TEACHING

God on Your Side

Don Moen has a song out with Integrity called God Is Good All The Time, and it's just that simple. God is a good God. And Oral Roberts made a big thing of this over the years. He is a good God.

He's not an evil God. He's not a vindictive God. He's not a spiteful God. He's not a capricious God. He's a good God.

Here's what the psalmist had to say. "Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, and His mercy endures forever." (Psalm 106:1).

That word mercy is checed in Hebrew, and it's translated "steadfast love." "His steadfast love endures forever."

Think of that. It never fails. And whatever happens to us, the steadfast love remains, God is a good God. His mercy endures forever.

It isn't something that's going to happen because of a passing fad. He won't be capricious and mad at you. He won't say, "Well, today I'm turning it off. I'm tired. I don't need to be loving anymore."

He is good all the time. His steadfast love endures forever.

Here's something else the psalmist said, because it was an invitation. He said, "Taste." "Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in Him."

So, it's an invitation. Number one, the psalmist is telling us in one Psalm He's good. The next one, he says, "Try Him. Try Him. Taste."

I was reading the 119th Psalm. It said, "Your word is like honey on my lips." And the rabbis, commenting on that, said that in order to teach the Hebrew children the love of the law, they put drops of honey on the Hebrew letters. So, you've got alef, and the little kid licks the honey off it, and he says, "Isn't that sweet?" And the law is sweet.

"Taste and see that the Lord is good." Taste and see it. So, He says He's a good God. He's steadfast, and His love endures forever. And then it's, try Him. Try Him and see. See for yourself. See for yourself what God will do if you try Him.

We've talked on this program from time to time about the invitation to give. But God says, "Prove Me, if I want to open the windows of Heaven and do wonderful things for you." Well, it's an invitation, and God is inviting people constantly. "Prove Me. Try Me. See Me. Taste, and see how good it is."

When He was talking to the children of Israel, Moses was giving his famous series of sermons in the book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy is "deuteros nomos," which means the "second law."

He had this to say: "He will love you and bless you and multiply you. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the food of your ground, your grain, your new wine, your oil, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock."

Now, that's pretty good. And what it says is; if you try Him, what He's going to do is He's going to bless you. He'll bless your family. He'll bless your business, your enterprise, whatever it is. He'll bless your life, because He's a good God. You taste and see.

I want to go over that one more time with you, because it's important. He will love you and bless you and multiply you. God is not a God of stinginess. He's a God of abundance.

He will multiply you. "He will bless the fruit of your womb, the food of your ground, your grain and your new wine." And the measure of His blessing, according to Jesus, is 30 times, 60 times, 100 times. Not 30 percent, 60 percent or 100 percent. It's 30, 60 and 100 fold. That is the multiplication of God. That is the blessing of God.

Taste, and see that He is good. The steadfast love of the Lord endures forever. He is a good God. If you trust His benevolence, you will see blessing. Don't be afraid of Him. You don't have to fear a God who is on your side. He's not your enemy. He's not against you. He's for you.