- My name is Rick Warren. Am I still the pastor here? Well, I've missed you,
it's good to see you. We're starting a new series this week and I wanna ask you to take out your message notes right now. Today we begin a new
series that I'm calling Living in the Goodness of God. And specifically, we're
gonna look at the most famous chapter in the entire bible. Psalm 23. More people know this psalm
than any other chapter in the bible because it's all
about the Goodness of God. Specifically, it gives us
nine ways God wants to be good in your life. Now when you were growing up, you probably learned the
little child's prayer, God is great, God is good, let us thank him for our food. And so you learn at an early age, God's great, and God's good. Twin pillars. And of course if you've
been in church any time in your life, you know
that sometimes the worship leader will say, "God is good!" And the congregation shouts
back, "All the time!" And then he'll say, "All the time!" And they say, "God is Good." Is that really true? Is God good all the time in your life? I mean, what about the
times when you're in pain? Is God good when you're in pain? What about the times
when you're in conflict? Is God good when you're in conflict? What about the times
when you're depressed? When you're stressed out? When you're worried? When you're under attack? Is God really good all the time? And how do I know that goodness when I can't feel it? I want us to begin this
series by reading aloud Psalm 100:5, it's there at
the top of your message notes. Let's read it together
with great enthusiasm. The Lord is always good. He is always loving and kind. His faithfulness goes on and on to each succeeding generation. Now the bible says God
is good all the time. How is that true? How is that true in my life? What I want to do in this
introductory message, where we're going for the next 10 weeks on the goodness of God,
is I wanna do two things. First, I wanna show you why
focusing on God's goodness is so important to your life. And why when you forget
to focus on God's goodness it causes all kinds of stress. It causes all kinds of problems. It brings all kinds of difficulty. The lack of focusing on God's goodness is the major cause of stress in your life, we're gonna see that. And there are some negative consequences that happen when you
forget how good God is. And then, the second thing I wanna do is just give you an overview
of where we're going on nine ways that God wants
to be good in your life. I'm not gonna teach those, because I'm gonna teach
on 'em individually over the next nine weeks. We'll study them in depth. Now one way to understand God's goodness, the bible tells us is actually not just by reading the bible,
listening to scripture, hearing a message on it, but
actually through worshiping. Look up here on the screen. The bible says this in Psalm 34:9, "Worship God if you want the best," You want the best in life? That's why you need to worship. Worship God if you want
the best because worship opens the doors, read it with me, to all God's goodness, all his goodness. The way you experience
God's goodness is actually through worship. So what we're gonna do this weekend is a little bit different. Rather than we have music up front and then me teach a message,
we're gonna combine 'em. And we call this kind of
a point in play format where I make a point and
then we sing about it. Make a point, sing about it, Make a point, sing about it, kinda like a point for your
head and a song for your heart. And so worship opens up the
goodness of God in your life. Now what happens, let's start with this, what happens when I forget God's goodness? Well, actually there're
four negative consequences and you need to understand this so you can avoid it. So you might want to write this down. The first negative
consequence of forgetting how good God really is, is this, I start claiming credit for
things that God did for me. I start claiming credit for
the things that God in me, through me, to me, for me, by me, with me. And when I do that I head
down a path that's gonna cause a lot of depression, a lot of stress and actually quick judgement from God. In Luke chapter 12 Jesus tells a story of a very rich man who
had been very successful, made a lot of money, and
one day he's surveying his business empire. This guy's a billionaire,
he's got it all together and he says just look at
what I've done with my life. He's pretty proud. And he goes, "Look at all
of what I've accomplished! "Look at all of the
wealth that I've amassed! "What am I gonna do with all this wealth? "I couldn't possibly spend it. "I tell you what, I'll
just build bigger barns "to store it all in." He doesn't give God any of the credit. He takes it all on himself, he thinks that he did it all by himself and the bible says God says
to that rich man, you fool. You fool. He said, tonight, you're gonna die and I'm gonna give
everything you've amassed to somebody else who will appreciate it and express their gratitude to me. It's a sober warning. It's a sober warning. If I were to ask you, what is the worst sin you could commit? I wonder what would be
on your top 10 list. What would be, if I said, what do you think is
the worst sin that you could commit? And some of you might say, well, it's um, ya know, some sexual sin. Or some of you might say
maybe it's being greedy and abusing other people
in order to get more money and things like that. Nope, nope, nope. You know what the number
one, worst sin is? Prideful ingratitude. Not being grateful to
