[0:00] Turn to Genesis chapter 2. We're going to read a couple of verses in Genesis chapter 2, and then we're going to go to chapter 3 and read the whole chapter.
[0:13] Genesis chapter 2 verse 15. We're going to read verse 17 and then read chapter 3. The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, you are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
[0:38] For when you eat of it, you will surely die. Chapter 3 of 1. Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.
[0:51] He said to the woman, did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden? The woman said to the serpent, we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say you must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it or you will die.
[1:10] You will not surely die, the serpent said to the woman. For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
[1:23] When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate it.
[1:39] Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realized they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day.
[1:56] And they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, where are you? He answered, I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked.
[2:10] So I hid. And he said, who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?
[2:21] The man said, the woman you put here with me, she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it. Then the Lord God said to the woman, what is this you have done?
[2:33] The woman said, the serpent deceived me and I ate. So the Lord God said to the serpent, because you have done this, cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals.
[2:45] You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers.
[2:56] He will crush your head and you will strike his heel. To the woman, he said, I will greatly increase your pains and childbearing. With pain, you will give birth to children.
[3:09] Your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you. To Adam, he said, because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, you must not eat of it.
[3:22] Cursed is the ground because of you. Through painful toil, you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you and you will eat the plants of the field.
[3:35] By the sweat of your brow, you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken. For dust you are and to dust you will return.
[3:47] Adam named his wife Eve because she would become the mother of all the living. The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
[3:59] And the Lord God said, the man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever.
[4:13] So the Lord God banished him from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. And he drove the man out. He placed on the east side of the garden of Eden, cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
[4:35] Well, we have embarked upon a study, a delightful study on the goodness of God, the goodness of God. Why study the goodness of God? And we saw in the first week, just because God is good, he's revealed himself to us.
[4:50] And it's our duty and our privilege to know him as he's been revealed to us. Why study the goodness of God? Because that's the first thing that God bombards us with in the Bible.
[5:01] We saw this last week. Seven times in Genesis chapter one, we read of God's goodness in creation. So did you connect the dots this week between the creature and the good creator?
[5:19] Did you enjoy him as you enjoyed his created gifts, tasting his goodwill, his delight in you for having given it to you? And are you receiving his good gifts with thanksgiving on the spot acknowledgement that this is your goodness, your heart being expressed, your goodwill to me?
[5:42] Well, that was the second reason to study. It's the first thing God tells us about himself or really bombards us with in the Bible. And then this morning, the third reason to study the goodness of God.
[5:57] Because this is one of the first attributes of God to come under satanic attack. If you were the devil needing to come up with a strategy to get a sinless Adam and Eve to join in your rebellion against your creator and their creator, where would you start?
[6:19] Where would you press the attack? Well, Satan got Eve to sin by first sowing doubts about the goodness of God. Now, if you'd have suggested that strategy to me, I would have laughed it off.
[6:34] You're not going to get anywhere with Eve with that kind of strategy. Doubt the goodness of God? Let's not forget where Satan tempted her.
[6:47] Not in a children's hospital where parents are made to watch their young children suffer with serious defects and diseases.
[7:00] Not in a concentration camp in World War II where masses of people are tortured and murdered. Not in Myanmar where children are being kidnapped and then their organs harvested that they might be sold on the black market for organ transplants.
[7:23] No, it wasn't there. We wouldn't be surprised for Satan to find traction in the hearts of people in those places to doubt God's goodness. How can God be so good if such suffering and evil goes on in his world?
[7:41] But Satan presses his attack in the least likely place to succeed. The very Garden of Eden where God's amazing goodness is just oozing out of every pore of creation.
[7:54] Where Eve is living the perfect life with the perfect marriage, the perfect husband. Where she's in perfect health, in a perfect garden paradise that continually dazzled all five of her senses with God's goodness.
[8:12] And whose fellowship with this good God dazzled her soul. And Satan would have the audacity in such a setting to cast aspersions upon God's goodness.
[8:28] And not only the audacity but the craftiness to actually get Eve to doubt God's goodness so that she would sin against him. Now how in the world did he pull that off in a place like this?
[8:41] Well, let's look. It's right here in Genesis chapter 3 if you'd have your Bibles open to it. Eve hears a new voice in the garden. And Revelation tells us it's that old serpent, the devil.
[8:54] And he's just asking a simple question. Oh, but it's a loaded question. You know a loaded question. It has a lot of baggage along with it.
[9:08] Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden? And I would say yes, he is questioning God's word.
[9:19] But more to the point, he's questioning God's goodness. The gist of his question is, do you mean that God won't let you eat from any tree in the garden that you want?
