Moments to Ponder

Episode 100: Discovering Goodness in the Depths of God's Character

• Betsy Marvin • Season 13 • Episode 100

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Growing up, Psalm 100's verses shaped my understanding of God's unwavering goodness. This 100th episode of Moments to Ponder, naturally aligning with that very Psalm, invites you to unpack the richness of God's character, contrasting the steadfast love detailed in ancient scriptures with the unpredictable deities of old. Amid personal anecdotes and historical insights, we'll see how the gospel, lived out through Jesus's example, offers a unique window into the heart of a kind and loving God.

As I share stories of God's love and faithfulness, you too will be encouraged to recognize and celebrate the enduring trustworthiness of our Creator that spans generations. Join me in this moment of reflection and spiritual awakening, as we honor the 100th milestone of Moments to Ponder with hearts full of praise.

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Speaker 1:

Hi friends, welcome to the 100th episode of Moments to Ponder. When I started this podcast a couple years ago, I didn't really know where it would go, if anyone would even listen or if I'd continue past the first initial season. I just knew that I wanted to be a voice that shared God's word in bite-sized chunks, with a few things to think about for those that struggle to find time to get into the Bible. The timing of it has shifted a bit. The format has been tweaked and I continued to tweak it, but the main purpose to help us ponder God's word has remained. I'm humbled to know that you've spent time listening and I pray every time I press the publish button that God's word will speak to your heart in just the way that it needs to. When I began Book 4 in Psalms, I wasn't really thinking about this actual episode, but as the chapters began to lay out, I realized that we would be on Psalm 100 for the 100th episode. Hm, funny how God works, as always. Thank you for joining me as we take a few moments to ponder the Psalms. I'm Betsy Marvin and this is Episode 100. Shout for joy to the Lord all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before Him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us and we are His. We are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name, for the Lord is good and His love endures forever. His faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalm 100.

Speaker 1:

I memorized this Psalm as a kid and I can still recite every word. Well, in the King James Version, my mind still hears no ye that the Lord is good. I understood the thanksgiving part of it as a child. In fact, we learned this Psalm during the thanksgiving season. But the depth of what this Psalm teaches has been an adult journey. We spent time in Episode 98 focusing on Psalm 95, and the words of Psalm 100 actually echo that Psalm as they are parallel. Within both of these Psalms we can hear shout for joy all the earth and worship with gladness, and throughout both Psalms we see that we worship because he is God and because he made us and because he is good.

Speaker 1:

As I've prepared for this podcast, that was the line that struck me, for the Lord is good. I've been in a few spaces lately where there has been some pushback on that statement. The reasons are as varied as those that have them, but the underlying struggle is how can God be good when he allowed loss, illness, divorce, an accident, financial struggle, broken relationships, death? For many life circumstances seem to contradict the goodness of God, and I get that. So let's dive in. The author, james Bryan Smith, defines goodness as that which works for the benefit or betterment of another. If we apply this definition, we see that the Lord, in His goodness, works for the betterment and benefit of us, of the world. When I say God is good, what goes through your mind? Your belief, confident trust, uncertainty. Okay, bear with me for a few minutes. I promise this is going somewhere.

Speaker 1:

I love history, as you may know, so when Netflix put out a new series on Alexander the Great, I had to check it out. It's a docu-series, which means it has historians as well as acted out scenes to piece together his story. It does have some sketchy scenes to fast forward, but what struck me was how one of the historians spoke about the gods of the time. In a nutshell, he said every culture had some sort of religion, however twisted, that placed gods in charge of the world, atheism would have been nonexistent. We can't comprehend the lives of survival and power that were lived in the BCE years, but the people of that time knew that there had to be something beyond themselves Creation. It needed an explanation. Why things happened needed an explanation Life itself.

Speaker 1:

Each ancient civilization sought to answer their questions through intricate belief systems that contained gods, heroes, goddesses and creatures. For the Greeks, gods were interconnected with humans, and kings like Alexander saw themselves as gods or demigods. Their gods had human traits, were very temperamental, were not necessarily good, but they were beautiful and powerful. For the Persians, there were a large number of gods, mostly male. They personified natural phenomena like changing the way the wind was blowing or social norms, things that were expected of them and the institutions they upheld. The gods were to be worshipped and revered, but ultimately they did as they pleased. The Romans who came into power a bit later saw Caesar as a god, lord, and they had a list of other gods and goddesses that were mostly the same deities we find in the Persian and Greek systems, but with new names.

Speaker 1:

So where am I going with all this? Well, in all of these big people groups, no gods or goddesses were seen as completely good. They were selfish, ego-driven and very human-like. You never knew when they might turn against you and do harm. They had to be appeased and sacrificed to worshipped, and even then the gods might deem fit to bring illness or catastrophe, because well, in the end, the gods didn't really care about the human race.

