- Good and Merciful
Psalm 118:1
O give thanks unto the Lord;
For he is good:
Because his mercy endureth forever.
This verse is a common prayer refrain used in other places in the Bible: God is good and His mercy lasts forever. “God is good” understates the truth, for God is much more that good; He is really very good, He is great, He is incredibly good in every way. He is good in the sense of being kind and nice and treating people well. He is good at everything he does. He knows how to turn bad things into good things and to make all things work together for good. God is good in the moral sense of righteousness and He works good instead of evil. God is good at everything He does: He is a good God, a good Creator, a good King, a good Shepherd, a good Savior, a good Provider, and on and on. Finally, God is good to me individually and to my church corporately. God is good all the time and in all circumstances and that is a promise I can live with and enjoy forever.
“His mercy endures forever” says that mercy is a solid foundation on which we can rest confidently and enjoy our lives. God is not only merciful to us once to forgive and save us, but He is constantly and daily merciful to us in every situation. And once He has extended mercy we can count on Him not to take it back: it is forever. That mercy will never change in the future forever. This promises never ends.