This morning, I read Psalm 84:11 and thought about the goodness of God:
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.
I think about God as a sun: He illuminates our paths, warms our hearts, and gives us joy. As a shield, He protects. And God bestows. He is a God of endless giving, overflowing abundance, and beautiful gifts.
In the case of Psalm 84:11, God gives favor and honor and good things. In Christ, we appear before Him as blameless and righteous, so I know we’ve met that standard of being blameless because of Jesus. So what now? What can we expect from God? Good things. Warmth and illumination. Protection. Favor. Honor.
I like to remind myself that if I feel God is withholding some good thing from me, it’s because for whatever reason, that thing was not good for me, or it wasn’t good for me at that time. This reasoning doesn’t always work in the face of loss, however. But then, I also experience such peace when I realized that Jesus is my ultimate Good Thing. And in John 3:34, we know that “God gives the Spirit without limit.” In other words, He does not withhold Himself from us. He gives Himself, in the form of the Holy Spirit dwelling in our hearts, without limit. No good thing of Himself does He withhold from us.