconvenience. An inconvenience presupposes there is a standard of the way things should be and the way things normally are. God is good to us and we despise it because His goodness is nowhere seen better than in Christ. God sent His Son to die for men who had rebelled against Him and to give eternal life, blessing, peace, and joy to a people who hated Him, freely by His grace and mercy. Romans 2:4, “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”
