God Is Good All The Time
Isaiah 30:18 (Amp.) says, “And therefore the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you; and therefore He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship]!” So does that sound like a good God that I can trust? …Absolutely! Notice, He is waiting to be gracious to you. The word “gracious” is “chanan” or the word “grace”, which is unmerited (undeserved) favor. “Chanan” also has the meaning of “to move to favor by petition.” God is extending His favor (His victory, favor, love, peace, joy, and matchless, unbroken companionship) to those who will position themselves before Him with the expectation that He will do what He said. Notice again, we are blessed when we earnestly wait for Him, expect, look, and long for Him!
Are we longing for His “stuff” or for Him? God’s people, who do not trust Him, will not “move to favor” (i.e. they will not position themselves to receive the blessing from our great God). If I fear Him (if I do not trust Him), I will move away from Him with doubt and unbelief in my heart. This reminds me of Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith (a confidence in God and His Word) it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Most of us believe that God is, but do we believe that He would reward us? Do we believe that He is Good and that we can trust Him?
Verse 18 tells us that our Lord “lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you.” This reminds me of the story where many of the Children of Israel had sinned against God. Serpents came in among them and bit many people. Several of them died. God instructed Moses to make a fiery serpent (symbol of the poisonous snake) and to set it up on a pole (Num. 21:8). Everyone that had been bitten could look upon the serpent and live. They moved to God’s favor by obeying the Word that came through Moses. They trusted the Word. They looked at the serpent and were healed. That serpent symbolized Jesus becoming your sin and my sin when He was lifted up on the cross. All of us who move to God’s favor in accepting God’s beckoning call to accept Jesus as Lord will live. Grace and mercy can be found in Jesus.
We see in Isaiah 30:18, “…For the Lord is a God of justice… God will do what is right.” Remember, John 10:11? Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” According to Psalms 23 (Amp.), the Good Shepherd “feeds, guides, and shields us.” We shall not lack. “He refreshes and restores our lives. He leads us in the paths of uprightness and right standing with Him – not for our earning it.” “…And though we walk through the [deep, sunless] valley of the shadow of death, we will fear or dread no evil, for the Lord is with us.” We are protected and guided by Him. He “prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies. He anoints our heads with oil. Surely or only goodness, mercy, and unfailing love shall follow us all the days of our lives, and through the length of our days the house of the Lord [and His presence] shall be our dwelling place.” God is Good and you can trust Him!