The Lord Is Good

In Nahum 1.7—a book in the Bible not often heard—the prophet Nahum says, “The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him” (Nahum 1:7).

It may seem counter-intuitive to consider this verse at a funeral when death is clearly on our minds. How can we say that the Lord is good? Today is anything other than good.

Does God seriously offer his people refuge in times of trouble? It looks like there is no refuge from death.

Where does being religious get us? Everyone eventually ends up in the grave.

But the verse insists that the Lord is good. How is the Lord good? We are told that the Lord is good in two ways. He is our refuge in times of trouble. The Lord cares for those who trust him.

We need to make sense of this funeral. It is not good enough to walk away with unanswered questions. This world is scared of death. In a group this size there are people here who fear death. We prefer to make jokes about death rather than face the harsh reality.

But today we cannot avoid the harsh reality. We are forced to admit that we are not in control of everything. We cannot control when we get sick and we cannot control when we die. But, our verse replies, God is good and so we must come to terms with his goodness.

The Lord is good. God is not mean and nasty. He is not vindictive. God doesn’t treat us like puppets on a string. He doesn’t pull our strings and enjoy watching us squirm in pain. God is not a sadistic dictator who meddles and ruins people’s lives.

The death of any person gives God no pleasure.

The Lord is good. He rules wisely. The Lord administers justice fairly. Since he knows our hearts he is able to be completely fair in all his dealings with us. God does not hold irrational thoughts against others. In all his ways, God treats us patiently and kindly.

Our verse tells us that the Lord is good to us even in times of trouble. The Lord is not good to us only when we are good to him. We can rely upon God even in times of trouble.

Sometimes it can be hard to fully understand the depth of our troubles. But we are in real trouble when we ignore the goodness of God. In the days of Nahum, the people in the city of Nineveh were so proud that they tried to shut God down. They claimed they didn’t need him. They boasted about their power on the world stage. They neither acknowledged God or gave thanks to him.

The Ninevites are examples of a wider problem. A long time later a man named Paul gave a speech in Athens and he explained that God is not a projection of our minds. He said that God really exists and he created life, and he organizes nations, and were made to live under his rule.

Since the Lord is good it is a great thing to live under his rule. But, like the Ninevites, we all reject God’s right to rule over us and this means we are in lots of trouble. Nahum said, “The Lord is slow to anger but great in power; the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished” (Nah 1.3). And Paul says that in the past God overlooked our ignorance about him, “But now he commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17.30).

You are in a real spot of bother if you ignore the goodness of God. God is good and he punishes injustice. He punishes those who choose trouble. He punishes those on the wrong side of the law. And, of course, it is always right that justice be done. As we sit in the house of mourning, now is good to ask yourself, ““what side of God’s justice am I on”? Death reminds us that God takes our rebellion against him very, very seriously.

The Lord is our refuge in times of trouble. In our trouble we are not helpless. The Lord is good and he provides a way for us to deal with our troubles. We can get on the right side of God’s justice. God wants all people everywhere to “repent”.

We “repent” when we change our mind. Repentance is a change of outlook and mindset. We repent when we change our opinion about God. Repentance takes us to God, and because he is good, he throws us a lifeline.

Jesus is the lifeline who gets us out of trouble.

When we ask God for mercy and trust in Jesus’ death and resurrection, then everything changes. God accepts the death of Jesus in my place. His anger is satisfied and we are forgiven. Since the Lord is good he gives the repentant person a “get out of jail” card.