[9:32] Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden? Is he really limiting your choices, Eve? Is he actually putting restrictions upon your desires?
[9:45] Withholding something from you? And Eve's thinking, you know, I never thought about it that way before. And of course you didn't, Eve. This is new devilish thought now confronting you for the first time in your life.
[10:01] Up to now you've been lost in wonder, love, and praise at how good God is to you. How he delights in you to just heap blessing after blessing, good gift after good gift your way.
[10:18] She's been so overwhelmed with God's generosity in the full variety of trees that she was free to eat from and to enjoy for her pleasure.
[10:30] That God's single restriction of forbidding just one tree from her, well, that seemed awful good of him.
[10:41] He could have forbidden a lot more. And after all, he is God. He's my Lord. He's Lord of the whole heaven and earth. She thought God had been awfully good to her, but now she's entertaining a slur on God's goodness.
[10:57] And it puts a whole different slant upon reality. A whole different way of interpreting what she sees. Satan so skillfully and subtly shifted her focus from the many trees that God gave her to eat from to the one tree that he kept her from.
[11:21] All to erode her thoughts about God's goodness. Now that's devilish wisdom. That's thinking from hell. When your focus is on what you can't have instead of on what you do have from this good God.
[11:39] Well, his first move is just to plant that seed of doubt concerning God's goodness. But he'll soon follow it up with plenty of fertilizer and water.
[11:53] Eve's answer seems orthodox enough. Verses three and four. We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden. But you're right. God did say you must not eat fruit from the tree that's in the middle of the garden.
[12:07] You must not touch it or you will die. And now Satan just pounces with a frontal assault. Not only upon the truthfulness of God and his word.
[12:18] But even more so upon the goodness of God's heart. Toward Eve. You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened.
[12:29] And you'll be like God. Knowing good and evil. So here's the bald face lie of the murderer. Who wants to kill Eve.
[12:42] And Adam. And the whole human race. He is a murderer from the beginning, Jesus says. He wants to steal from her eternal life. And his lies put a whole different interpretation on the facts.
[12:57] What's the reality? The reality is this. God is good. He's just told us that seven times in chapter one. And Eve's living it. God is good.
[13:07] And he did good to them in giving them each other. Giving them all of creation to serve their well-being. And all the trees that they could eat from.
[13:18] Delighting. God was delighting in their happiness. Happy to see them happy. And he was also good in forbidding them to eat from this one tree.
[13:29] Because his laws are not only righteous and holy. They're also good. They're good for us. They're for our advantage. And it was good for Adam and Eve to abstain from this one tree.
[13:41] Just because God said so. And his warning of certain death. If they did eat. Was also his goodness to them. That they might have motive to not eat from this tree.
[13:56] And to come into misery and death. That's the reality of the whole scene. Now here's Satan's spin on the same reality. This tree is really good and advantageous for you Eve.
[14:08] When you eat it. Your eyes will be open. It will bring you a greater enlightenment. And insight into the mystery of good and evil. And so you'll be like God himself.
[14:20] You will know good and evil. Personally. For yourself. And God's threat of certain death. That's just an empty threat.
[14:31] You'll not surely die. He knows how good it would be for you. And he doesn't want you to have it. But selfishly just wants to keep it to himself. So he's just scaring you away from it.
[14:46] You see he's imputing sinister motives into God's heart. As Matthew Henry says. He's out to alienate her from. To alienate her affections from God.
[14:57] Oh she's been delighting in God. And his goodness. And now. There's some suspicion. About God's heart. Toward her.
[15:08] And he plants hard thoughts about God into Eve. As if he maybe doesn't really want me to be happy after all.
[15:19] And maybe he is withholding something good for me. Just out of spite and ill will toward me. The conclusion is clear. You can't trust God to do what's best for you Eve.
[15:31] He's not really looking out for your welfare at all. He's only looking out for himself. And he's trying to cover up his lack of good will toward you. With a lie. That you'll surely die.
[15:43] So Eve if you care at all about your own good. Don't do what he says. You got to do what you think is best. For yourself. Your happiness is to be found. In ignoring God's commands.
[15:54] Not in following them. Now that's an entirely false spin. On reality. And on God's goodness. It's all lies.
[16:06] And yet. The more the devil. Talks. The more Eve. Agrees. And suddenly God's not as good as she had thought he was.
[16:17] Oh my. I've never thought of it that way before. But. Come to think of it. That the fruit on that tree really does look good. For food. It looks delicious.
[16:29] Looks nutritious. And. As she looks at it. She not only sees that it looks good for food.