Speaker 1:

Then we have the Israelites praising God because he is good. How unique was that? A good god was different than any other religion of that time Still is A god who loved the human race, was unheard of A creator god who gave Noah a rainbow and Abraham a sun and lifted up David, a protector god, over his sheep. The Israelites were overwhelmed with knowing a god who was loving and good, and it set them apart. God didn't need to prove he was God. Deity was a universal belief in that time. The wonder was that God was loving and was good.

Speaker 1:

Now, when we look at Jesus, we know he's good. The gospel spelled this out in every verse. Yet if we were to look at his life circumstances, we see that his cousin was beheaded, his own sibling thought he was crazy, one of his closest friends betrayed him. His own people crucified him. Yet all these circumstances didn't change the goodness of God. Jesus said Take my yoke upon you, for I am gentle and humble, two words the Gentiles never would have used to describe their gods. Or when Jesus said God so loved the world that he sent me, this would have rocked the pagan world, because their gods would never send an offspring to help humans in any way. In the ancient world, where the belief in God was never questioned, it's no wonder they were drawn to Jesus. They were ready to trade in their multiple temperamental gods for one good God who said I made you, I love you, follow me. In our world, the idea of God is fully questioned as humanity seeks to break down mysterious wonders into a big bang and evolution. But I'm not here to convince you. There's a God. That's a whole other podcast.

Speaker 1:

What has brought me pause from Psalm 100 is how many of the people that do believe in Jesus and have received his salvation struggle with accepting that God is good. We like his promises, we accept his forgiveness, but when hard things happen in our lives we can't quite accept that he's still good. It causes our firmly held beliefs to be shaken and distorted, especially when those beliefs don't seem to match up with our life experiences. And I agree, I get it. It's hard to reconcile a good God in cancer, a good God and the death of a loved one. But I wonder if it's because all of this, then, is thinking about us when it's really all about him.

Speaker 1:

I'm currently in the study of Genesis, and if there's anything that we can learn from the Old Testament and the journey of the Israelites, it's that God's character doesn't change. The people of God didn't always agree with his choices for them. They complained a lot, but when you look at the overarching story, we're reminded that God's goodness didn't depend on their life circumstances, but rather on their view of what was actually good. God is good because he continues to show them love, grace, mercy, generosity and favor, even when they didn't deserve it. I mean, look at the overarching story. God has been writing his story since the beginning. It's woven through time from the Garden of Eden to the Garden Tomb, and continues today. It's a narrative that we can learn to trust and it's found right here in Psalm 100.

Speaker 1:

The Lord is God. He made us and not we ourselves. The Lord is good. His love endures forever. His faithfulness continues. Those five statements are God's overarching narrative.

Speaker 1:

No matter what comes, god has shown us that we can trust this story. He is God. Our value is in Him because he made us. We are loved forever and he is faithful, and he proved all of this through Jesus. Even when the savings are all gone, he loves you and is with you. That is His promise. Even when we totally screw up, you're still forgiven and loved. Jesus came and sacrificed for you. Life eternal is yours. That doesn't go away based on something that happens in our lives. So is the only good when life goes our way? Are His love and forgiveness enough to prove he is good, or does life need to never have pain or brokenness? When we look to Him, we see that our God continues to show us love, grace, mercy, generosity and favor, even when we don't deserve it, and because of that he is good. Romans 5,8 says this but God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And a God who loves like that is good.

Speaker 1:

I recently saw the new episodes for Stephen's and four of the Chosen in the theater, and let's just say wow. In it, jesus mourns his cousin John the Baptizer. Jesus, who could have freed him or raised him, doesn't, but instead mourns his cousin. John's death was part of a grander story, one that would continue in Jesus, and John knew that he had prepared the way. But when we see this, we might think well, god isn't good. He allowed John to be put to death.

Speaker 1:

But what is depicted so well in the film is the larger picture. In that moment, god brought John to himself. That's what makes him good you are loved, you are forgiven, you can speak with him and hear him and be known intimately by him. He will never leave you. He sent his son to save you. His grace is never ending. His faithfulness continues and nothing that happens to you changes that. What a good God.

Speaker 1:

Lift up a great shout of joy to Yahweh. Go ahead and do it. Everyone, everywhere. Worship Yahweh with gladness. Sing your way into His presence with joy and realize what this really means. We have the privilege of worshiping Yahweh, our God, for he is our Creator and we belong to Him. He is the people of His pleasure. You can pass through His open gates with a password of praise. Come right into His presence with thanksgiving. Come, bring your thank offering to Him and affectionately bless His beautiful name, For Yahweh is always good and ready to receive you. He is so loving that it will amaze you, so kind that it will astound you. And he is famous for His faithfulness toward all. Everyone knows our God can be trusted, for he keeps His promises to every generation. Amen.