October in the Psalms: God Bestows and Does Not Withhold Himself From Us

I’ve always loved Psalm 84:11: “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; he bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.” When I read this as a younger woman, I wondered about all the “good things” I thought God was withholding from me. I realized this: If God doesn’t give it, that thing wasn’t a good thing for me, or it wasn’t a good thing for me right then in my life. More importantly, I knew that the best thing I could ever have was the gift of God Himself—as the indwelling of the Holy Spirit —a gift God does not withhold from us when we ask. In fact, in John 3:34 we read that God gives the Spirit without limit; He does not withhold any part from us. We have the Good Thing.