A Theology of Praise - The Goodness of God

Today we will be sharing about the song, "The Goodness of God" by Bethel Music.   My hope and prayer for these blogs is not to focus on where they came from or what is behind the scenes but on the words themselves.   Do these lyrics adhere to biblical truths and is there enough soundness and depth in doctrine for worship leaders to use these songs to lead their congregations into His Word.

This particular song I am sharing as we recently completed a study on the book of Titus, and shared about what the goodness of God is and how it is tied to good doctrine and good deeds.

Verse 1

I love you Lord, for Your mercy never fails me

All my days I've been held in Your hands

From the moment that I wake up until I lay my head

I will sing of the goodness of God

The simplicity and hope found in this first verse certainly does lead worshippers into a desire to sing of the goodness of God.

Why do we love the Lord?  Because His mercy never fails us.  

Ephesians 2:4-5 declares, "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved."

All our days we are held in His hands, and the author tells us from the moment they wake up until they go to sleep.  Obviously the intent is we are held in His hands every day and at all times.  

Isaiah 41:10 "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

Without question this song begins with a simple truth that can be directly seen in God's Word, and those of us in Christ have this goodness of God within and it should cause us to sing out His praise.

Chorus

All my life You have been faithful

All my life You have been so, so good

With every breath that I am able

I will sing of the goodness of God

The chorus emphasizes the faithfulness and the goodness of our God.   One of the images that is brought out in the chorus is, "with every breath that I am able."   Not only is this excellent in its idea for those of us who love the Lord, but is a challenge.   Am I passionately giving every single breath that I can give to delight in the goodness and glory of God in Christ Jesus?  This could be used as a response song for God's people after His truth is declared and implies living out our joy in the Lord and His goodness with every thing we are able - not just our voice.

Verse 2

I love Your voice, You have led me through the fire

In darkest night You are close like no other

I've known You as a Father, I've known You as a friend

I have lived in the goodness of God

In perfect continuation verse two is a response to our lives living out to the fullest to the glory of God, not just our voices.  The answer to why we love our Lord is found in verse 2 here.

Why?   He led us through the fire (temptations, struggles, battles, hardships in life) and is closer in His love for us than any other person could be.  

In John 17:3, Jesus prays for us and says, "And this is eternal life, that they know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."

Our relationship in God through Jesus is the only sure comfort in this life.  We trust Him alone and as believers need to grow in intimacy with the Father.

Bridge

Your goodness is running after, it's running after me

With my life laid down, I'm surrendered now

I give You everything

Your goodness is running after, it's running after me.

This idea of God's goodness running after us brings to mind the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15.   He takes his inheritance from his father and goes and wastes it all.   Coming to his senses he decides to return home to his father to be just a servant or hired hand if he is allowed.   As he is heading home in shame his father saw him from a long way off and felt compassion for him and ran to him and embraced him. 

The goodness of God is seen is His mercy, compassion, kindness, and forgiveness that is offered through Christ alone.   

Our response should be the response given in the bridge of this song.
"My life laid down, I'm surrendered now, I give You everything."

God saw our desperate need and in the richness of His mercy He sent Jesus to us to not leave us in our spiritual death and desperation.   

I Peter 3:18 says, "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit."

God ran after us in our lostness to do what we could never do and can never do - save ourselves.   His mercy rescued us from death and His goodness is everlasting as we are made alive in Him through Jesus."   Trusting this love and living our lives surrendered to Him and giving Him everything is the response of everyone who has experienced His goodness.

Final thoughts:

This song is incredibly simple, but has wonderful depth and insight as we dive into the lyrics and see His Word and truths throughout.   My only disappointment is that the name of Jesus is never mentioned directly, but worship leaders can and should point to Jesus and His love from the Father throughout this song.   The song is also incredibly simple to play and sing and brings together the body of Christ to glorify His and His goodness throughout.   It is a perfect song to bring out deeper truths from God's Word that may not even seem to exist upon first glance.   

Psalm 136:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

In Him,

Rev. Dwight Hedges