[16:41] But it's also pleasing to the eye. Oh how often Satan brings sin through the inlet of the eye. It looks good. And then she says.
[16:54] And it's also desirable. It looks desirable for gaining wisdom. Now where did she get that idea. From. Not from God. She's.
[17:06] She's eating right out of Satan's hand. And she takes. His lie. Hook, line, and sinker. It looks like. Eating from that tree. Really would give me more.
[17:17] Wisdom. Than what I. Now have. And so she took some. And ate it. And gave some to her husband. And he ate it. And. The rest of the story.
[17:29] You know. Instead of being holy and happy. They became sinful and miserable. And plunged the whole human race. Into the sin and misery. And death.
[17:41] Along with them. Their eyes were opened all right. But it wasn't in the pleasant way. That Satan had told them. Now what do we learn from this brief exchange?
[17:52] If you don't remember anything today. Remember this. Sin. Is what we do. When we doubt. The goodness. Of God. Sin.
[18:03] Is what we do. When we doubt. That. God's heart. Toward me. Is good. He wants my best.
[18:17] No wonder this remains one of Satan's favorite temptations. And here's the scary thing. If Satan's lies found traction in the heart. Of a sinless Eve. Living the dream. In a sinless world.
[18:28] Without suffering. Without evil. Then. How much easier is Satan's task today. To get you and I. To doubt his goodness. As we live. In a different world now.
[18:39] A world that is now full. Of. Of suffering. And pain. And evil. And. Destruction. And death. It's a world under the curse.
[18:57] Isn't it? As we read. It's a world where. Creation. Not only serves the pleasures of mankind. But now also contributes to our pain. And our frustration. And our suffering.
[19:08] And destruction. And death. Did you know. This is the number one reason people give. For why they cannot believe. In a good God. Why they reject biblical Christianity.
[19:20] Why they reject the God of the Bible. It's right here. How can God be good. When there's so much suffering and evil in his world. I'm reading a 500 page book.
[19:32] Entitled. If God is good. Subtitle. Faith in the midst. Of suffering and evil. Author Randy Alcorn. Has done his homework.
[19:43] And he concludes. More people point to the problem of evil. And suffering. As the reason for not believing in God. Than any other. It's not merely a problem. It is the problem. He quotes Ronald Nash.
[19:56] As saying. Every philosopher I know. Believes that the most serious challenge. To theism. Was. Is. And will continue to be. The problem of evil. Atheist point. Atheist point.
[20:06] To the problem of evil. Is the proof. That the God of the Bible. Can't exist. Is. Bart Ehrman. Went to Moody Bible Institute. He memorized.
[20:17] Whole books of the Bible. He went on to Wheaton College. And then seminary. And became a youth pastor. In an evangelical church. And then. Due to the harsh reality.
[20:27] Of evil. And suffering. In the world. He started to doubt. The goodness of God. And then he abandoned. The faith altogether.
[20:38] He says. I no longer go to church. I no longer believe. I no longer consider myself. A Christian. He now identifies. As an atheist. But it's not just the philosophers.
[20:49] And the atheists. And the unbelievers. Who doubt the goodness of God. Due to suffering. And evil in the world. Our Bibles. Introduce us. To some of the finest believers. Who ever lived.
[21:00] And we find them. Struggling. With this problem. Of evil. And suffering. And the times.
[21:13] When Satan seems. To get the upper hand. With this temptation. Were times. In their lives. When they. Personally. Were suffering. Some pain. Some problem.
[21:23] Some trial. Some evil. Job. The most righteous. God-fearing man. On the earth. In his day. According to God's assessment. And though he begins well. Suffering. And evil.
[21:35] At times. Moved him. To doubt. God's goodness. Asaph. The witness leader. Of Israel. Who wrote. Wonderful songs. That we still make use of today. And the worship of God.
[21:46] Tells us. In that 73rd song. How he almost lost his grip entirely. On the goodness of God. He almost slipped completely away. Like this Bart Ehrman.
[21:57] From holding on. To the truth. That God is good. Why? Because he saw the wicked prospering. Even though. They had no place for God. In their lives. And he. He's being very careful.
[22:08] To guard his heart and hands. And yet every day. He's plagued with problems. And he's now. Envying the wicked. And wanting to trade places. With them.
[22:21] And we can see the same. In David. Elijah. Jeremiah. The Israelites. In the wilderness. And elsewhere. So. Dear Christian. Be warned.
[22:32] It is especially. When you meet with suffering. And evil. In your life. That Satan attacks. The goodness of God. And namely. His goodness of God. To you.
