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Psalm 73:1-3 Truly God is good - Day 265

This is one of those "mile marker" days.  You are now less than 100 days from the end of this year's trip through the Bible.  I know that you may be behind schedule.  As you know I have been behind on writing devotionals for sometime.  But the discipline of reading and meditating is what God delights in.  The Father, Son and Holy Spirit delight when we spend time in His presence.

Blessings,

Jeff

You may have heard variations on the question "Why do bad things happen to good people?".  The psalmist asks a different question, "Why do good things happen to bad people?"  So let us meditate on the first 3 verses.

1. He affirms what God has revealed about His nature in scripture.  God's covenant relationship is the promise of blessing to those keep his commandments and listen to his voice.  He shows that he is good to Israel as a nation and to individuals who are pure in heart.  

2. He confesses that he was envious of the arrogant because he saw that they were prosperity of the wicked.  It appeared to him that God was also good to the arrogant and the wicked because they were prosperous.  

What can we learn?

God's goodness to Israel and the pure in heart is not the exactly the same as prosperity.  The health and wealth heresy says that God must give you stuff if you believe. Physical blessing is the proof of spiritual blessing.  Bible shows that spiritual blessing may result in physical blessing, but even in difficult time the spiritual blessing is still present.  God is with every believer in the midst of hardship.

God defines goodness.  God's sovereignty is that He does all things for His glory and our good.  The finite creature has no say in what is good for him.  The world tells us that we get to define this and the world is full of people who think they are living the good life.  But is really the broad road that leads to destruction.

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