God for his goodness. The bible talks about this
over and over and over. Pride and ingratitude is
the sin that got Satan kicked out of heaven. This is a serious thing, folks. This is a serious thing. When I stop being grateful
to God for all the good in my life, then I get into trouble. Now the bible tells us
a story of King Herod who was the king in Jesus's day. On the screen the bible says
this in Acts chapter 12. One day King Herod put on his royal robes and he sat on his throne and he made a great speech to the people. And evidently it was quite a great message because they shouted,
"This is the voice of God!" It's the voice of a god,
he's more than a human! Now Herod is not humble. He's not grateful for the
place that he is in life. Instead, he became, because
Herod gave no credit to God, the Lord sent an angel to
strike him down with a fatal disease and he died, boom. God didn't take his life
'cause he was immoral. God didn't take his life
because he was greedy. God didn't take his life
because he lied to people. God said you are ungrateful and you're setting yourself up saying, "Well, I did it all myself." You see the problem with the self-made man is that he worships his maker. I did it all. When you do that, you're
skating on thin ice. Say, but wait a minute,
I built this business with my bare hands! Who gave you your hands? I thought up the business
plan totally by myself! Who gave you your mind? I worked for where I got today, and I worked by the sweat of my brow! Who gave you sweat? Everything you have in
your life you owe to God. You would not take your next breath if it weren't for the goodness of God. You wouldn't be sitting here right now, for the goodness of God. You wouldn't exist if God
hadn't made you to love you. Literally everything in your life, the ability to see, the ability to hear, the ability to eat, the
ability to do all these different things, God
gave you those abilities. And God says I want you
to be grateful to me and realize, never forget,
how good a God I am. That everything that
you have in your life, your freedom, your thoughts,
all, everything you've got is 'cause I gave it to you. And you wouldn't have it,
you wouldn't even have the ability to work. Did you know that
ingratitude is actually one of the roots of atheism? That when I'm ungrateful,
then I start excusing myself and dismissing and
maybe even denying God. The bible says it like
this in Romans chapter one here on the screen, Since God created everything,
he did, the entire universe, people have always been
able to see his goodness, there's that word, see his goodness and power in nature. Now for instance, we don't
have to have the bible to know a lot about God. All you have to do is walk outside. If we didn't even have the bible, you could know a lot about God. For instance we know God likes variety. All the different flowers
and plants and animals he creates. We know that God is organized
by looking at the universe. We know that God likes systems. He creates the plant system
and the animal system, the kingdoms, the solar system. We know that God is powerful
just by looking at nature. You don't have to know any, look at volcanoes, look at
oceans, look at hurricanes. Look at the pull of
magnetism in sun and the moon and the stars. We know a lot about God
just by looking at nature. So I can't say well, I don't
know anything about God, I've never read the bible. And so the bible says this, since God created everything,
people have always been able to see his goodness and
his power in nature. So people really have no excuse. I have to live in denial to deny God because the design of the
world and the universe is an evidence of a designer. Wherever you have creation,
you must have a creator. It doesn't just happen. If I were to be walking
down a mountainside and I saw a rock out of place, I might go, that's just an accident. But if I'm walking down a mountain and I see an Apple watch,
that is no accident. Somebody designed it, somebody designed, that is evidence of design. In one trillion years,
that would never just come together on its own. It takes more faith to not believe in God than to believe in God. You have to suspend reality. The people who don't
want to believe in God, it's because they don't
want to believe in God. It takes more faith to believe, You know, I could put that on the ground, and for a billion years
it would never just come together on its own and
you're far more intricate than that. And so is everything else. Wherever there is a design,
there's evidence of a designer. Wherever there's creation,
there's evidence of a creator. This is called the cosmological argument for the existence of God. It's one of six philosophical arguments that don't even use the bible
to prove that God exists. And so he says, in nature,
we've seen these things. If I don't want to believe in God it's 'cause I don't
want to believe in God. I wanna be God. I don't want a lord,
I don't want a master, I don't want somebody
telling me what to do. And then the bible says this, they know God exists but
they do not give him credit for all he's made and they're ungrateful. That's the big problem. So, their thinking becomes confused and their hearts filled up with darkness. And they feel they're wise, but really they have become fools, fools. You see the slide into
unbelief actually begins not with unbelief, it
begins with ungratefulness. I'm ungrateful for all that
