You Are My Hiding Place

When all we need is a place to hide and be safe, we can hide in Him.

You are my hiding place
You always fill my heart
With songs of deliverance
Whenever I am afraid
I will trust in You

I will trust in You
Let the weak say
I am strong
In the strength of the Lord

You are my hiding place
You always fill my heart
With songs of deliverance
Whenever I am afraid
I will trust in You

I will trust in You
Let the weak say I am strong
In the strength of the Lord
I will trust in You

If you would like to listen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co6HXUN19AY

You Raise Me Up

When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit awhile with me.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.

There is no life - no life without its hunger;
Each restless heart beats so imperfectly;
But when you come and I am filled with wonder,
Sometimes, I think I glimpse eternity.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2sZuJbxi8Y

Psalms 86

This is one Psalm I tend to read when my world seems to be crashing down... His faithfulness always seems to sustain me through it all.

Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
Preserve my life, for I am godly;
save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God.
Be gracious to me, O Lord,
for to you do I cry all the day.
Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.
Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
listen to my plea for grace.
In the day of my trouble I call upon you,
for you answer me.
There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,
nor are there any works like yours.
All the nations you have made shall come
and worship before you, O Lord,
and shall glorify your name.
For you are great and do wondrous things;
you alone are God.
Teach me your way, O Lord,
that I may walk in your truth;
unite my heart to fear your name.
I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name forever.
For great is your steadfast love toward me;
you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
O God, insolent men have risen up against me;
a band of ruthless men seeks my life,
and they do not set you before them.
But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
Turn to me and be gracious to me;
give your strength to your servant,
and save the son of your maidservant.
Show me a sign of your favor,
that those who hate me may see and be put to shame
because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

God Hears Prayer

Day by Day with Jonathan Edwards

Psalm 28:6

Blessed be the Lord, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.

"It is indeed a very wonderful thing that so great a God who should be so ready to heard our prayers, though we are so despicable and unworthy. That he should give free access at all times to everyone, should allow us to be importunate without esteeming it an indecent boldness, should be so right in mercy to them that call upon him: that worms of the dust should have such power with God by prayer, that he should do such great things in answer to their prayers, and should show himself, as it were, overcome by them. This is very wonderful, when we consider the distance between God and us, and how we have provoked him by our sins, and how unworthy we are of the least gracious notice. It cannot be form any need that God stands in of us, for our goodness extends not to him. Neither can it be from anything in us to incline the heart of God to us. It cannot be from any worthiness in our prayers, which are in themselves polluted things. but it is because God delights in mercy and condescension. He is herein infinitely distinguished from all other Gods. He is the great fountain of all good, from whom goodness flows as light from the sun."

Imitating God

Day by Day with Jonathan Edwards.

Zephaniah 2:3

Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness; it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger.

"Love to God disposes us to imitate him, and therefore disposes us to such longsuffering as he manifests. Longsuffering is often spoken of as one of the attributes of God. In exodus 34:6, it is said, "And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering,' etc. And in Romans 2:4, the apostle asks, "despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering?" The longsuffering of God is very wonderfully manifest in his bearing innumerable injuries from me, and injuries that are very great and long-continued. If we consider the wickedness that there is in the world, and then consider how God continues the world in existence, and does not destroy it, but showered upon it innumerable mercies, the bounties of his daily providence and grace, causing his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sending rain alike on the just and on the unjust, and offering his spiritual blessings ceaselessly and to all, we shall perceive how abundant is his longsuffering toward us. And if we consider his longsuffering to some of the great and populous cities of the world, and think how constantly the gifts of his goodness are bestowed on and consumed by them, and then consider how great the wickedness of these very cities is, it will show is how amazingly great is his longsuffering. And the same longsuffering has been manifest to very many particular persons, in all ages of the world. He is longsuffering to the sinners that he spares, and to whom he offers his mercy, even while they are rebelling against him. And he is longsuffering toward his own elect people, many of whom long lived in sin, and despised alike his goodness and his wrath: and yet he bore long with them, even to the end, till they were brought to repentance, and made, through his grace, vessels of mercy and glory."

Finding Comfort in the Goodness of God - Sermon by J Don Jennings

Psalm 31:19

"How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you."

Psalm 23:6

"Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, an I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

We are being stalked by the goodness of God. Every moment, day, action and thing is attributable to the goodness of God to us.

Goodness in relationship to God is the summation of all the excellencies of God. Ever aspect of God can be summed up by the word goodness.

We have a good God who is in control and has not forgotten us.

"The root of all sin is the suspicion that God is not good." -Oswald Chambers My Utmost for His Highest

Psalm 84:11

"No good thing will he withhold from those who live uprightly."

God is good and he will not withhold good from us.

"God is good to all in someways and he is good to some in all ways." -J.I. Packer

Unless we are extremely careful, we will take the goodness of God for granted and we will shift our focus from the provider to the provision and thus forget God.

The Revelation of God's goodness:

We see the goodness of God revealed in nature.

Psalm 33:5

"The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord."

We see the goodness of God revealed in his Son.

Our God is good and is compassionate.

Acts 10:38

"how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him."

Matthew 15:32

"Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way."

He healed the sick and fed the hungry; he gave sight to the blind and cured the leper - what a compassionate and good God!

We see the goodness of God revealed in the Word.

All throughout scripture it claims the goodness of God.

Psalm 145:9

"The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made."

Regardless of anything in our life, God is still good to all.

The Reasons for God's goodness.

Why is God good? God's essence is goodness. God is good because that is his nature, he can be nothing else but good. is the consummate source of all goodness. There is no goodness source besides him. Our goodness is derived goodness, God's goodness is un-derived - it is in himself and he receives it from himself. No goodness can be added to God - it is like adding to the heat of the sun with a candle.

All that God does he does because he is good. Every action of God flows out of his goodness. Everything he allows in our lives he allows because he is good. he has a purpose to accomplish in everything in our lives even though we cannot see why.

How long is his goodness?

Malachi 3:6

"I am the Lord, I change not."

He is going to be eternally good because he does not change. God won't be a better God in heaven than he is on earth. God does not have mood swings- he will always be good to you. God has not changed, ho who has changed? Regardless of our circumstances God is the same as he always was and he is good eternally. His mercy and goodness has followed us all the days of our lives.

Our Response to God's goodness:

We should respond gladly -receive God's goodness and be thankful and glad.

Psalm 34:8

"Taste, and see that the Lord is good!"

Don't stop feeding on the goodness of God.

Romans 2:

"The goodness of God leads you to repentance."

Jesus is the incarnate goodness of God.

We should respond by reflecting the goodness of God. Share the goodness of the Lord with others. Be light and salt in the world.

We ought to live every day of our lives relying in the goodness of God. Wallow in the goodness of God. bask in the goodness of God. We can smile through our tears because God is good, even though we do not feel good. Rely on the goodness of God. Trust in him and rely on his goodness.

We will never enjoy life unless we trust in and rely on the goodness of God. God is good. And he is going to come through for his own. He will see us through because of his goodness.

To rely on God's goodness we must trust him in every life situation. He is good when the plans and the hopes and the dreams you had all come crashing down. He is still good.

God is good.

1 John 3:1-3

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.