Abundant Goodness Series

Text: Psalm 31:14-24

Theme: Abundant Goodness

“Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!” (Psalm 31:19). 

Greetings: The Lord is good; and His love endures forever.

Illustration:

On the day of judgement God asked men to stand on two queues:

On the First line all those who were decision makers

On the Second line all those who were obedient and dutiful to their wives;

First line had only one man standing in it, while the second line was miles long.

God wanted to crown him before that he asked him, "Man, how did you end up in this line?!"

The man replied, "My wife told me to stand here."

Praise God for this day. Let us gracefully acknowledge that where we stand today is God's perfect gift. This is an abundant gift from the Lord. So, I invite you to join the Church services to meditate on a few of the abundant blessings we receive and cherish in our lives, namely Abundant Goodness (Psalm 31:19), Abundant love (Exodus 34:6-7), Abundant life (John 10:10), Abundant anointing (Psalm 23:5), and Abundance of everything (2 Corinthians 9:8).

Psalm 31 is a lament category psalm in which David was looking to God for relief and blessings. The Catholic Bishops conference outlined this psalm as: ‘A lament with a strong emphasis on trust (Psalm 31:4, 6, 15–16), ending with an anticipatory thanksgiving (Psalm 31:20–24). As is usual in laments, the affliction is embedded in general terms. The psalmist feels overwhelmed by evil people but trusts in the “God of truth” (Psalm 31:6).’

An interesting feature of this psalm is that it is often quoted in other passages of Scripture.  

- Jonah quotes Psalm 31:6 in Jonah 2:8, his prayer from the belly of the great fish.

- Jeremiah quotes Psalm 31:13 six times in his prophecy (Jeremiah 6:25; 20:3; 20:10; 46:5; 49:29, and Lamentations 2:22.)

- Jesus quotes Psalm 31:5 on the cross as His final words before yielding His life (Luke 23:46).

- Stephen, the first martyr of the church, remembers Psalm 31:5 (Acts 7:59).

- Paul quotes Psalm 31:24 in 1 Corinthians 16:13

The word Abundant means more than sufficient and plentiful. God has abundant good things. The abundant goodness is available to me based on my relationship with God. The abundant goodness of God helps me to prevail over my times. The abundant goodness of God brings rewards to me.

Let us meditate one by one.

1. My relationship with God

My relationship with God is important for me to get anything from the Lord. How I relate to him, he relates to me on the same wavelength and of course, even beyond. The psalmist says to God, “I trust in you”, O Lord. He tells his associates that ‘I seek him’ (Psalm 31:1,6). Whatever problems he had to face he says ‘I commit my spirit’ (Psalm 31:5). Not only that in distress of every situation of my life, ‘I will rejoice and exult in your steadfast love’ (Psalm 31:7). He further says to his listeners ‘Love the Lord.’ He says to his audience ‘I fear the Lord, and take refuge in him’ (Psalm 31:19). Webster says that refuge is "a condition of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger, or trouble."

David trusted in the Lord for his stability, security, and protection. In this Psalm he contrasts the greatness, goodness, and reliability of God with the insignificance, inconsistency, and limitations of man. God's goodness is not a doctrine, not a concept but means of grace, compassion and mercy of God which helps us to trust God when things are not going well as Psalm 31:19, Romans 8:28, and other verses demonstrate.

Spurgeon says, “There is goodness in the present as well as goodness in the future, goodness wrought out as well as goodness stored up.”

The Message Bible: ‘What a stack of blessings you have piled up for those who worship you, Ready and waiting for all who run to you to escape an unkind world.  You hide them safely away from the opposition. As you slam the door on those oily, mocking faces, you silence the poisonous gossip.’

New Living Translation: ‘How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you. You lavish it on those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world.  You hide them in the shelter of your presence, safe from those who conspire against them. You shelter them in your presence, far from accusing tongues.’

Psalm 31:19 speaks of the rich blessings for us. The Lord has abundant grace, goodness, and love for all of us. He stored up those great blessings for us when we continue to fear him, serve him, and honor him through our commitment, words, and deeds. One important observation and revelation we get through This verse is that God is going to give this abundant blessing to the godly in the sight of men on the earth. Abundance is something God offers to those who trust in Him. Abundance means a life full of everything we need to sustain ourselves in joy and purpose.