God has done in my life and for my life. Now did you know that the bible also says that this idea of not
focusing on God's goodness, being ungrateful for God's
goodness is one of the signs of the last days, when
history is coming to a close. It's one of the characteristics, God says, will be found in society. Look at this verse on the screen. 2 Timothy 3:2, as the end
approaches, the end of history, people are going to be these ways, self-absorbed, ya know anybody like that? Money-hungry, self-promoting and arrogant, profane, rebellious, ungrateful, there's, ungratefulness is
in that long list of sins. And have no respect for what is sacred. Does that sound vaguely familiar? In our culture you could see every one of those characteristics. Now God wants us to remember
the source of our success. That's why when you are blessed as much as you do, living
in America, living here, having so many of your needs already met, God says never forget that I am the source of everything good in your life. The bible warns us in 1
Corinthians chapter four, there in your outline, what do you have that
God hasn't given you? The answer is nothing, literally nothing. It's all from God. The bible says that every
good and perfect gift comes from God. If God did not exist, you would not exist. What do you have that
God hasn't given you? And if all you have is from God, why do you act as though you're so great? And as though you accomplished
it all on your own? God is a good god. And here's the second
negative consequence. And that is when I forget God's goodness, I stop asking God for help. And that's a big problem. Because when you forget how
eager God is to help you, how good God is, you start
depending on yourself, and you stop asking God
for things in prayer. God wants to help you. God is waiting to help you. Over 20 times in the bible,
in the New Testament, it tells us to ask. We're commanded ask and it shall be given, seek and you'll find, knock
and the door will be open. The bible says you have
not because you ask not. Over and over God wants you to ask for whatever you need in prayer. Say well, I only wanna
give God the big stuff, I don't wanna give him the small stuff. Everything is small to God. None of your requests are big to God. So it's no big deal. Every request is small in his power. And so God says, I want you to ask. When you forget God's goodness,
do you know what happens? I can tell ya, when you've forgotten God. Your prayers become tepid,
weak, wimpy prayers. They're just rote, you're
not asking God for anything, you're just mouthing words. You don't even mean it. (imitates babbling sound) And on and on and on. And you don't actually even
ever ask God for anything. You're not specific. You're not saying God, I need
money for this car payment. God I need help over here. I've got conflict with this person, help me out here. And that's what happens when you forget the goodness of God. Now, how do you learn to trust God? Do you trust God more than
you did say six months ago, or a year ago or two or three years? Some of you'd say, no, actually I don't, I think I'm kinda stuck. I don't think my trust
is any deeper than it was a couple years ago. Well, do you know what that means? It means you're not asking in prayer. You're not growing in trust
because you're not asking God for anything, the more you ask the more God can meet your needs. The more he meets your needs,
the more you grow in trust. How does God grow faith
and trust in your life? The exact same way a child
learns to trust a parent. It's the exact same process. There's a very famous circle called the circle of security on how children learn to trust their parents. You had to go through the circle thousands and probably tens of
thousands of times growing up. Lemme show you. Here on the screen. In the circle of security, this is how parents teach
their children to trust them. First is the child
recognizes an unmet need. I'm at the bottom of the
stairs, I gotta get to the top, I can't get there, I need help. So the child, step one,
recognizes an unmet need. Step two is the child expresses that need, usually by crying or yelling. 'Cause they don't have words yet, but they let you know
that my diaper is soiled or I'm hungry or I'm bored in the crib and I can't get out. And they let you know. They have a need, step
two they express a need. Step three is the parent meets that need. They pull you out of the
crib, they change your diaper, they feed you, they soothe you, they do whatever you need because your need is not being met, and the parent meets the need. And the result of the
parent meeting the need is number four, is that the child learns
to trust the parent. Now that circle right there, you personally went
through that circle maybe 100 000 times growing up. And you figured out when I
cry, I get mom's attention, or dad's attention. When I complain about a need, it gets met. And every time that need
was met in your life, you learned to trust your mom
or your dad or whoever more. Now that cycle is the exact
same way God teaches you to trust him. You have an unmet need in your life. You express that unmet need to God. God meets that need and you
learn to trust him more. And you do it again, and again, and again. If you're not expressing
your needs to God, you're not growing in trust, 'cause that's the only way you learn. The reason I can trust
God the way I do today, is because he's met
millions of needs in my life when I've asked. And I know he's reliable,
he can be counted on. And so if you're not
