Read: Psalm 145
Psalm 145 is the last Davidic psalm in the Psalter. In this Psalm David calls all flesh to praise God for His surpassing greatness. This psalm is all praise to God because He is infinitely worthy of the eternal praise of all creation (v. 3).
One aspect of God’s unsearchable greatness is that he is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works (v. 17). David similarly said earlier in the psalm that God is good to all and that his mercy is over all that he has made (v. 9). Everything that God does is righteous, good, merciful, and kind. David intends for us to memorize and meditate on this Psalm, and let its truths fuel our praise to God.
All that the Lord does is kind. Have you ever stopped and thought solely about that one fact about God? Think about your life and about all the events both good and bad that have occurred in it. Think of the lives of people you know. Think of all of world history. God is not the direct cause of every individual event that occurs on the planet. He uses various mediators in his governance of creation (e.g., Acts 27:7; Rom 13:1ff), and any evil that occurs does not flow from his essence (1 John 1:5) nor does God ever directly tempt anyone to sin (James 1:13).
However, God is absolutely sovereign over all creation so all the things that he does not directly cause he nevertheless indirectly permits to occur. Every single one of those permissions are righteous, good, merciful, and kind.
We look back on our lives, or perhaps we’re in a pleasant period now, and we pile up all of our ‘goods.’ Good health, a good job, good relationships with friends and family, a good bank account, and we think, “Of course God is kind!” But then what about all of the other things?
What if we aren’t in a good place in the present, particularly if we our suffering is not due to our own sin. A terrible health diagnosis, a wreck that totals our car, an injury that ruins a vacation that we’ve been planning for years, or the untimely death of a loved one.
Can we say that God is kind in allowing those things to happen to us? In the midst of those things can we still offer up praise to our God, saying to others, “God is kind in all of His works!” We must, because he is kind to us.
How is allowing those things to come to us God’s kindness toward us? For the unbeliever, God’s kindness is seen in one of two ways through such seasons and events.
First, such suffering could be God’s kindness toward the rest of creation as his justice rightly falls on the head of the guilty. The second way is that such events may be purposed by God to draw the sinner to himself. There are countless testimonies throughout history of saints who were brought to salvation by being brought low, coming to the end of themselves and being confronted with their need for Christ.
For those who are already a saving faith in Christ and have been adopted into God’s family, we know that all things are working for our good (Rom. 8:28). Whether that’s cancer or a car wreck or a broken relationship or a broken arm, God is using those things, even though we can’t see how, to conform us into the image of his Son and to deliver us safely into his presence.
As David reminds us, it is God who fulfills the desire of those who fear him and who hears their cries and saves them (v. 19). That is, he fulfills the desire of those who fear him, namely, the faithful salvation of God.
We can receive some satisfaction in earthly things, but we have been built and purposed to be ultimately satisfied in God alone. In Christ alone. Christ is our prize, he is our good, and thus, whatever brings us closer to him is the ultimate kindness and goodness and righteousness and mercy toward us.
In the muck of our trials and tribulations, we probably can’t see why God has brought such trouble into our lives, but we must remember that he has done so out of his kindness. We must, like Job upon hearing of the destruction of all his earthly goods, bless the name of Yahweh (Job 1:21).