For the past week, I have been meditating on Psalm 73:1. It is my spiritual goal to meditate on one verse of this Psalm each week until I finish it. I want to share some of my meditations with you.
Psalm 73:1 “Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.”
There is a longing in us that wants to believe in a benevolent God. We want to believe that God is good–all the time. Even when we hear the age old question: If God is so good, why does he let evil happen?, we still cling to the promise the Scripture gives of God’s omnibenevolence.
But why is it so hard to believe sometimes?
Asaph wrote Psalm 73. He doubted God’s goodness. This desperate poem and song to God truly meditates on the real experience of doubting God’s goodness. Verse one openly proclaims the truth that Asaph has come to doubt. It also answers the question I just proposed. Why is God’s goodness hard to believe? Because our hearts are not pure. I see two things that this verse communicates, both explicitly and implicitly.
1.) God is good, specifically in the person and work of Christ.
There is no doubt that the scriptures declare his goodness uniformly and specifically. Psalm 136 is the text of the congregational song of Israel. It repeats this phrase in its first verse: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” It is the phrase that the people of God sing to him when they meditate on his wonderous deeds. Psalm 118 describes this as well. The Psalmist who wrote the longest chapter in the Bible declared it completely: “You are good and do good; teach me your statutes” (119:68). When Moses pleaded to God to show him his glory, this is how the LORD answered him:
“I will make my all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.” And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (Exodus 33:19).
In the New Testament, Jesus chastizes one man for calling him “good teacher.”
“Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18).
It is the apostle John, however, who ties the encouter that Moses had with God with Jesus. He makes it clear that Jesus was not denying his own deity in Mark 10:18, but he was rather pointing out the heart of the man who approached him, for this man cared little about the goodness of God. Though Moses couldn’t see God (Ex. 33:20), Jesus is described as the only one who seen God and can perfectly reflect him.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth…And from his fulness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known” (John 1:14, 16-8).
John doesn’t so much emphasize the Mosaic law (condeming man) and Jesus (liberating man) as he is emphasizing God’s glory being made known perfectly in the person of Jesus Christ. “He has made him known.” It is here that we are given the undeniable truth that Jesus is the good God spoken of in the Old Testament.
Indeed, Christ’s miracles manifested his glory (Jn. 2:11), but most specifically, God’s glory in Christ is made known when evil men do not believe in him.
“Though he had done so may signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: ‘Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?’ [Isa. 53:1] Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, ‘He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them’ [Isa. 6:10]. Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess, so they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God” (John 12:43).
It was that frightening vision of God’ s glory in Isaiah 6 that changed, justified, and atoned for Isaiah. It is here that John makes it clear: Isaiah saw Jesus Christ. “He is the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Heb. 4:3). “…the glory of Christ, who is the image of God…the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:4, 6). Every bit of God’s glorious nature is found in Christ. Most especially, God’s goodness is found in Christ. If we look at 2 Corinthians 4:1-6, we see that the glory of God is found in his gospel.
This is the way the writer of Hebrews describes God’s good for his people-
“But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:11-12).
It is because of God’s goodness in the giving of the Son that we have “an eternal redemption” paid for “by means of his own blood.” This is the ultimate way God is good to his people. He gives us his Son so he can bring us to himself. He wants his goodness to be known to his people, so he provides the way for them to experience it. Notice how Jeremiah prophecies of this giving of the Son as the means by which God will finally dwell with his people:
“And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and soul” (Jeremiah 32:38-41).
God is good to his people-with all his heart and soul. This is amazing! But notice this passage’s emphasis on the heart. “I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good…” He even speaks of giving his people “one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever.” It is in this sense, then, that we see what God’s goodness does to our hearts.
2.) God’s goodness makes us pure in heart.
If God has nothing but good for his people, and this is most specifically manifested in the gospel, we must consider what the gospel does to us. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God“ The way in which we draw near to God (and this is the climax of Psalm 73) is through the gospel. The gospel purifies our hearts and thusly allows us to see God the clearest. Matthew 5:8 says it this way: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” There is a direct tie between purity of heart and seeing God for who he is. Note how the apostle John puts it:
“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (1 John 3:2-3).
The very appearance of God (as he is) and the fervent meditation of God (as he is) inevitably leads to purity. Being near to God thus equals purity of heart. The apostle James says this:
“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded” (James 4:8).
Conclusion:
Thusly, I think we see from Scripture that God’s goodness both demands purity and supplies what it demands. This is grace so amazing! By being close to God and considering him for who he is, the heart is purified.
Application:
If in those times of doubt, when you speculate and intellectualize over the goodness of God with a heart of unbelief, you are committing grievous sin. God’s goodness is not subject to your belief. Your belief is subject to his goodness! God is good to his people. Though evil surrounds you and doubt fills your minds, the goodness of God is not compromised. Your purity is compromised! Hoping in him as he says he is will result in a pure heart.
This has tremendous implications for our holiness because anytime we sin we demonstrate that we are 1.) impure in heart, 2.) far from the true and revealed God, 3.) doubtful of whether or not God is good. Anytime we sin we demonstrate that we doubt if God’s way (of holiness, godliness, honor, integrity, blamelessness, pleasure) is good. It is a heart of unbelief.
God says he is good, and though you cannot now see every way in which his goodness is made known to you, you must hope in him as he says he is. But behold the manifold ways he has revealed his goodness! Have you forgotten the wonderous deeds of the Lord in your life? Have you spurned his blessing of life? Have you begrudged his blessing of family, friends, food, home, and other providences? There is always a reason to give thanks. But if, by some wise and gloriously good plan of God, you have nothing but loneliness, hunger, homelessness, persecutions, and sword, have you spurned God’s ultimate good blessing? Have you forgotten the gospel? He gave his Son! Is that not enough for you? If you, like Asaph, wonder if God is truly good to Israel, you must examine your heart, for it is not God who has ceased to be good, it is your heart that has ceased to be pure.
Fly to the gospel and thusly purify your hearts. What love the Father has made known to you in Him! His goodness and glory washes you from all uncleanliness and unbelief. Purify yourself, and wash your hands by drawing near to God, meditating on who he says he is.
I leave you with four truths from St. Augustine that have helped me:
1.) God always enables that which he commands.
“Lord command what you will, and will what you command.”
If he says to believe him, he will create that in your heart. Plead with him until he makes his goodness pass before you!
2.) Our hearts will never rest until they rest in God as he has reavealed himself to be.
“Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee.”
You will have a wayward, tossed, double-minded way about you until you rest finally in the truth of God’s goodness.
3.) Our love for God is compromised when we love anything apart from him.
“He loves thee too little who loves anything besides thee which he loves not for thee.”
God goodness wants you to enjoy his blessings. God’s goodness also wants you enjoy them for him. His goodness will thus take that from you which will result in your losing sight of his goodness. He gives! But he will take away, and this is his goodness, kindness, and mercy. Remember, however, that there is one thing God cannot take away: His promises in the gospel. Find your love for God in this love he has for you.
4.) To truly experience the goodness of God, we require one thing: Humility.
“If I should be asked what is the first thing in religion. I would say that the first, second and third thing therein is humility.”
Doubt and speculation are not admirable. Humble and contrite hearts that tremble at his word is what God looks to. Carnal speculation and fleshly intellectualism do not impress God. He does not command your theodicy; he commands your humility.
Working with you for purity,
Vince R.
