GOD IS GOOD

1 corinthians 15:1-11; Ps 118 Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; Luke 7:36-50

God is Good!  All the time!  All the time! God is Good!

This is a very familiar refrain at many youth events or activities.  God is Good.  We shout it from the roof times, well, not really that would be an infringement on safe environment rules and regulations, that is having children on roofs.

But you get my gist.  This refrain is pretty common.  It is the refrain for our psalm this morning, "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, the psalmist invites us to once again give it our gusto.

God is Good.

What is good?  Dessert is good.  A child that behaves well is considered good.  A master chef who is skilled is a good cook .  Good indicates a certain level of skillfulness, effectiveness, admiration.  God is all these things: skilled, effective, admirable.

God's goodness has little to do with us getting what we want, or having our way.  It has everything to do with who God is from all eternity.

How often do we reduce God's goodness to to our own personal gain, personal wants, personal needs.  We exclaim God's goodness out of self-centeredness.

God's goodness in the psalm today is intimately wrapped up in the hebrew word "hesed".

God's goodness is a result of his promise and covenant he made with creation, with humanity.  God is good because he keeps his promise, his end of the bargain.  He, God, owes it to himself to be Good.

His goodness has everything to do with his integrity.  God is Good and we rejoice in the light of that goodness, no matter what circumstances we are in at the present moment.

Give thanks to the lord of the is good.  He is goodness itself.  Thanks is a no brainer.