[22:43] Whispers. His slanderous thoughts. To you. His questions. His suspicions. If God. Is really good hearted. Towards you. Then why is this happening? Why did that happen?
[22:56] Expect the attack. Know that the devil. Has no qualms. About kicking you. When you're down. He knows. That's his most. Advantageous time. To get you.
[23:09] To doubt. The goodness. Of God. He's been watching. Mankind. For thousands. Of years. Now. He took down. Eve. In the garden. And he's been.
[23:20] Knocking him down. Since. And he sees. Man's most. Vulnerable time. And sin. Is what we do. When we doubt. God's goodness. If he can lower.
[23:31] Your thoughts. About how good. God is. Toward you. Then you. You're like. Putty in his hands. So. It's your wisdom. It's your safety. To keep up.
[23:42] A fresh. And a firm. Belief. In God's goodness. And that's why we're studying. This topic. That's the third reason. That we're on today. Because this is a doctrine.
[23:53] And a truth of God. That's under attack. And. And when we doubt it. We sin. So. Let this intruder. Find your heart.
[24:04] Well stocked. With many verses. On God's goodness. With the sword of the spirit. In your hand. That's sharpened. With use.
[24:14] With your gun. Locked and loaded. With lots of ammo. Ready. To fire back. At this. The enemy's. Temptations. Let him find you.
[24:26] Meditating day and night. On God's goodness. To you. He does love. To attack. On sleepless nights. Day and night.
[24:37] Let the goodness of God. Fill. Your heart. With just how good he is. Let his temptations. Find you.
[24:47] Always overflowing. With thanksgiving. And praise. For his goodness. Let them find you. Enjoying God. For his goodness. To you. That is the best antidote.
[24:59] For the poison. Of Satan's temptations. To get you to doubt. God's goodness. God's. There's some seeds. That only. Sprout.
[25:10] And thrive. In certain. Types of soil. Satan's seeds. Of doubt. Thrive. In the sour. Soil. Of the acidic. Heart. That is not. Delighting.
[25:21] In God. But rather. Complaining. Not.
[25:32] Delighting. In what he's given. But complaining. About. What he's withheld. God. And if you don't want. His seeds of doubt. To take root. In your heart. Then keep it. In that alkaline state.
[25:44] Of contentment. In God. Praise. And thanksgiving. For what he's given. Now that's heart work. Isn't it? It's hard work. But it's. Heart work.
[25:54] It's. It's the work. On the heart. Keep your heart. Saturated. With God's goodness. With the shield. Of faith. That extinguishes. All the fiery arrows. Of the evil one. Ephesians 6.
[26:06] What is faith? It's being sure. Of what we do not see. And there are times. In your life. When you cannot see. That God is good. There are times. When what you see.
[26:16] Would suggest. He's not good. When. When. When it would almost. Suggest. That he's your enemy. Rather than your good friend. Your bad enemy. Rather than your good friend.
[26:27] And that's when you need. The shield of faith. I'm told that the shields. In the old days. Used to be covered. With leather skins. Before going into the battle. They would soak.
[26:37] Those skins in water. So that when flaming arrows. Came and stuck. Into their shields. They'd immediately. Be smothered. And put out. So let Satan's.
[26:49] Fiery darts. And suggestions. And suspicions. About. God's goodness. Sizzle. In that. Shield of faith. That. That is certain.
[26:59] Of what you cannot see. That God is good. And God does good. Keep the shield. Soaking. Keep your heart. Soaking. With the goodness.
[27:10] Of God. So that Satan. Can't even get to first base. With you. And so. That the rising. The first risings. Of discontent. Take you.
[27:22] To give thanks. For all that God has given you. Praise the Lord. Oh my soul. And forget not. All his benefits.
[27:34] He's out to get you. To forget God's benefits. Beat him to the punch. Keep your heart amazed. At God's benefits to you. Even as Psalm 103.
[27:45] David does. I think we have a helpful illustration of this in the book of Esther. And since we just came through that a few months ago. Let me. Let me. Employ it for the illustration here.
[27:58] Let Satan's temptations to you. To doubt God's goodness. Find you like Haman. Found the Persian king that morning. In the book of Esther. You remember.
[28:09] Haman's been up most of the night. Overseeing the building of that 75 foot gallows. On which he wants to hang Mordecai the Jew. And the first thing in the morning. Haman's going to go to the king.
[28:22] And ask him to have Mordecai hanged. Well. Across town the king's been up most of the night himself. Unable to sleep.
[28:33] And so he asks for the record of his reign. To be read to him. And. As he's listening. He's reminded. That Mordecai the Jew. Uncovered a plot to assassinate.
