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Our God is a good and great God.
Many challenge the God of the Bible by saying, “God can’t be both good and great. If God is good and He allows evil, He must not be powerful enough to stop evil. But if He is great and powerful enough to stop evil, then He must not be good because He doesn’t stop evil.”
Psalm 135 says that God is good.
Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; Sing praises to His name, for it is pleasant (v. 3, NKJV).
Psalm 135 also says that God is great.
For I know that the Lord is great, and our Lord is above all gods (v. 5).
The goodness and greatness described in Psalm 135 teach that God will eventually destroy evil and heal all injustice.
For the Lord will judge His people, and He will have compassion on His servants (v. 14).
Only a good and great God can compassionately reconcile while forgiving sins and overcoming the wounds of mankind’s frailty. In the first four verses of Psalm 135, we find “praise the Lord” used five times. In the last three verses, we read “bless the Lord” five times also.
Praise the Lord! Praise the name of the Lord; Praise Him, O you servants of the Lord! (v. 1)
You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord! Blessed be the Lord out of Zion, who dwells in Jerusalem! (v. 20b-21)
We praise God for being great and bless the Lord for His goodness. In doing so, we proclaim the God of the Bible as both powerful and loving. But it’s still legitimate to ask, “Why does a good and loving God allow suffering and evil?”
It’s an easy answer: We don’t know.
Theologians discuss that free will must have choice, the created denying the Creator causes evil, and that God dying on the cross proves His goodness in the power of the resurrection.
Amen! But when suffering and evil approach us personally, theology seems distant, and philosophical “big picture” solutions sound hollow.
So, Psalm 135 says. . .
Your name, O Lord, endures forever, Your fame, O Lord, throughout all generations. For the Lord will judge His people, and He will have compassion on His servants (vv. 13-14).
Perhaps the Apostle Paul was thinking of Psalm 135 when he wrote. . .
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us (Romans 8:18).
The consistent message of the Bible is to trust a good and great God, and though lacking complete understanding now—in eternity we will know God and sing, “Praise the Lord, bless the Lord.”
Amen. Peace out!