God Is Good!

Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. (Psalm 100 ESV). I love the exclamation we sometimes hear: “God is good… All the time! All the time… God is Good! However, I wonder if we really understand the implications of that truth. The words are so familiar and mundane they barely draw interest out of us, let alone awe. This leads to the place where when we read that God is good, what is supposed to happen inside of us doesn't happen. When you read the words, "God is good," our heart should be filled with wonder, amazement, gratitude, humility, and love. We ought to be awestruck. We live days, maybe even weeks, without wonder and amazement. We walk through the situations and locations of our daily lives without an overwhelming sense of gratitude. We don't notice the display of the glory of God that is all around us. One of the ladies in my church often posts a picture of the sunrise overlooking the valley of the farm she and her husband have. Her caption always expresses the glory God has displayed in terms that emphasize awe. It’s not that she has never seen a sunrise before; in fact, she is blessed to live in a location where the sunrise is always beautiful. That makes it all the more important for us to note the good of it. When I was growing up, my family had a small grocery store and meat market. My dad also barbequed every day, selling to the large customer base he had developed because of the unique taste of his recipe. There was never a day that I couldn’t get the best cuts of meat, cooked in the tastiest of ways. It was “normal.” I don’t remember a time when I thought how remarkable that privilege was. Later, as I traveled and ate at some of the most renowned restaurants in America, I do remember comparing the food to what my dad cooked! To this day I still haven’t found as good a plate of ribs as he cooked everyday! What was “normal” for me has come to be “spectacular” as I increase in understanding. That’s what the psalmist is communicating in our reading today. The call today for the spectacular is rooted so deeply in our inability to see and sense the “good” of God, we must return to an emphasis of simply paying better attention to the many interactions we have each day with God. When we look for that kind of good, we can be lifted out of our boredom and quiet our longings. After all, God is good… in every possible way!