[28:46] The king. And that he had actually. Exposed it. And saved the king's life. And he says. What's been done to honor him? They said nothing. And for the rest of the night. And into the morning.
[28:58] The king has one thing on his mind. What should be done for the man. That the king delights to honor. And that's the spirit in which Haman.
[29:09] Bumps into the king that morning. As he comes. Into the palace. And into the presence. Of the king. He's not going to get anywhere.
[29:20] With. The hanging of Mordecai. As long as the king's heart. Is swelling with such gratitude. Gratitude. For Mordecai's goodness.
[29:31] To him. Now do you see it? That's how. It needs to be with you. When Satan comes calling. At your door.
[29:41] To speak ill of God's goodness to him. Let him find you. Morning, noon and night. Swelling with gratitude. For God's goodness. Let him find you.
[29:52] Delighting in God. Enjoying God. As you enjoy his gifts. Let him find you. Thanking and praising. Your savior. All the day long. And preoccupied.
[30:05] With the question. How can I repay the Lord. For all his goodness to me. That's how to resist the devil's. Suspicion.
[30:16] And temptation. That God's really not all that good. Keep it. Keep the heart up. With all diligence. Keep tasting and seeing. Not just that the gifts are good.
[30:28] But taste and see that the Lord is good. In all that he's given. In all that he's done. That you might be delighting. Found delighting in him.
[30:41] And the devil rather than waste an arrow on you. Will flee from you. He's not going to get anywhere with you. In an attitude of gratitude. He'll wait.
[30:52] Until that passes. And he finds you in a better. More likely. State to doubt God's goodness. You see. The maintenance of the heart. On the goodness of God.
[31:03] Is no small part of our spiritual warfare. Of how do we do battle with Satan's temptations. It's keeping the heart. In this state of gratitude for God's goodness.
[31:16] So amazed at his goodness. And in another sermon. I'd like to remind you of a few facts. That Satan conveniently leaves out. In his discussion on this whole problem of evil.
[31:27] In the world. And as he tries to use that. To paint God out. As less than good. We'll come to that. But today. Just a few closing applications.
[31:38] First of all. Child of God. Is your present state. Full of suffering. Is this leg of the journey. Taking you through a dark forest.
[31:50] Where there's no light. And you don't know where you're going. And it hurts. And it's. Maybe evil. That's done to you. Maybe just something painful.
[32:01] Sufferings are. Are hard enough. In the. Their own. Right. Without the suspicion. That God's heart. Is less than good to you.
[32:12] In that suffering. Let me say that again. Sufferings are hard enough. Without the suspicion. That God's heart. Is less than delight in you. So don't multiply.
[32:23] Your own woes. In suffering. Anchor your soul. In the goodness of God. So that no amount of suffering. Can unhinge you. Satan magnifies.
[32:35] Your troubles. And he minimizes. God's goodness. Don't do his work. For him. And that's what we do. When we grumble. And complain.
[32:46] Rather than. To be found. In a thankful. In a praising. Spirit. You say. But that's where I'm at. I'm just being honest. Well then.
[32:58] Let's really. Be honest. And let's look at all the facts. And not just a select few. That. Satan gets us. To focus on. Let's do what David does. In the midst of his suffering.
[33:09] Of evil. In Psalm 13. Turn there. As we. Finish out. With this song. What do we do. When. Evil.
[33:19] Is being done. To us. When. We're in the midst. Of suffering. And. And we really do. Feel rotten. And we. Don't feel like. Singing. And giving. Thanks. And delighting. In God. Well that's David.
[33:31] And that's why Psalm 13. Is in your Bible. It's one of those laments. Psalms of lament. And it's there to teach us something. Here the evil. That David's facing. Is not stated.
[33:41] Other than that. There's an enemy. That's out to get him. And. If you know anything. About David. It's probably King Saul. Who tried to kill him. For years on end.
[33:54] And. Notice. David. Three points. To his song. First. He honestly. Tells God. How he feels. Verses one and two. How long.
[34:06] Oh Lord. Will you forget me forever? How long. Will you hide your face. For me? How long. Must I wrestle. With my thoughts. And every day. Have sorrow. In my heart.
[34:16] How long. Will my enemy. Triumph. Over me. He feels forsaken. He feels forgotten. He feels. As if God's turned.
[34:26] Away from him. His thoughts. Are tormenting him. You know. Sometimes. Our thoughts. About what's happening. Are worse. Than what's happening. How long.
