To Encourage You

2 Samuel 15:25-26 “If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me back and let me see both it and his dwelling place.  But if he says, ‘I have no pleasure in you,’ behold, here I am, let him do to me what seems good to him.”

What’s your definition of “good”?  Is something good if you like it? Is it good if it feels or looks good?  Are you a good person?  Why or why not?  It’s a word that we think we understand, but do we? 

For example, in Mark 10, there was a man who came to Jesus and addressed Him by the term, “good Master.” To this Jesus replied, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” (Mark 10:18). Obviously, this person didn’t know what good really meant.  His perspective of the word was flawed. As Jesus exposed the man’s heart, he would learn that he wasn’t as “good” as he thought it was.  He thought he was a good person as he judged himself by the Law of God. But Jesus was telling him that only God is good (and if Jesus is truly good – then He is God – which He is).  But the man Jesus was speaking to had a flawed perspective of the Law and thus of himself. His judgment of these things wasn’t good. It was just the opposite. 

In the passage above we see another use of the word “good.” In it we see David’s thoughts as he flees from Jerusalem as his son Absalom tries to usurp his throne. Many of those in David’s kingdom had abandoned him.  He looked at an uncertain future.  He knew that much of what was happening to him was the result of his own sin, i.e., his adultery with Bathsheba and murder of her husband Uriah. God had warned David that although He had forgiven him, there would be terrible consequences for what he had done. It was because of his sin that God said, “I will raise up evil against you out of your own house” (2 Samuel 12:11), and that’s exactly what was happening to him. As he fled, David confessed in the words above, that no matter what happened to him, what was good was what God would bring to pass.  He knew that God was good, and that God was sovereign.  He confessed that if he found favor in God’s eyes and was restored to his throne in Jerusalem, then that was good, for it was God’s plan for him.  But he also confessed that if this wouldn’t be the case, if God would say “I have no pleasure in you,” that was good too, for what was good to God was what was truly good. 

It is in these words that we can see a shadow of another king, the holy Son of David, the King of the Jews.  It was as Jesus wrestled in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane as He faced the situation of His own people rejecting Him and the Jewish leaders plotting to do away with Him that He prayed the following words: “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). Here Jesus was seeking what was “good” from God the Father’s perspective, although the prospect of dying on a cross surely didn’t SEEM good for so many reasons.  Surely his disciples saw nothing good in it. Nor did his mother Mary.  And it even stretched the Son of God to the breaking point as His sweat dropped like blood to the ground as He agonized over what was to come. 

So, WAS IT good?  Was what happened in the chaos of the crucifixion good in any way? Obviously, the answer is yes, as anyone whose sins have been forgiven as a result of Jesus’ sacrifice can testify.  But was it good for Jesus? What goodness was there in it for Him?  As Psalm 16 looks ahead to the cross we hear the psalmist say “Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord; I have no GOOD apart from you. As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.” With these words, incredibly, we see Jesus looking forward to the goodness of his inheritance, namely, the children God would give Him as a result of His coming death.  This was among those things that Jesus saw as “the joy that was set before him (and for which he) endured the cross, despising the shame, and is (now) seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

Which brings us to another verse about the goodness of God.  One of the best-known verses of any believer is Romans 8:28 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”  All things? Yes, that’s what it says.  Persecution? All things. Sickness? All things. Death? All things.  Things that don’t seem good to us? Yes, even those things, for what is truly good is what God sees as good, and He’s the only one Who truly knows.  And what is good to God is ultimately good to those who love Him.  He alone is the Good Shepherd, and in His greatest act of goodness, He gave His own life for His sheep. And “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).  That is, all the best things.  Everything that is good in its truest sense. 

So, trust Him.  Rely on His perfect goodness, no matter how things look right now.  For good things truly will come to those who love Him – and wait.