Saturday - Psalm 144 - My Goodness

 

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AMES wrote in James 1:17, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.''  The Psalmist wrote, "The LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly" (Psalm 84:11).  But Moses gave us the best version of this truth.  In Genesis 15:1, he recorded God's words to Abraham:  "Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.''  Now perhaps that brings us closer to Psalm 144:2 than the other passages.  God doesn't JUST do good things and give good gifts; He is THE good. If you have God, then you have goodness and if you have goodness then you must have God.

David said that God was his goodness (Psalm 144:2).  Ultimately this little phrase encapsulates the gospel quite well. God is my goodness. This is justification. In Psalm 143:2 David had admitted that no man can be truly good in God's eyes as we stand in our fallen flesh.  Here we are (one song later) and now he has already arrived at the solution to our universal moral inadequacy... God is our goodness.  Imputation! Romans 10:3 – our goodness is a gracious gift from God.