I think God’s goodness is the one thing we so easily doubt when misfortune knocks at our door. Spurgeon once said of John Bunyan, “Prick that man anywhere and his blood runs bibline.” He meant that Bunyan’s thinking and life were both inextricably shaped by the Bible, and this is why it is so important for us to be soaked in the Scriptures which are able to make us wise for salvation through faith in Jesus. (2 Tim 3:15) When adversity calls and we are knocked over by life’s hurricanes – illness, bereavement, financial desperation, persecution, rejection and so on – we need to have a solid foundation if we are to continue in faith and hope.
Ps 135 and Ps 136 provide us with a core of Biblical truth to hold us up in those times of testing. It can be hard to believe that God is good when tragedy hits us. Perhaps that is why the Bible repeats this fact so many times. I have many favourite Bible verses, but I think Ps 119:68 is up near the top of my list (‘You are good, and what You do is good.’) If we grasp this fact and hold on to God’s goodness and the fact that His love is unfailing and lasts forever, we will find the strength and courage to continue when the dark night of the soul comes upon us and we enter the cold season of winter. God is good. We may not understand what He does; we may doubt His love and kindness to us, but the psalms affirm again and again this repeated refrain. Greater even than a trust in God’s sovereignty and power is the security that comes from being in a loving relationship with God. God ‘will have compassion on his servants.’ (Ps 135:14) He ‘has chosen Jacob to be his own, Israel to be his treasured possession.’ (Ps 135:4; see also 1 Pet 2:9-10) His faithful, steadfast, covenantal love (which means ‘he remembered us in our low estate’ Ps 136:23 and which is celebrated throughout that psalm in the refrain ‘his love endures for ever’) is the foundation of all confidence and hope. Paul reminds us, ‘For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.’ (Romans 15:4) If we want to remain positive through life’s trials and faithful to the end, we need to be soaked in the Scriptures which tell us who God is so that when the doubts come, we are able to maintain confidence and hope.
[Some songs I have found helpful in affirming God’s character in all seasons are: ‘Even If’ (Kutless), ‘When the Tears Fall’ (Tim Hughes), and ‘Weep With Me‘ (Rend Collective). Click on the title to listen to the song.]
