Praise for Divine Goodness

by E.W. Bullinger

Two
subjects of praise

God's
purposes

Goodness
in the Saviour

God's
goodness to the Church

God's
goodness in His gift

"Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and
for His wonderful works to the children of men" (Psalm
107:3).

This sacred exclamation, this devout desire is repeated four times in
this Psalm. It seems as though, when God had heard the cry of His people
and had delivered them, they failed to glorify Him for it. Like their
forefathers they were a faithless and thankless generation. This lack of
gratitude seems stamped on human nature. Hence when the Lord had healed
ten lepers of their despised, loathsome and incurable disease, only one
came back to give God thanks: out of the ten, only one cried out, "O that
men would praise the Lord for His goodness." May we learn this lesson
ourselves. May our hearts be roused to thankfulness, that we may be
uplifted by the spirit of our text to give thanks to His name for His
wonderful works to the children of men. God's people are here regarded as
crying to Him in their trouble, when in the hand of the enemy, when hungry
and thirsty, when their soul fainted within them, when exceedingly
depressed, when wandering in the wilderness, but when the time of
deliverance came, their praise was silent. There was need for the
exclamation of the text, "Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His
goodness... Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He hath redeemed
from the hand of the enemy.

Two subjects of praise

There seem to be two subjects of praise here; the goodness of God, and
His wonderful works, and both these are blessed subjects of meditation, as
well as of praise. We are not sufficiently accustomed to dwell on God's
attribute of goodness. Sometimes we dwell on God's mercy, and love, and
holiness, but our text invites us to contemplate this glorious
declaration, His goodness. In all that He has revealed of Himself
in His Word what else can we discover? Yes, even in His judgments on
sinners we can see it; for if He be not able to manifest His abhorrence of
sin, where is His goodness in having mercy on sinners?
He will not
overlook sin, "He will by no means clear the guilty," then how good is He
in providing a surety for sinners and a saviour for the lost, and an
atonement for the guilty. He will not overlook sin in His people; this
Psalm is a witness of how He brought trouble on them, and chastened them
sore, brought them low and afflicted them. Was this goodness? Yes, for if
He had not thus visited them they would have gone on from iniquity to
iniquity, and have never cried out for mercy. So would you, so would I.
Oh, what goodness there is in thus bringing us back from our wanderings,
our rebellion, our ingratitude and our departure from God!
Note David's
words, "Thou Lord hast made me glad through Thy work " (Psalm 92:4). "Thy
work," not "my work." This will indeed make us glad and ready to praise
the Lord. That is why he says in the last verse of our Psalm, "Whoso is
wise and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving
kindness of the Lord." See the work of God in Hannah after her prayer! She
went home with her countenance no more sad, but with a blessed song in her
mouth. See the work of God with Naomi, she went out contrary to faith in
God. Though chastened sore she was not given over to death. God loved her
the same in Moab as in Judah, and He made her glad through His work. In
one Psalm David says, "I am shut up, I cannot get forth" but in another
"Bring my soul out of prison." Why? "That I may run after the vanities of
the world? No! "That I may praise Thy name." This is the burden of this
Psalm (verses 6, 13, 19, 28). And so, whether we look at the Lord's power,
omniscience, omnipotence, immutability, compassion, or faithfulness, we
find the goodness of God exhibited in all. If His mercy were exercised at
the expense of His justice, His faithfulness would be violated, His truth
would be broken. But God is good in all the perfection of His nature, and
in all His attributes.

God's purposes

We specially behold His goodness in His purposes. "My counsel
shall stand, and I will do all Thy pleasure." Just think for a moment of
these purposes:
(1). He purposes to have a family as His own distinct
from the world, distinct from angels, and to make them partakers of the
Divine life. Was there not goodness in this? The whole posterity of Adam
had perished but for the goodness of this purpose.
(2). Moreover He
purposed to adopt them as sons, to give them into the hands of a Surety
under solemn responsibilities. He purposed that this Surety should deliver
them from the guilt of sin, from the dominion of sin, and from the power
of Satan, and to be "zealous of good works." Oh, the goodness of this
wonderful purpose!
Man can speak about the goodness of God in creation,
how His sun shines on the evil and the good, how His showers descend on
the just and the unjust, how He giveth food to all flesh, and the fruits
of the earth in due season. All has been His own doing, and it excites our
wonder! Others can speak of His goodness in providence, how He has
protected righteous kings, delivered them from their enemies, and caused
the winds to blow and change for this purpose. But only those who know His
goodness as displayed to His living Church can really enter into the words
of our text and say "Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness
and for His wonderful works to the children of men."
You may view it as
"putting down the mighty from their seat, and exalting the humble and
meek." You may view it as overturning empires and kings; there is goodness
in all this, but it pales before that which is connected with the
salvation in Christ Jesus. All the purposes of redemption, satisfaction,
substitution, all the purposes of operation upon sinners' hearts in their
calling, justification, sanctification, preservation and glorification,
all were purposed in the goodness of God, and therefore cannot fail. You
could not talk about goodness if all these things were matters of chance
and might all fail. If all were left to the caprice of man, and the
decision of carnal worms of the earth. But when we see all that pertains
to the salvation of a sinner as settled and secured in the eternal purpose
of God, then we exclaim, "Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His
goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!"

