“Give thanks to the
Lord, for he is good.
His love endures forever.” Psalm 136:1
Good - positive
or desirable in nature; having the qualities that are desirable; reliable; sure; valid or true; genuine;
real.
We don’t know the author of this Psalm,
however, we do know that it was sung in Solomon’s Temple (2 Chronicles 7:3,6). There are 26 verses in this Hymn of Praise,
every one ending with the phrase “His
love endures forever.” How long is forever? The definition of forever is
“lasting forever; eternal; continuing forever”.1 Suffice it to say, forever is a very long
time. It’s incalculable in its length. It has no end.
That is one thing we know of the love
of God. Another thing we know is that His love is unconditional. God is love by His very nature (1 John
4:8). His infinite love causes Him to
act in a benevolent manner towards His creation. God places no restrictions on His love and in
fact, loves us in spite of our disposition toward Him. Scripture tells us that He loved us even
before we knew Him (1 John 4:19; Ephesians 1:4).
Above I have the definition of “good”.
I feel these words define the character of God very nicely. He is positive or desirable in nature; there
is no negativity in Him. He has qualities that are desirable and in fact should
be emulated. The Lord is always
reliable, sure, true, genuine and real.
He is the quintessential example of all that we are to be in this life. To imitate God is to imitate perfection. While we are wholly human and will never
reach any level of perfection, it’s something that should be strived for as a
runner reaches for the finish line.
There is nothing undesirable about our
Lord; nothing that would cause us to pull back or walk away. Our own humanness causes us to seek another
path, but the truth and reality of life is found in One individual. That is Almighty God, creator of heaven and
earth and man’s first breath. Give
thanks to Him for who He is each day and seek to be like His Son Jesus Christ
in form and character. Until next time,
walk with the King and be a blessing!
1 The American Heritage® Dictionary
of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin
Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton
Mifflin Company.
