God Sees the Good in You

Text: Psalm 144 ¹‍ Blessed be the LORD my strength‍^a‍, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight: ‍ ² ‍My goodness‍^b‍, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me. ‍ ³ ‍LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!‍ ⁴ ‍Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.‍ ⁵ ‍Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.‍ ⁶ ‍Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them.‍ ⁷ ‍Send thine hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children; ‍ ⁸ ‍Whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.‍

⁹‍I will sing a new song unto thee, O God: upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee.‍ ¹⁰ ‍It is he that giveth salvation‍^c‍ unto kings: who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful sword. ‍ ¹¹ ‍Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood:‍ ¹² ‍That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished‍^d‍ after the similitude of a palace: ‍ ¹³ ‍That our garners may be full, affording all manner of store: that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets: ‍ ¹⁴ ‍That our oxen may be strong to labour; that there be no breaking in, nor going out; that there be no complaining in our streets. ‍ ¹⁵ ‍Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.‍

In a cemetery, a little white stone marked the grave of a dear little girl, and on the stone were chiseled these words—”A child of who her playmates said, ““It was easier to be good when she was with us””^[1]

The more we are in the presence of Jesus Christ, the easier it becomes to take on His goodness in our lives each and every day!

1. I want you to notice that David said that God was his goodness.

a. We must first realize that the good in us was placed there by God Himself!

B. There is good in us because God is good! Psalm 107:21 proclaims: ²¹ ‍Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!‍^[2]

· We may feel down at times, but God sees the good in us.

· We may struggle with fears, but God sees the good in us!

· We may face battles, but God sees the good in us.

· We may wonder where our friends have all gone, but God sees the good in us.

· We may struggle to find purpose in our lives, but God sees the good in us!

· We may have questions and concerns, but God sees the good in us!

· We may feel left out in the cold at times, but God sees the good in us!

· We may wonder why we have to face the storm, but God sees the good in us!

· We may wish that a brighter day was just ahead, but God sees the good in us!

· We may want to change everything, but God sees the good in us!

· We may decide that we are not worthy of His blessing, But God sees the good in us!

· We may get weary in well doing, but God sees the good in us!

· We may get discouraged, but God sees the Good in us!

They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Two people can be looking at the same think through a pair of binoculars, and one person might see gloom and despair, while the other person might see the bright sunshine. It all depends on our understanding of how God sees us! If we know that God sees the good in us, then that will help us to see the good in others and in our surroundings!

Goodness is equated with mercy and kindness. When David said that God was his goodness, he was saying that God was his source of mercy and kindness! This is true for us! Any goodness flowing out of us comes from the Lord!

In Psalms 23:6 he said, “‍Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever‍^c‍. ‍^[3]

James 1:17 declares: ¹⁷ ‍Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.‍ ¹⁸ ‍Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.‍ ^[4]

This word first fruits is the first portion of the dough, from which sacred loaves were to be prepared. Hence term used of persons consecrated to God for all time.

We are made in God’s image, in His likeness: since God is good, it is also His will that we be good, and He sees the good that He placed in us in the first place!

Among the Dutch, the rose was sometimes cultivated by planting an inferior rose close to a rose of superior quality. The rose of inferior quality was carefully watched and its anthers removed so as to avoid self-pollenization; the object being that it should be pollenized by the superior rose. Gradually the rose thus treated took upon itself the characteristics of the superior life of its companion.

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Our companion is Jesus Christ, and our highest aim is to take on His characteristics. God is good, and He sees the good in us, therefore God wants to be with us forever!

How about you tonight? Do you believe that God sees the good in you personally? Because He lives, we can face tomorrow! Because He lives, all fear is gone! Because He lives, there is hope in the night! Because He lives, we are going to make it home!

I would like for everybody to join me up here around the front:

Binoculars: I am going to look through these binoculars, and I am going to give them to somebody. Then that somebody is going to give them to somebody else who has not yet received them until everybody has had the binoculars: why? I want this to serve as a reminder for us tonight that God sees the good in each of us individually and for all of us together as His church!

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