praying prayers of request, this is why God says I want you to ask. 'Cause he knows it's the
way you learn to trust him. It's the exact same way God teaches you. So if you're not asking
God to meet your needs through prayer, you're not
growing and you're not learning to trust him. So how long has it been since you said something like this to God? God I know you're a good god. God I know you want to meet my needs, you've told me over and
over to meet my needs, well, here's one, and you tell him about your
upset stomach or anything. There's nothing too big or too small. It's big enough to worry about, it's big enough to pray about and worry won't solve it, but prayer will. And you ask God and
then you wait patiently for God's timing to deliver it. God rarely gives you the
answer immediately, rarely. Because he wants to test your faith. God is not a vending machine
where you put in a prayer, you pull the plug and
you instantly get it. If God gave you everything instantly, you'd be incredibly
self-centered, incredibly selfish. And so God wants to give it to ya, but he's gonna wait a while,
while you are learning to grow, you're learning to trust him. You see, every child has
to learn the difference between no and not yet. They're not the same thing. Immaturity means when I tell ya, can we go to Disneyland, yes, but not yet, and you get mad. It doesn't mean no. A delay is not a denial. That's maturity, when you
understand the difference between the delay and the denial. And so God won't always
give it to you immediately, he wants you to wait. Now here's what Jesus said, Luke chapter 11. If you, as imperfect parents,
know how to give good gifts, there's that word good
again, the goodness of God, if you as imperfect parents
know how to give good gifts to your own children,
how much more will your heavenly father, who
by the way is perfect, will give good gifts to those who ask him? You have not because you ask not. I'm embarrassed to tell you this story, but I'm gonna tell it to ya anyway 'cause it makes a good point. That even pastors often
forget the goodness of God, and don't ask. A week ago, on a Friday,
I lost my cell phone. Now, that's extremely
important to me because I get hundreds of emails a day,
and also text messages and every day that I
don't have it those things are piling up, go hey,
Rick must not care about me and they're thinking all
kinds of bad thoughts and so when I lost it, that
was the day that I came down with kind of a stomach flu,
which is why Pastor Tom spoke last weekend for me. By the way, didn't he
do an incredible job? Man, thank you Tom! Great message! I was sitting at home in bed taking notes and thinking, now three years from today, I'm gonna preach that and
they'll think I taught it. It was a great message. So I was sick, so I didn't
look for it Saturday or Sunday. On Monday I was feeling a bit better, so I got up, I tore the house apart. I literally spent hours pulling
up every cushion on sofas and looking behind this and that, I literally spent several
hours trying to find my phone. Could not find it. So I go out to my car,
I tear my car apart. I mean, it's like I've
got a magnifying glass, looking for it, cannot find my phone. The next day, I was
feeling little bit better, I went into the office,
and I tore the office apart looking for it everywhere. I had staff members looking for
my phone, trying to find it. On Wednesday, I went and
tore it all up again, went through the house, I
thought maybe I just missed it. And so I did it again
in my house, in my car and my office and I could not find it. So on Thursday I go, I
can't go without a phone. I've got all these messages coming in, so my son Josh loaned
me a phone he didn't, wasn't using and I went
and got it turned on so I could at least, ya
know, communicate to people. Did that in the evening
about 8 p.m. that evening. Well Kay was gone all this last week. She was speaking in Washington D.C. And she spoke to a congressional committee on mental health and she
spoke to the presidents of all the Christian
universities and their wives. And she had a number of
speaking engagements in D.C. So she was gone for five days. When Kay's not home, I stay up all night. And I just study. And so every night I was going, getting by on like two hours of sleep. And Thursday night, about
four o'clock in the morning, I'd gone down to get something to eat and I was going back up to study some more and as I'm walking back up the stairs, and I was thinking about this message, about the goodness of God. And how God says the
way I prove my goodness is for you to ask. And all of the sudden
the Lord just said to me, Rick, have you considered
asking me where the phone is? I'm going, oh no! I had not even prayed about this thing! I hadn't even prayed about it. So I said, God, I'm so
sorry, you are a good god, and I need to repent, and ya know, God, I know you're a good god, so
show me where that phone is. Now, I said now Lord, I'm
gonna get ready to go to bed here about 15 minutes and
if you wanna reveal it to me in a dream, then I'll wake
up and I'll know where it is. Ya know, often times, ya know,
we don't wanna just ask God, we wanna give him the way to deliver it. God said, look Rick, you
don't have to tell me how to deliver it, I'll figure this out. You don't need to recommend
where, just trust me. So I said Lord, this is
not a big deal in the grand scope of things, it's just a phone, but you're a good god. And this is something
that means a lot to me. So, I'm asking you
