Why Worship?
We worship God because He is good. Psalm 119:68 says, “You are good and do good.” (ESV) First of all, God Himself is good by His very nature, He is the sum total of all perfection. There are no errors, flaws, or contradictions in Him. We cannot add anything to HIm or take something away to make His nature any better. It is who He is. He cannot remove Himself from His goodness. He possesses every desirable quality imaginable to the nth degree.
Not only is God good, but all good things come from Him. We rarely give Him the credit due. He is the highest source of goodness and from Him all other good things flow. He is kind, gentle, forgiving, generous and takes great pleasure in lavishing His children with goodness. Like a father who desires good for his child, so our Heavenly Father desires good things for us as children of God.
We worship because God is always good
Unfortunately, because of the series of unfortunate events in our lives, the economy, our financial status, our rebellious kids, our frustrating relationships and who knows what circumstances in our lives and a long laundry list of distractions, we have forgotten that God is Good! For some of us, it may be difficult to even utter those words “God is good.” We feel like He has forgotten us. That He has abandoned us. That He doesn’t care about us. That He doesn’t have a clue what is going on with us. You may ask, How can you say that God is good when my wife was just diagnosed with cancer? When I’ve been unemployed now for 6 months? When I’ve struggled with infertility for 5 years? When my marriage is falling apart?
Sometimes rearview moments allow us to reflect back at the good work God was busy doing. We may not always be able to see or understand what God is up to or how on earth He will work our situation out for His good. I can recall how a few years ago our family really struggled with moving. We were angry at God for removing us from our close-knit family and friends. It was a lonely time to live in a big city without a single friend. But that’s not all…our circumstances were incredibly draining. We moved into a townhome with a broken dishwasher, broken garage door, broken locks on the doors, a shaky back deck and much more. Our first Christmas, just days after moving, was spent wearing winter parkas while hovering oven the oven door, our only source of heat. The landlord and repairman were both unreachable. The pain did not ease up anytime soon. One of our daughters suffered a concussion because a swing broke while she was just catching her stride in mid-air. Our son was hit by a car. We suffered miserably from our first encounter with cedar fever. We were homesick beyond imagination. As parents, we felt unequipped to handle the backlash of anger from our own children.
Looking back, I can see now that God was still there. Although, at the time, I doubted His goodness. He never left us or forsook us. He was only teaching my family to trust Him more. He was waiting for us to lean on Him and experience Him deeper still.
God knows us…and knows what is best!
- He knows how much hair you have on your head (Luke 12:7)
- He knows your words before you speak them (Ps. 139:4)
- He knows your thoughts before you think them (Psalm 139:2)
- He knows your prayers before you pray them (Matthew 6:8)
- He knows everything you are going to do tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, and every moment of every day (Psalm 139:16)
- He records every word you say (Matthew 12:36)
- He hears every whispered word and will one day shout them from the housetops (Luke 12:3)
And the One who knows us so well, who knit us together in our mother’s womb, who knows us inside and out, has made this promise: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). However, this truth is especially difficult to accept in times of great trial.
How do you define good?
The cause of our struggle stems from our failure to understand what is truly good for us. We tend to think goodness revolves around us. Our lives should be filled with our comfort and recreation where we can do anything we please at any time. Our definitions of goodness typically involve the elements of pleasure, happiness, convenience, health, affluence, and success. But God has a different point of view. He knows the choices we make for ourselves are not always best and our sinful natures tend to crave things of this world that do not truly satisfy. God always has our long-term, eternal interests in mind. He sees what is going on in our little worlds. May we keep in mind that nothing can happen to us outside of His sovereign will.
The next time your world begins to crumble, remind yourself “God is good. There is something good that will come from this mess…I just can’t see it from my lil’ eyes.”
“Praise the Lord! Praise the name of the Lord, give praise, O servants of the Lord, who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God! Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing to his name, for it is pleasant! Psalm 135:1-3
Absolutely true! We always forget about God’s goodness, but He never ever EVER forgets about us, even when we are so undeserving!! Which makes Him awesomely good. 🙂
Great words. May our everyday lives be filled with these thoughts. Thanks. “Give Thanks to the Lord for He is GOOD and His Steadfast Love endures forever.”