“FOR GOODNESS SAKE”
My grandma would say, “Oh, for goodness sake” when she
thought someone was making too big of a deal over something, or being overly
critical of someone. “For goodness sake, stop talking like that.” What seemed
to be just a saying, is straight from the Bible. It is for the sake of God’s
goodness to us and in us, that we need to be less critical of others and
ourselves as well.
There was a guy at work that was starting to really annoy
me. He just didn’t ever seem to pay attention to the directions we were given. I
asked Fred, “How do you handle this guy who can’t seem to remember things from
minute to minute?” He replied, “It’s easy. When I see that his mind is
wandering, I alert him, get his eyes focused on me and remind him of what we’re
doing. And he answers, ‘Oh yeah, that’s right,’ and we carry on.” Wow! He made
it sound so easy, and for him it was. Fred was a perfect example of what the
goodness of God is like.
In Exodus 33:18 Moses asks God: “I beseech thee, show me
thy glory.” “And the LORD [Jehovah] said unto Moses, I will do this thing also
that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee
by name” (Exod.33:17).
But instead of the Lord showing Moses the fanfare, the
bells and whistles, and spectacular fireworks, he said: “I will make all my
goodness pass before thee, and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious,
and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (v. 19). And that’s just what
Fred did with our co-worker; he showed graciousness and mercy: God’s goodness.
There are so many great examples in the Bible of God’s
goodness. In 1 Kings 8:65 to 66 shows us that God’s goodness extended into a
14-day feast! And after the feast, “he sent the people away: and they thanked
the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the
goodness that the Lord had done for David his servant, and for Israel his
people.” The goodness of God included substance. In this case, food, merriment,
music, dancing, and joyful thanksgiving for all God had done for His people.
Another example of God’s goodness is more like what I had
seen at work. Here we see in action how David treated Saul as an individual.
God’s goodness is overflowing in mercy. Saul had been given instructions from
God, but Saul didn’t follow through and ended up opening his mind to a demon.
The only thing that brought Saul back to his right mind was music.
Saul’s servants found David, who could play the harp.
“And it came to pass, when the evil spirit was upon Saul, that David took a
harp, and played with his hand: So Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the
evil spirit departed from him” (1 Sam. 16:23).
David was called on to play for Saul many times, but as
the demon took over more and more of Saul’s mind, he got jealous of David and
this is what happened:
“And David played with his hand, as at other times: and
there was a javelin in Saul’s hand. And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I
will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his
presence twice” (1 Sam. 18:10-11). David was good to Saul in spite of Saul’s
mental case. He stayed merciful and good to Saul until he couldn’t stay any
longer.
The last time Saul tried to kill David with the javelin,
“the evil spirit was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his
hand: and David played. And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with
the javelin; but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence, and he smote the
javelin into the wall: and David fled and escaped that night” (1 Sam. 19:9-10).
As it turns out, Saul was so mad that he got his troops
together and chased after David to kill him. David always escaped. Then at one
point when Saul and his three thousand men were camped for the night, David and
his friend Abishai snuck up on them. Abishai wanted to kill Saul.
But David said, “Destroy him not; for who can stretch
forth his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless?” (1 Sam. 26:9).
“David said furthermore, ‘As the Lord liveth the Lord
shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle,
and perish. But I pray thee, take thou now the spear that is at his bolster,
and the cruse of water, and let us go” (1 Sam 26:10-11).
David was convinced of the goodness of God and he would
not kill one who God had made king. But he did take Saul’s spear and water to
show him later that he could have killed him if he wanted to.
Saul finally came to his right mind and must have rebuked
one of the devils that was controlling him: “Then said Saul, ‘I have sinned:
return my son David: for I will no more do thee harm, because my soul was
precious in thine eyes this day: behold, I have played the fool, and have erred
exceedingly” (1 Sam. 26:21).
What an amazing lesson for us. In the New Testament Paul
prays for us: “That our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil
all the good pleasure of HIS GOODNESS” (2 Thess. 1:11).
WOW! It’s our duty, privilege, and blessing to exhibit God’s goodness to
people.
We never know the extent of trouble or grief a person is
going through. 1 Corinthians 2:11 says: “For what man knoweth the things of a
man, save the spirit of the man which is in him?” (1 Cor. 2:11). So, making an
effort to be kinder is a good thing. Being less critical is a good thing.
Better to err on the side of goodness. The LORD will
show us if, or when we need to stop.
And it’s good to be gentler and kinder to ourselves as
well. Sometimes we could be going through things we’re not even fully aware of.
No matter how we’ve been in the past, or even yesterday, we can be as full of
the goodness of God as we allow right now. We can let Him fill us up with His
goodness and distribute that goodness to others.
The examples I gave are just two of the ways God exhibits
His goodness, and I’m sure you can find many more examples as well. Here we saw
goodness in the form of mercy like with my work friend, Moses, and David with
Saul, and we saw an example of the substance kind of goodness with God
providing an amazing, over the top feast for His people in 1 Kings 8:65-66.
Like it says in Romans 2:4: “Or despisest thou the riches
of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the
goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?” It’s His goodness that brought Him
to us and His goodness that brought us to Him. Let’s be the bearers of His
goodness, “full of goodness” (Rom. 15:14) and spread it around.
Love, Carolyn
Thinking about what to give someone for Christmas?
I have published two Spiritual Life Workbooks and two
books on Bible Lessons from Nature. They are designed to help Christians grow
in spiritual understanding and practical application. These books are packed
with short true narratives to inspire and enhance you in your spiritual growth.
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