because you're a good god, to show me where that phone is, 'cause I can't find it. And I said, now Lord, you know me. It's not gonna shake my faith
if you don't answer this, some prayers get answered the way we want, some of them don't. I don't know why, when we get to heaven
we'll understand it all. I just know God has said
ask, so I said Lord, if you choose not to
reveal this to me, ya know, that's not gonna shake my faith one bit. I know you're a good god, but
because you're a good god, I really would like to know where that is. So I went upstairs, and
I saw some dirty dishes in my study and I thought,
I should take those down and wash them, get it all
cleaned up before Kay gets back. And as I was walking back down, all the sudden, I got an
inkling to play the piano. At four o'clock in the morning. I thought, ya know, I'd
like to sit down and just play the piano, relax me a little bit. So Kay has this beautiful piano and I sat down start playing, I
start playing a little tune and I go hey that's pretty good. I should record that and
give it to John and Stephanie and our worship team 'cause
maybe they can put some words to it. And so I often will get a phone and then I'll turn the recorder on and record that little thing
and then send it to 'em. But the phone that Josh
had loaned me is upstairs, so I was getting ready
to get up and go upstairs and as I got up I looked over and right next to the
metronome on the piano, on that black piano, was a black phone. Now this is less than five
minutes after I prayed that prayer. Five minutes, not five
minutes this happened. I started laughing and
crying at the same time. You are too good man. And I'm laughing and I'm crying and I go God, you just
showed me your goodness one more time. God did in five minutes what
I couldn't do in five days. You have not because you ask not. And the reason you're
not asking is because you don't really think God's that good. You don't think he's
interested in the details of your life. But the bible says he has
every hair on your head numbered and he knows how
many fell out in the sink this morning. God knows the details of
your life better than you do. Did God know where my phone was? Yes. Who put it in my mind
to go over and sit down and play the piano? God did. God did. And so we miss out on so much. Now, you say well I don't
really wanna bother God. You're not bothering God. He's the one who set this thing up. He knows you're gonna trust
him more when you ask, he meets the need and
then you trust him more. Here's what the bible says, Hebrews chapter four. Let us come boldly to the throne of our good and gracious God. Boldly. God is good, God is gracious,
so we can come boldly. Then we will receive his
mercy and will find the grace to help us when we need it. Now what's God's motivation
in answering your prayers? Well David tells us the next verse, Psalm 66, answer me oh lord, out of the goodness of your love. Everything God does for
you, through you, to you and in you, he does
because he is a good god. God's goodness to you, listen, is not based on your goodness. It's based on his goodness. God's goodness to you isn't
based on how good you are. God is good to bad people. They get to breathe the same air we do, they get to live, they get to ignore God. He's still good to them. God's goodness isn't
based on your goodness. Well, I gotta be better then
God would answer my prayer. No, God's goodness is
based on his goodness. Now there's a third negative consequence that happens when you forget
how good God really is and it's this, I stop trusting
God in difficult times. I stop trusting God in difficult times. You see if you were more aware of how good God really is, this would
be automatic to you. Every time you had a
need you'd automatically talk to God about it. It'd be natural. You wouldn't try to
solve it yourself first. You'd go to God first. You'd ask god first, say God I need some help here. I need a job, I need this,
I need that, whatever it is. And you'd just go to God instantly, it'd be your first choice,
not your last resort. Look at these verses. Psalm 16:1-2, protect me
God, because I trust in you. You are my Lord and every good
thing I have comes from you. Don't ever forget that. Romans 5:8, Paul says
you know, we can have joy even in our troubles. Even when things are going wrong, we can have joy in our troubles, why? Because we know that these
troubles are good for us, producing patience and character and hope. Even in the bad times, God is good. Even in the bad times,
God has a good purpose, has a good plan, has a good reason. And so even in the difficult times, I go God you're a good god
because I know you're going to use this to produce
character and patience and hope in my life. And in Romans 8:28, and we
know that in everything, not some things, not the good things, we know that in everything
God works or the good. Circle that, for the
good, not for the bad, for the good of those who
love him and are called according to his good purpose. So even when times are
tough I know God's good. And I know he has a good
purpose, a good plan and he's working it all out for good. Not everything that happens
in your life is good. There's a lot of bad. But God can take even the bad and bring good out of it. And that builds trust in him. Now there's one other negative consequence when you forget how good
God really is to you. And you just forget it. You start claiming credit
for things that God did that you didn't do, he did it through you. You stop asking God for help. You stop trusting God in difficult times, and the fourth thing that