Goodness in the Saviour

Then look at it as displayed in the Saviour Himself. All is goodness
here. Had all this purpose to save and pardon been left to the individual
transactions of carnal men, to the efforts of mortals all must have been a
failure! But when we look at this eternal purpose, anointing, ordaining,
appointing, providing, giving, sending a Saviour in the person of Christ,
constituting Him as the Covenant Head, making Him "head over all things to
His Church," constituting every individual believer a member of His Body,
trusting them all to His care so that He should not lose one even in
death, numbering them every one into His hand, then we see the
goodness of God who purposed all this in Christ. Then we see the
goodness of our precious, glorious Saviour in accomplishing all that he
undertook. "Then said I, Lo, I come; in the volume of the book it is
written of me, I delight to do Thy will, O my God, yea, Thy law is within
my heart" (Psalm 40:7,8). Oh, what goodness! "Lo, I come" equal with the
Father, sharing the eternal glory. He looked down as it were and saw the
fallen, apostate race, the devil leading them captive, and He undertakes
to rescue His own sheep. He saw the depravity of man's heart, and He
undertook to subdue its enmity, conquer its rebellion and fit His arrows
sharp and fast in men's consciences. Was not this goodness? Then it is not
as if He left them alone! If so, they would have destroyed themselves
every one.

God's goodness to the Church

We pass over the goodness of His earthly life and sufferings and death,
all was goodness in the Good Shepherd giving His life for the sheep, but
let us turn our thoughts to Him now. Ascended up again to the right
hand of the Father, ever living to make intercession for us, not tired of
His work, not leaving us ever, when He has bestowed upon us the spirit of
prayer -- no, for we use His name and plead His merits and He intercedes
and prays for us Himself. Oh, what goodness! And while our souls are
overwhelmed with it, hear him saying, "Father, I will that they also, whom
Thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory
which Thou hast given me; for Thou lovedest Me before the foundation of
the world" (John 17:24).
And not only individually, but collectively we
see this goodness to His Church. The members thereof could not exist a day
without His own preservation. They must be ruined by their own depravity.
The devil would destroy them if it were possible, but Christ preserves
them; their preservation is in Christ Jesus. So with the increase of His
Church. The Lord is the great Worker, and whilst He works, there is no
rebel so proud, no enemy so stout, no infidel so bold, no sinner so vile,
but Christ can conquer him and His goodness can lead him to repentance.

God's goodness in His gift

Then mark the goodness of God in the gift of the Holy Spirit. He is now
the Doer of those wonderful works to the children of men. What a wonderful
work when He creates in a depraved heart a capacity for the enjoyment of
God. When He makes the dead to hear the voice of the Son of God, and gives
him life to praise God. It is this that makes all the difference between
carnal men and spiritual men, between the world and the Church of God,
between believers and the ungodly. No one can enjoy God but living souls,
those into whom the Spirit of God has breathed the breath of life, and who
have become "living souls" in this new creation. Apart from this the
duties of religion (so-called) are an irksome task, but with it they are
real Christianity, the soul's meat and drink. Then His wonderful works are
manifested in His comforts, His consolations, His implanting of graces,
fulfilling of promises, providing strength equal for the day, and taking
of the things of Christ and revealing them to His people It was the
contemplation of all this that established the confidence of St. Paul:
"Being confident of this very thing that He which hath begun a good work
in you will perform it into the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6).
"Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful
works to the children of men!"
Where this goodness is realized, and
these wonderful works experienced the praise will be real. It will not be
the repetition of prayers, it will not be mere sounds of harmonies
correctly sung, it will not consist merely in a bright service, a pretty
tune and appropriate words, but these precious truths will be the
experimental expression of the heart. Oh that men -- ! What men? Find the
answer in verse 2. "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so." No other men can
say so. Say what? "Give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for His
mercy endureth for ever (verse 1). Because the Lord hath forgiven their
iniquity, redeemed them from the hand of the enemy, from the curse of the
law, from the power of Satan, from the thraldom of sin; because He hath
redeemed them with His precious blood.
Are there any who disobey the
exhortation of this Psalm, and have never praised God for His great
salvation? Man can glorify man, glorify himself, glory in his possessions,
his acquirements, but forget to glorify God. Let us rather be of the
number of those who cry with the Psalmist, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
forget not all His benefits."

This page Copyright © 1999 Peter
Wade.