[34:37] Must I wrestle. With my thoughts. And every day. Have sorrow. In my heart. So. There's your honesty. Go to God.
[34:48] Tell him. Exactly. How you feel. The second point. Earn. He earnestly. Pleads. With God. To act. On his behalf. It's the next two verses. Three and four.
[34:59] Look on me. And answer. Oh Lord. My God. Give light. To my eyes. Or I will sleep. In death. And my enemy. Will say. I've overcome him. And my foes. Will rejoice.
[35:10] When I fall. Here's David. Pleading. For God. To do something. About the situation. Where just. Turn your eyes. Just see what's happening.
[35:20] Remember. He feels like God's. Turned his face away. Just look at me. See my poverty. And neediness. And answer me. Or my enemy.
[35:31] Is going to triumph. Over me. And then the last. Thing he does. Is steadfastly. Resolves. To trust. And rejoice.
[35:42] And sing. Of the goodness. Of God. Verses five. And six. It's a hinge. Isn't it? It's the but. All this.
[35:53] Is how I feel. This is what I need you to do. Lord. Would you please. Turn to me. With your help. But. Whether you turn to me.
[36:04] Or not. Whatever happens. But. I. Trust. In your unfailing love. My heart rejoices. In your salvation. I will sing.
[36:15] To the Lord. Why? For he's been good to me. And when we come to this last part of the psalm. It's interesting that nothing's changed in his situation.
[36:28] His enemies still out after him. Same things going on that make him feel forgotten. That made him wrestle with his thoughts. And daily fill his heart with sorrow. So what is it that fixes his heart.
[36:42] On trusting and rejoicing and singing. Well it's nothing in. His feelings. And it's nothing. In.
[36:53] His situation. It's. It's everything in God. It's the goodness of God. It's the goodness of God. God. Let's look again at this.
[37:04] This last. Two verses. I trust in your unfailing love. The word there for unfailing love is has said. Sometimes translated goodness.
[37:15] Translators go back and forth. Sometimes. Goodness. Other times unfailing love. There's very little difference. As I've been studying this theme. Between God's goodness and God's love.
[37:27] And. Perhaps we'll. We'll give more. Thought to that. Another time. What is love. If it's not that heart's desire. Of affection. To want to delight.
[37:38] The loved one. What is goodness. But that welling up of. Well being. To make. The object of. That.
[37:49] Fountain. To be. Happy. To be. Benefiting. You see. The two are very. Close. Synonyms. So I trust in your unfailing love.
[38:02] Your goodness. It's what. You are God. It's what you unfailingly do. And so it's worthy of my trust. Even in the midst of the storm. Of evil and suffering.
[38:13] That I'm in. My heart rejoices. In your salvation. Now he's. He's pivoting. You see. He's pivoting. From feelings. And circumstances. To what he finds. In God.
[38:24] Goodness. Unfailing love. Salvation. My heart. Rejoices. In. Your. Salvation. No small goodness. That is it.
[38:35] Now. Sometimes. Sometimes. Salvation. Is referring. To earthly. Deliverances. And sometimes. To that spiritual. Eternal. Salvation. Perhaps. It's past. Deliverances.
[38:46] Here. That David. Is. Is. Is. Recalling. My. My heart. Rejoices. In your. Salvation. Those past. Deliverances. Those spears. That I dodged. And they miss me. Those.
[38:57] Those near. Escapes. From Saul. When. He was. Just upon me. And then. He got news. That. Somebody else. Was attacking. And he withdrew. When he had me. He. I would have been.
[39:08] Gone. And I'm rejoicing. In those. Salvations. Those deliverances. That one on one. With a bear. That one on one. With a lion.
[39:19] Or with Goliath. Those many. Philistine soldiers. That I fought. In war against. David could sing. Amazing grace. David could sing.
[39:29] Through many dangers. Toils. And snares. I have. Already. Come. And as he thinks. About all those. Dangers. That God.
[39:40] Saved him. Through. His heart. Rejoices. In God's. Salvation. Just remembering. The joy. He had. In God's.
[39:51] Deliverance. Gave him. Joy. In the thinking. Of it again. The same joy. He had then. He now has again.
[40:01] At remembering. So that. I rejoice. In your salvation. More. Maybe. He is talking. Here. About God's. Eternal salvation. David knew that. As well. He worshiped God. For forgiving.
[40:12] All his sins. Salvation. From sin. And guilt. And everlasting. Punishment. Far greater enemies. Than King Saul. And his men. That he would.
[40:22] Blot out. All my iniquities. Not count. My sins. Against me. My heart.