happens when you forget God's goodness, I do it, you do it, is I become pessimistic about the future. When you forget how good God really is you become pessimistic about the future. You lose hope. Because hope is based
on the goodness of God. If God isn't good, there is no hope. David tells us this in Psalm 27. The connection between hope
and the goodness of God. And in verse 13 and 14 he says this, I would have despaired, I
would have been desperate, I would have been in total
despair unless I had believed that I'd see the goodness, there it is, the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living. He goes man, there would
be no hope if God was not a good god. We're up a creek without a paddle. I would have been in despair, but he did know that God was a good god. So he says, instead, instead
I thought wait for the Lord, I don't see the answer right now, I'm gonna wait for the Lord. Be strong, let your heart take courage, yes, wait for the Lord. He says don't get in a
hurry, God is a good god, you've made the request, now wait. The difference between delay and denial. Do you ever do this? You get in so much of a
hurry you don't have time for God to give you the answer. When there's something you wanna buy and it's really important, do
you give God an opportunity to give it to ya first? No, I don't even think about that. I go out and put it on my credit card. I buy something I want
with money I don't have. And then you're in debt. Have you ever, on like a big purchase, said Lord, before I buy
this, I'm gonna give you a chance to give it to me. Do you wanna give this to me? I tell you, that happens. I've had it happen many times in my life. When you get in a hurry, God, I really wanna get married, but I'm not gonna wait on
you to provide the person, I'm gonna go out and find
the nearest beating heart. And then you regret that
one the rest of your life. Because you got in a hurry. You did not wait. You did not trust the goodness of God. Most of your problems
in life come from your inability to delay gratification. I want it, and I want it right now. That's called being immature. That's what babies say, I want it now. Not later, I want it now. That's immaturity. And so I become pessimistic
about the future. He says I would have despaired. Now listen, if you are fighting depression these days. If you are fighting
discouragement these days, if you're fighting doubt these days, if you're fighting despair, I'm gonna tell ya to do two things. Number one, start focusing on all the ways that God has been good to you. Get your eyes off the problems and get your eyes on all the
things God has done for you. Make a list, count your blessings. Write 'em down. Make a list of all the ways
God is good in your life. And focus on that. And number two, don't miss
any of the next nine weeks in this series. 'Cause this is gonna be a
hope dispenser for nine weeks. This may be one of the
most important series I've ever taught. It'll definitely be encouraging, it'll definitely be inspirational, definitely will raise your level of hope. I'm a hope dealer. Okay. (congregation applauds) You know, I'm writing a
book on hope right now and some of the stuff's
just too good to hold onto. I'm gonna share, we're gonna have a campaign next fall on hope, 40 days of hope. But something that I wanna
share with you right now and one of the things I've
been writing on this book, you know, I only write a
book like every 10 years. This is the first book
since Purpose Driven Life 12 years ago, kind of a followup to PDL. And in it I'm giving definitions of hope, and one of my definitions of hope, I want you to write this down. Hope is anticipating God's goodness. Hope is anticipating God's goodness. The only reason you have hope
is because God's a good god. If God is not a good
god, there is no radical, rational, logical reason for hope. 'Cause we're up a creek, as
I said, without a paddle. We're all on our own. The foundation of all hope
is the goodness of God. If God is not a good god,
we don't have any hope. Not for the future. You remember this verse? We memorized it in one of
the previous campaigns. Jeremiah 29:11, For I know
the plans I have for you. God has plans for your life. I know the plans I have
for you says the Lord. And they're plans for good, why? 'Cause he's a good god. God only has good plans for your life. He does not have bad plans for your life, he only has good plans for your life. Now you can miss those plans. A lot of people miss
God's plan for their life, 'cause they're doing they own plan. But he says, the plans I
have for you are good plans, plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Hope is tied to the goodness of God and the more you
understand God's goodness, the more hopeful you're gonna be in life. Lemme read that verse
again we read earlier, that Psalm 27. I would have despaired,
I would have despaired about my life, about everything unless I had believed
that I'd see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. I have a future 'cause of God's goodness. Instead, instead of despairing, I thought, wait for the Lord, be strong, and let your heart take
courage and wait for the Lord. Now, some of you have
turned the outline over and go oh no, we've got nine more points! (congregation laughs) And you go, are you kidding me? I have no intention of
teaching this material to you, 'cause I'm going to
teach it the next nine weeks. This is the index for the series. (congregation member
