God's Goodness

Sometimes when I think about God's goodness, I cry. Not like bawl-my-eyes-out cry. But I think about God's goodness in my life and how I don't deserve it AT ALL and I get teary-eyed. I don't bawl my eyes out, because these moments are bittersweet. I realize my own depravity, but then I am overwhelmed with God's power and overjoyed by his goodness. This causes tears to well up that never actually fall. I remember on my wedding day, when I was waiting downstairs with my dad, about to walk down the aisle, and "How He Loves Us" by David Crowder came on. I was so overwhelmed by God's goodness in that moment. I got teary-eyed just thinking of God's relentless love for me, a love I do not deserve.

Ezra and Nehemiah also knew of God's goodness. Although Ezra and Nehemiah's books come fairly early in the Old Testament (before Psalms and Proverbs), they actually record some of the very last events of the OT. Ezra and Nehemiah were prophets who returned to Jerusalem after the exile. They were both granted permission to return by the Persian king (the empire that ousted Babylon), and were two of the main leaders in the rebuilding of the desolated Jerusalem. Ezra arrived first and was responsible for encouraging the Israelites to rebuild the temple. He also studied Mosiaic law, and taught the people the specific commandments of the Lord, which had long been forgotten. Nehemiah arrived about fifteen years later and orchestrated the building of a wall around the new, much smaller, city of Jerusalem. Nehemiah also played a part in praying on behalf of His people and convicting them of sin. He also acted as a liason between Persia and Jerusalem, and was eventually appointed governor of Jerusalem.

The thing is... both these men were faithful to the Lord and their people in Jerusalem during a very difficult time. Faced with the task of rebuilding and repopulating a city, restoring proper temple worship, reinforcing the law of God, cleansing the people from sin (including mixed marriages again), dealing with opposition from surrounding peoples, and trying to live independently while under Persian rule, Ezra and Nehemiah did not have the easiest life of ministry. However, they knew that God was good. When Ezra was released by the king of Persia, Artaxerxes, to return to Jerusalem, it was because "the good hand of God was on him" (Ezra 7:9). When Ezra realized that there were no Levites in the group returning to Jerusalem, he sent for some. When a faithful group of Levites arrived to join them on their journey, Ezra knew this was done "by the good hand of our God on us (Ezra 8:18). Years later, when Nehemiah felt the call of God to go and rebuild Jerusalem, he asked King Artaxerxes for leave to return to Jerusalem. When the king granted his request, Nehemiah knew that "the good hand of the my God was upon me" (Nehemiah 2:8).

There is lots of talk of God's goodness in the Old Testament. From the very beginning, the things God created on earth were "good." There are also countless references to God's hand and his arm. His "outstretched arm" is a figurative term for God's absolute power over the proceedings of the earth. Moses and the Israelites knew all about God's outstretched arm in the wilderness, when God provided for them and saved them again and again. Here, at the end of the Old Testament, when things are bleak and uncertain for the Israelites as they return to their desolated city, God is still good. Ezra and Nehemiah and the people of Jerusalem can trust God's goodness, His provision, His care for His people, because His good hand acts upon the goodness of His heart.