Psalm 100:5

Psalm 100:5

The Lord is good!

It’s our old friends again! Love and faithfulness are everywhere in the Psalms and here we find their significance is being expanded by the psalm writer. Firstly, we are being asked to remember that the Lord is good! Taken literally, this phrase refers to the concept that God is everything that is truly good in this world, and conversely, the evil in the world is the opposite of God. Furthermore, the Bible holds numerous parables conveying the goodness of God and why we should have faith in his righteousness. Jesus replied to a man who asked what good thing He needed to do to get eternal life; “Why do you ask me about what is good. There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” Matthew 19:17. Why the commandments? Because the commandments are good. 

Perhaps the Psalm is telling us, “You want to know what good is, look at the love and faithfulness of God.” So let’s do that. We would have to agree that human love is not one of our most reliable attributes! It can fluctuate wildly; it is often born in seconds and can fade just as quickly. Even at its best it ebbs and flows from day to day, the reason being that we are selfish creatures and true love is to be utterly unselfish. So, God’s enduring love reflects another side of His character, that He is not self-indulgent, self-serving or self-absorbed, His love has no strings attached. Even His Commandments are given to us for our own good, not for His.

The faithfulness of God is not confined to one group of people or one generation or one moment in time, He is as faithful today as He was in the Garden of Eden and to Abraham, Moses, David and the Apostles. He never changes and He will never abandon His people or fail them. Even when it appears that He has turned His back, it is only to teach us that He will never let us down, His covenant promises are for all time and for every generation. That is why His Word is as up to date today as it was thousands of years ago. Our God of love is a faithful God! 

As worshippers made their way up to the Temple, those who were about to offer Thank Offerings sang this song and foremost in the minds was the love and faithfulness of the Lord God. This is a short Psalm, but may it remind us that the God we serve is worthy of our thanks and that He always loves and He never fails. Hallelujah!

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