speaks without microphone) (congregation laughs)
So what I'm gonna do is. My new best friend right over there. Okay, all right, I want
you to just fill this in. I'm just gonna give you the fill-ins and the you're gonna know
where we're gonna go. I'm gonna spend an entire
weekend on each one of these nine points. So all this is is just to let
you know where you're going. I want you to see the forest, not just the single tree. Psalm 23 lists nine different
benefits of God's goodness to you and we're gonna
cover them in detail. So write these down. Because God is good,
number one, the first one. He will meet my needs when I'm worried. Because God is a good god,
he will meet all my needs when I'm worried. The Lord is my shepherd,
I will lack nothing. Nada, zip, zero. He meets my needs when I'm worried. Number two, because God
is a good god, number two, you need this one, he
will teach me to relax when I'm stressed out. Some of you, if you've
just come that one week, that's the week you need. He will teach me how to
relax when I'm stressed out. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters. This is a metaphor for
peace and tranquility. He makes me lie down. Has God ever had to make you lay down because you are not smart
enough to lay down on your own? And you're working so much and you're burning the candle at both ends and you're not as bright
as you think you are? He makes you lie down,
he'll teach you how to relax when you're stressed. Number three, because God
is good, he will replenish my strength when I'm empty. And the truth be told,
some of you are out of gas. You've been running on fumes for miles. You need this series. The bible says he restores my soul. Most of the modern translations say, "He gives me new strength." So I've got sustenance. Meet my needs when I'm worried, and I've got balance, he's gonna teach me how to relax. And then I've got resilience
because he restores my soul, he fills me up when I'm empty. Number four, because God is a good god, he will guide me when I'm confused. Nothing stresses you out
as much as indecision. You've got guidance. He guides me in the right
paths for his name's sake, because he is a good god. He's not playing games with you. Number five, because God is a good god, he will walk with me in
my dark and fearful days. Because God is a good
god, he will walk with me. He not gonna leave me alone. You're gonna go through
some dark days ahead. You're gonna go through
some fearful times ahead, but he says I'm gonna be with you. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me. And if God's with ya, doesn't
matter who's against you. Number six, he will protect
me when I feel insecure. The bible says in verse four of Psalm 23, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Now that doesn't mean anything to you because you don't know
that the rod and staff are the two tools of a
shepherd in leading sheep. And those tools are given to the shepherd for the benefit of the sheep. I'll explain that. He will protect me when I feel insecure. That's God's assurance. And then number seven,
because God is a good god, he will publicly show
his favor on my life. Now we're gonna cover
this word favor in depth in this series. God wants to put favor on your life. Favor's another term for goodness. It's another term for God's grace. God wants to show favor. When you have a favored child or when you have a favored
status in economic trade, you get privileges nobody else gets. I have the favor of God on my life. I've had God's favor on
my life since a young man. I know it, and I feel it,
and other people see it. It's not something I'm proud about, it's something I'm humbled by. I have the favor of God on my life. I want the favor of God on your life too. I want you to feel the favor
of God, the smile of God on your life. And God says I will publicly
show my favor on your life, even when everybody's
attacking you, criticizing you, when they're against you. Bible says, you prepare a banquet for me in front of all my enemies. Na na na na na na! (congregation laughs) And you anoint my head with oil. There's meaning behind this. And my cup overflows. He's says, I'm not just
gonna meet your need, you'll have abundance. It's gonna overflow in your
life if you'll trust me. Number eight, because God is a good god, he will be good to me
no matter what happens. Other people may not be
good to you in the future. But God will, and you can count on that. The consistency, his benevolence, he will be good to me,
no matter what happens. Surely goodness, there's that word, surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life. I don't know what's
gonna happen in my life. You don't know what's
gonna happen in your life, but I do know this. Goodness and mercy will be with me. God's goodness will be with me, and God's mercy will be with me, and I can handle anything if God's goodness and mercy are with me. That's his love, it's his benevolence. And then number 10, as
if that's not enough, he takes us into the next life because God is a good god, he will
take me to heaven one day. And I will dwell in the
house of the Lord forever. That's a long time. Forever, that is the goodness of God. Now we're gonna go in depth
on each of these nine things, in the next nine weeks. I wanna summarize this for ya, up here on the screen, look at this. Because God is a good god, God wants to give you
a life of sustenance. He'll meet my needs when I'm worried. A life of balance, he'll