[40:35] Rejoices. In your salvation. No. No. We're just looking. Right now. In our series. The goodness. Of God. In creation. And that's. Where we're. Go. But we're going.
[40:45] To the fact. Of the goodness. Of God. In salvation. In redemption. And we're just. Kind of sneaking. In there. At this point. Because that's. Where David's living. And he's rejoicing. In God's salvation.
[40:58] But dear Christian. Suffering saint. If God never did. Another good thing. In the world. For you. Then give his son. To be damned. In your place.
[41:09] To snatch you. Like a burning brand. Out of hell. And to plant you. In his family. And give you a destiny. Of everlasting life. We ought to be singing.
[41:21] For joy. Through all eternity. Indeed we will be. Then. Then. Then. Let's let that joy. Spill into this life. Spill into our present.
[41:33] I rejoice. My heart rejoices. In your salvation. Maybe it's both. Maybe he's. He's delighting. In. In those earthly deliverances. And in that.
[41:44] Spiritual. Salvation. He's come to my help. He's never. Failed me yet. So David. Stops. Wrestling.
[41:55] With his thoughts. About. The dangers. Of his enemies. Long enough. To remember. The deliverances. Of his savior. And it sets his heart.
[42:05] Rejoicing. And that leads. To the steadfast. Resolve. I will sing. To the Lord. I will. I will. I will sing. To the Lord.
[42:16] For he has been good. To me. The King James says. He has dealt. Bountifully. With me. Not just a meager. Portion. Of goodness. Bountiful. Portion. He has.
[42:27] Been. Very good. To me. It's what David's saying. Now that's. The goodness. Of God. He's. Resolved.
[42:37] To saying. Even though. He's still. Up to his chin. In evil. And suffering. That's being. Foisted. Upon him. And yet. He refuses. To wait.
[42:47] To heaven. To sing. God's praises. He even. Refuses. To wait. Until the evil. Stops. But even now. In the midst. Of his suffering. It's as if he's saying.
[43:01] Even if I die. I'm going to die. Praising God. For his goodness. Isn't that good? Suffering saints. Let's learn from David. He tunes his heart.
[43:13] On the goodness of God. Now our hearts are like the harp. And they're often out of tune. And they need to be tuned. To where they just. Play. Melodious. Songs.
[43:24] Of praise. And thanksgiving. To our ever worthy. And good God. How do you get it tuned? Will you tune it on the goodness of God? David says. My heart was out of tune. He says.
[43:34] It was all out of sorts. But then I pivoted. From my feelings. And my situation. To my God. And how good he is. And now.
[43:45] He's singing. Six verses later. You see. We need to learn from him. To start counting our blessings. To not forget his benefits.
[43:56] But to revisit them. Over and over. Until we're found singing. God's praises. Is God so good. That he rejoices over us. With singing. That he's so happy.
[44:08] To see us. Enjoying. His salvation. That he's singing. Then. Then surely. If he's that good. Then we ought to be. Rejoicing over him. And singing.
[44:18] Right? And that's what David's doing. And suffering. Cannot really harm us. While we're singing. God's praises. For his goodness. It can't sink us. In despair. As Satan would desire.
[44:29] It can't sour us. With a lying version of God. That would be a setup. To sinning against him. Sooner let Haman. Convince the king.
[44:40] That Mordecai is no good. Than to let. The devil. Convince. The believer. That God is not so good.
[44:55] There's similarities. Satan has conspired. To assassinate us. To murder us. To damn us forever.
[45:08] And rob us of eternal life. And he certainly would have succeeded. Had not the son of God come. And saved our lives. From endless torments. He came to destroy the works of the devil.
[45:21] We read about it. In prophecy. Of chapter 3. And verse 15. That God promised. Even after they had sinned. Against him. And rebelled. He makes this promise. Of the coming seed of the woman.
[45:32] Who would. Crush the head of the serpent. And what a wonderful deliverance. It was. That there would be salvation. For us. And that it should come.
[45:42] At the cost of. His own blood. I say. Calvary for Adam. Settles the issue. Of God's heart. Of goodness. We don't need.
[45:54] All the other. We're going to look at. All the other reasons. But. Calvary is enough. Calvary is enough. We didn't like. God's goodness. We thought. We could take.
[46:05] Better care of ourselves. And we struck out. Our own way. And God says. Therefore. You're going to die. But he didn't. Immediately kill him. Instead. He. He made clothing. To cover them.
[46:17] Skins. Skins. I've skinned a rabbit. Once in my life. And I've learned. That the rabbit dies. When you skin it. And. And if God. Clothed them in skins.
