GOD'S GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS AND MERCY

GOD’S GOODNESS IS UNLIMITED TOWARDS THOSE WHO LOVE HIM

He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; - Psalms 103:10-11

What great promises! God knows where we are at in the different stages of our Christian lives and He meets us there. We are not a surprise to Him, for "no creature is hidden from Him, but everything is naked and revealed in the eyes of Him whom we have to do" (Hebrews 4:13). That is why God does not ask more of us than we can do or be and He always evaluates us correctly. The Lord knows everything that is going on inside of us as well as in the spiritual world around us and judges our actions and reactions based on all the factors involved.

If we fear God, we do not intentionally sin. If we find pleasure in living to please God and hate sin, God’s goodness towards us has no limits. God responds to us, according to the degree of desire and power we have through the Holy Spirit to do good. As we grow in fellowship with the Holy Spirit and in learning to depend on His help, we will be able to make the right choices and do what is good. The more holy we live, the more we will taste God’s goodness.

GOD IS GOOD AND MERCIFUL WITH THOSE WHO SINCERELY LOVE HIM

But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who [reverently] fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children, to those who honor and keep His covenant, and remember to do His commandments [imprinting His Word on their hearts]. - Psalms 103:17-18 (AMP)

The perspective we have about things and issues really matters. If we start our relationship with God by analyzing what the Lord asks us to do, we might feel overwhelmed. David had the right perspective. He emphasized the benefits of obeying the Lord's commandments and not only the commandments. And when we consider the benefits, we realize the amazing truth that God’s goodness and mercy are everlasting, not only for us but also for all our descendants who will follow Jesus, then what we are asked to do, seems much easier to accomplish.

We are no longer under the Old Covenant Law, but that does not mean that we can live as we please, thinking that the Lord will automatically forgive us in His loving-kindness and grace. God is love, but He is also just. If we believe we can love both sin and Jesus, we are wrong. But if we truly love Jesus and have “His Word imprinted in our hearts,” we do not choose to sin, but rather we seek to do the Lord’s will. As we do so, we will benefit in full from the effects of God’s goodness and love, no matter what we have to go through while we live in this evil world.

GOD’S GOODNESS AND MERCY ARE THERE FOR US EVERY DAY

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. - Psalms 23:5-6

The Lord already has for us all that we need materially, spiritually and emotionally. God has prepared for us a true feast of goodness that does not go unnoticed even by those who are evil. Even they see that the Lord gives us favor and blesses us.

The anointing of the head with oil was a sign of wealth and was used ceremonially before an important event. Also, oil was used for the prevention of diseases and parasites as well as in other medicinal treatments. The “anointing of the head” and the “cup that runs over” symbolize abundance and blessing that revive us when we are exhausted, and the whole verse shows that the our souls delight in the Lord's comfort more than in anything else.

The next verse concludes the effects of what verse 5 says the Lord is doing for us. Goodness and mercy will be with us as long as we live in Christ forever. We are to "dwell in the house of the Lord, forever and " not only “visit the presence of the Lord” from time to time! When we are constantly aware that the Lord is in us and we constantly have a conversation in our spirit with Him, we can be sure that the goodness and mercy of God is a constant presence in our lives.

GOD’S KINDNESS AND FAITHFULNESS

Your loving-kindness and graciousness, O Lord, extend to the skies, Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the great mountains; Your judgments are a great deep; o Lord, You preserve man and beast. - Psalm 36:5-6 (AMP)

God’s loving-kindness, mercy and grace are actually His unfailing love and are as vast as the heavens. Not even the sky set the limit for God’s faithfulness. Nothing can compare to God’s character. His righteousness is as high and stable as the great mountains are. All God’s judgments are perfect, right and just and they are so profound that David has compared them with the deepest sea, or the great deep.

Everything that God does is perfect and there is nothing to add to it or subtract from what He does. As God has such love, grace and mercy for us, we should “know that we know” that He is more than able to take the best care of us. Once we understand this truth, as long as we abide in Him and He abides in us, we can live care and worry free.

HOW PRECIOUS IS OUR LORD’S LOVING-KINDNESS!

How precious is Your loving-kindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. - Psalm 36:7

God’s loving-kindness is priceless! There is nothing that can compare or much less to replace it. It is the kindness of the Almighty God, the One that has all power in the universe! The protection offered by God is the most perfect and desired one by all who know it. What an honor we have to be loved and protected by God.

All God’s attributes are excellent, but for us, above all, is His mercy, because it is the most beneficial and needed. We need God’s loving-kindness more than anything, because often in life, we are weak or hurt. In His mercy, God constantly provides for all His creatures, including us. Encouraged by God’s mercy, even when we are frail in our weaknesses, we may take heart in trusting the safety and defense that we find under our Lord’s wings.

GOD ABOUNDS IN MERCY, PATIENCE, GOODNESS AND FAITHFULNESS

But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth. - Psalms 86:15

God has the most wonderful character and His attributes are the best possible. With our limited brains, we cannot comprehend just how big God really is. In 1 Kings 8:27 we read that “heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain” God, so to be full of compassion, it means that there is no limit to it; there is enormous grace in our Lord and He truly gives grace after grace, every day to every single one of us. Only because of God’s great longsuffering, are the earth and all upon it still in existence.

God has abundant mercy for us all. He does not punish us as we deserve, because He is full of compassion. He sees the good in every single one of us and gives us chance after chance to repent, straighten up and be right standing with Him. Once we know that something is a sin, we cannot continue doing it, without being in danger to be destroyed by it. God is the truth itself, and He keeps His word. We can count on His promises as being the truth and if we sincerely love Him, we start to hate sin.

GOD’S LOVE AND MERCY DO NOT CHANGE ACCORDING TO CIRCUMSTANCES

“For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, but My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, nor will My covenant of peace be shaken,” says the Lord who has compassion on you.” - Isaiah 54:10

The modern technology that God allowed mankind to discover, have ways to remove and shake mountains and hills, but while Isaiah lived and received this words from God, this was an impossibility! But even today these are hard and very costly tasks to accomplish. But, no matter how easy these may ever be, God says that His “lovingkindness will not be removed from” us.

God also promises us to not be at war with us, His children! Through Jesus we, the Gentiles are adopted into God’s people, we are also God’s blessed children and this promise is for us, too. And like it was not enough to say that His mercy will not be removed from us, God reinforces it by saying again that He has compassion on us! We are so blessed!