teach me how to relax when I'm stressed out. God wants to give you
a life of resilience. He'll replenish my
strength when I'm empty. He wants to give you a life of guidance, he'll guide me when I'm confused. He wants to give you a life of confidence. He'll walk with me
through my darkest days. He wants to give you, because
he's a good god, assurance. He'll protect me when I feel insecure. He wants to give you a life of influence. He will publicly show
his favor on your life if you'll trust him. He wants to give you a life of abundance. Your cup will run over. He wants to give you
a life of benevolence. Goodness and mercy will be with me. He will be good to me the rest of my life. And he wants to give you an inheritance. I will dwell in the house
of the Lord forever. Who doesn't want that? Who doesn't need that? Everybody needs what God has to offer. We're just looking for it
in all the wrong places. We're expecting those 10 needs to be met by our careers, by our bank accounts, by our relationships, by our marriages or boyfriend, girlfriend, whatever. God goes no, no, no, it's me. I'm it. I'm the source of all
goodness in your life. You're looking in the wrong thing. You make anybody else
the source of goodness in your life, they're called and idol. Who does not need this? Everybody needs it, everybody wants it. Now, where do you get those 10 benefits, all those good benefits? From the Lord who is your shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. Now who is the shepherd? It's Jesus. Jesus is the Lord. Jesus is the shepherd. Look at this verse on the screen. Jesus said my purpose is to
give life in all its fullness. I am the good shepherd, I'm it! No doubt here, I am the good shepherd. He's either telling the
truth or he's lying. I am the good shepherd and the good shepherd lays
down his life for the sheep. All of those benefits are
only available to you, not because you're good,
because God is good. And he, Jesus Christ, came to earth and paid for all those
things on the cross. He paid for all those
benefits in your life when he died for your sins. That's why they call it Good Friday. Good Friday certainly
wasn't good for Jesus. It was painful, it was torture, he died. But he willingly, he said,
no man takes my life, I give it up willingly. He came to die for our sins. To pay to make all those things possible. You see sending the messiah to die for you is the ultimate expression
of God's goodness. Lemme show you a verse,
last verse on the screen. The bible says this in Isaiah 49:15-16 Can a mother forget
the baby at her breast? Obviously not, no mom's
gonna forget a nursing child. Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on
the child she has born? No. Though she may forget, God
says, I will not forget you. See, I have engraved you
on the palms of my hands. Now Isaiah said that
hundreds of years before Jesus Christ died on the
cross and they put nails through his hands. Did you know that God has a tattoo of you? I have engraved you on
the palms of my hands. When you get to heaven, the only person who's gonna have scars in
heaven will be Jesus Christ. And you'll see, I've
engraved you on the palms, this is how much I love you. This is how much I love you. This is how good I am to you. Let's bow our heads. God you are so good. We could never deserve your goodness. We would not be alive, we
would not take our next breath, our heart would not have its next beat if you weren't a good god. Forgive us for ungratefulness. Forgive us for prideful self-centeredness. Forgive us for thinking that
we did it all, yeah right. Noting would happen,
we wouldn't even exist if it weren't for you. Now you pray, why don't you
say something like this, God, I'm sorry that I've
often forgotten your goodness, I don't think about it. And God, when I don't think
about how good you are, I start claiming credit for
things that you did for me, through me and in my and to me. And I'm sorry, I am nothing without you. And God so much of the
time I forget your goodness and I just stop asking you for help. And so not learning to trust you because I'm not asking
you to meet my needs. You told me to come boldly
in prayer to the good and gracious God and expect you to answer out of your goodness. So I wanna start asking for your blessing and answers to my needs
every day of my life. And Lord because I forget your goodness, I often stop trusting
you in difficult times. Help me to remember that in
everything you're working for good, even the bad stuff, because you have a good plan for my life. I don't wanna be
pessimistic about my future. Like David, I would
despair if I didn't know the goodness of God. Help me to wait for you,
help me to be strong, to take courage in my heart
and to wait for God to answer the needs in my life. Lord I want this life that
is outlined in Psalm 23, a life of sustenance and
balance, resilience and guidance, confidence and assurance,
influence and abundance, benevolence and inheritance. And I know that you made
this available not because of my goodness, 'cause I'm not, but because of your
goodness and your grace. Jesus Christ, thank you for
paying for all of these things with your life. As much as I know how, I ask
you to be my good shepherd, the good shepherd lays
down his life for the sheep ad you did that for me. So I don't understand it
all, but I'm asking you to make yourself real to me. And I wanna learn to love you
and follow you and trust you. You're a good god. And I pray this humbly in your name. Amen.