[46:27] It means. The animal died. And we have that first. Lesson. On substitute. Sacrifice. Right there. In the garden.
[46:39] As a. As an innocent. Victims. Life is taken. To cover. The guilty. And that's what God did.
[46:50] In sending his own son. He would. He would put him. To the worst. Evil. The worst. Suffering. That we might be spared.
[47:00] From it. There's the goodness. Of God. Well. Tune your harp. On that. Get to Calvary. If you would tune your harp. With God's goodness.
[47:12] Secondly. If that's you then. Suffering. Keep your heart full.
[47:23] Of God's goodness. Secondly. Maybe you're not going. Through great suffering. Right now. Things are going well. For you. And so you can't. Identify with David. In Psalm 13. And with. Others who.
[47:35] Are having it tough. Well then. Thank God. For his goodness. To you. Receive all of his gifts. With thanksgiving. And. But beware. Sin is what we all do.
[47:47] When we're not content. And satisfied. With God's goodness. And if he could. Work it over. Work Eve over. In the paradise.
[47:57] She was in. Then. I don't care. How good you've got it. He can. He can get you. To doubt. God's goodness. To actually thinking that. By violating. His commandments. Better good.
[48:09] Is in store for you. So. Beware. Things were going. Pretty well. For Eve too. And she fell. To Satan's deception.
[48:20] Take heed. Lest you stumble. Keep your heart. Humble. Under God's. Bountiful goodness. To you. Wondering. Why me God. Why so much goodness. For me. A rebel.
[48:31] Sinner. Saved by grace. But secondly. Not only thank God. But. Though you're not going. Through great sufferings.
[48:42] At present. Sympathize with your brothers. And sisters around you. Who are. They're vulnerable. To Satan's attacks. Just now. While they are. Under. This.
[48:53] Heavy load. Of suffering. And evil. And. It thrills my heart. From time to time. I get. I get things. Through the grapevine. You. You get things.
[49:03] Through the grapevine. And I hear about. Somebody here. Doing something. For somebody. Over here. It was a good deed. Oh. It was a good deed.
[49:13] In a timely manner. And it did so much. Good over here. To her. To him. My heart thrills. That's what we're talking about. That's God's goodness.
[49:26] Coming at them. To counter. Satan's argument. He's not so good. Is he? Look what you've got. On your plate. And then here comes. This sweet. Load.
[49:36] Of. Of goodness. From your brother. Or sister. A word in season. Time spent in season. A gift. Time. Or money.
[49:46] Or help. Or fellowship. Just to remind them. That God is good. You know. The devil loves to kick us. When we're alone. There's no other Christians.
[49:57] Around us. To. To say. Now wait a minute. God is good. And let's. Let's count up. The way. God's been good to you. So. Help them.
[50:10] Sympathize. With your brothers and sisters. And then rally. To their aid. Do you know who they are? You got to be involved. In each other's lives. And even know. Who these people are. They're not always. In a wheelchair.
[50:22] They're. But they can be carrying. Heavy. Heavy. Heavy. Heavy. Burdens. So get to know each other. Mix with each other.
[50:33] And then help them by praying. Praying that God will keep them from doubting his goodness. I believe that's part of what our Lord meant when he taught us to pray. Lead us not into temptation.
[50:46] But deliver us from the evil one. And we pray that for ourselves. But it's a plural. Deliver us. Lord my sister over here. She's. She's got suffering up to her.
[50:57] Her forehead. Don't let her fall to Satan's lie. That you're not good to her. Pray for them. Do them good on your knees.
[51:08] And secondly. Do them good on your feet. Be a channel of God's goodness to them. Let them taste God's goodness through you.
[51:19] So God's blessing you. Then. Don't be a grave of God's goodness. But be a channel. And just pass it on. That others.
[51:30] Might be encouraged. And might. Not stumble. At Satan's lie. Will you pray this week. Lord. Lord.
[51:41] Who can I be a channel. Of blessing. Of your goodness to. Will you commit to that. Right now. That I will pray. That God will show me. Someone.
[51:52] To be a channel of his goodness to. And I will pray. That he'll show me how. Specifically. How. To be a channel of his goodness. And don't stop praying.
[52:03] Until you found someone. And have done something. And as you do. Bless others in need. Know that. Jesus takes it.
[52:14] As if you've done it to him. For whatever you've done. To the least of these. My brothers. You've done. Unto me. Here's one way. That we answer the question. How can I repay God.
[52:25] For all of his goodness. To me. Jesus says. Well. You see her. Go. And bless her. Do you see him. Go and bless him.
[52:36] And as you do. You're. Requieting my goodness.