Is God Really Good All the Time?

The goodness of God is not proved only when life feels easy. God remains good when pain comes, when death hurts, when Satan attacks, and when a child of God cannot see what to do next. Psalm 23 gives more than funeral comfort. David gives a life to walk in, a life where the Good Shepherd meets His sheep right where they are.

Forgetfulness of God’s goodness turns life inward. Pride starts claiming credit for gifts, strength, money, talent, and every open door that came from God’s grace. The rich fool kept saying, “I, I, I,” built bigger barns, and forgot that blessing was never meant to stop with him. God blesses His people so they can bless others, love God with all their heart, and love people with all they have.

Forgetfulness also stops prayer. Worry takes over when needs are carried alone instead of taken to the Father. A child learns to trust a parent by bringing unmet needs and seeing that parent respond; faith grows the same way with God. Every need, whether small or large, belongs before the Father. “You have a need? Take it to the Father.” Prayer is not a last resort. Prayer is how trust gets built.

Difficult times do not cancel God’s goodness. Joseph’s pit, false accusation, prison cell, and promotion show that bad times can become good times in God’s hands. God can take somebody from the pit to the palace, from powerless to powerful, right on time. Hope is “the anticipation of the goodness of God,” the settled confidence that God will come through at the right time.

Psalm 23 then names the goodness God supplies. The Shepherd meets needs when worry rises: “I shall not want.” He makes His sheep lie down in green pastures and leads them beside quiet waters when stress drains peace. He restores the soul when a person is empty, guides along righteous paths when confusion clouds the way, and walks through the valley when dark and fearful days come.

The rod and staff of God bring comfort and protection. His Word drives out “stinking thinking,” gives godly counsel, and keeps His people from living by fear or the opinions of others. His table turns overwhelmed hearts into overflowing cups, even while enemies watch. Goodness, mercy, and love follow God’s children all their days, and the final promise stands sure: they will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Salvation begins that life by knowing Christ personally, not with a “think so” or “maybe so,” but with a “know so.”

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Key Takeaways

• 1. God’s gifts are never self-made possessions. God gives every good and perfect gift, including the power, ability, and opportunity to gain what a person possesses. Stewardship changes the grip on material things because everything belongs to Him first. Gratitude refuses to hoard blessing and looks for ways to make God’s goodness visible to others. [39:37]
• 2. Prayer trains the heart to trust. Faith grows as needs are honestly carried to the Father instead of privately managed through worry. God invites His children to bring the smallest burden and the largest crisis before Him. Trust becomes real when prayer moves from an occasional emergency response to a steady way of living. [49:23]
• 3. Bad times can become God’s promotion. Joseph’s road through the pit and prison did not mean God had left him behind. God used what looked like loss to shape character, timing, and future usefulness. Trials may feel like a dead end, but God can turn a jail cell into a doorway to His purpose. [54:35]
• 4. Hope anticipates God’s faithful goodness. Pessimism loses hope because it expects darkness to have the last word. Biblical hope expects God to come through in His time, with a future and a purpose that are not evil. God’s goodness is not wishful thinking; it is the foundation for staying up when life tries to knock a person down. [59:27]
• 5. The Good Shepherd carries every season. Psalm 23 promises provision, rest, restoration, guidance, protection, abundance, and an eternal home. God does not merely stand at the end of the valley waiting for His sheep to arrive. Christ walks through the valley with them, and His goodness follows them all the way home.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [26:53] - God’s Fire and a Homecoming
• [30:14] - Is God Really Good All the Time?
• [37:25] - Forgetting the Goodness of God
• [39:37] - Taking Credit for God’s Gifts
• [46:30] - Taking Every Need to the Father
• [53:07] - Trusting God in Difficult Times
• [56:57] - Hope and the Goodness of God
• [61:26] - The Shepherd Meets Every Need
• [63:43] - Restored Strength and Clear Guidance
• [68:15] - Walking Through Dark Valleys
• [71:14] - God’s Protection and Overflowing Cup
• [74:54] - Goodness, Mercy, and Heaven
• [76:56] - Salvation and Living in God’s Goodness
• [85:21] - A Prayer for God’s Goodness

Bible Reading

Psalm 23
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” [30:14]

Luke 12:16-21
“And he told them a parable, saying, ‘The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, “What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?” And he said, “I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’” But God said to him, “Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.’” [41:45]

1 Peter 5:7
“Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” [51:23]

Romans 8:28
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” [54:11]

Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” [59:58]

Observation questions

1. In Psalm 23, what does the Shepherd do for His sheep in times of need, stress, emptiness, confusion, danger, and opposition? [01:01:26]
2. What repeated focus on himself can be seen in the rich man’s words in Luke 12, and what does he decide to do with his abundant crops? [42:04]
3. According to 1 Peter 5:7, what are believers told to do with their anxieties, and what reason does Peter give for doing it?
4. What difficult places did Joseph experience before he was placed in authority, and how does that story illustrate the truth of Romans 8:28? [54:26]

Interpretation questions

1. Psalm 23 begins, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” How does calling the Lord “my Shepherd” change the way a believer understands needs versus wants? [01:01:43]
2. The rich fool had much, but he was not rich toward God. What might being “rich toward God” look like with a believer’s money, abilities, time, home, and opportunities? [44:35]
3. Peter says to cast all anxieties on God because He cares. Why can bringing small needs as well as large needs to God build real trust over time? [49:53]
4. Romans 8:28 does not call painful things good, but says God works through all things for good. How does Joseph’s path from the pit and prison to leadership help a believer hold onto hope in a hard season? [56:23]

Application questions

1. What is one gift, ability, possession, or open door in your life that you may be tempted to treat as something you earned by yourself? How can gratitude help you hold it as a steward rather than an owner? [39:37]
2. Is there a practical way God may be inviting you to use what He has given you to bless someone else this week—through generosity, encouragement, service, hospitality, or sharing Christ? [44:35]
3. What burden have you been carrying alone instead of taking to the Father? What would it sound like to bring that need honestly to Him this week? [52:39]
4. When worry starts rising, what is your usual response: trying harder, talking to others first, withdrawing, or praying? What small habit could help prayer become your first response instead of your last resort? [47:27]
5. Are you walking through a “pit,” “prison,” or valley season right now? Without pretending that the pain is easy, where do you need to ask God for strength to keep trusting His purpose and timing? [56:33]
6. What kind of “stinking thinking” has been shaping your mind lately—fear, negativity, shame, bitterness, or concern about people’s opinions? What truth from Psalm 23 or another part of God’s Word speaks against it? [01:07:16]
7. Psalm 23 ends with goodness, mercy, and an eternal home with the Lord. How does the sure hope of dwelling with God forever give courage for the days in front of you? [01:16:10]