The goodness of God is not a theological abstraction.
It is a lived experience that has surprised people in every generation.
It arrives in the moment when the door opens that should have stayed closed.
It shows up in the conversation that changed the direction of a life.
It is found in the provision that appeared the morning after the night of the most desperate prayer.
It is the presence that met the person in the wilderness they thought had no exits.
It is the healing, the reversal, the restored relationship, the unexpected peace in the middle of the storm that had no natural explanation.
When the hymn says When I think of the goodness of Jesus and all he has done for me, the thinking is not casual.
It is the deliberate act of memory that holds the soul together.
The deliberate return to the documented record of what God has done, against the backdrop of what the present moment is threatening, is one of the most powerful spiritual disciplines available.
Asaph recorded it in Psalm 77. He was in distress, unable to be comforted, crying through the night.
Then he made a decision: I will remember the deeds of the Lord.
He rehearsed what God had done in history.
The remembering did not immediately change his circumstances. But it changed what he had to stand on while the circumstances remained.
Thinking of the goodness of God is not nostalgia.
It is the active gathering of evidence for a faith that must carry the weight of today.
The Goodness That Is God’s Nature
1. The Lord Is Good, His Steadfast Love Endures Forever
“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” — ESV, Psalm 136:1
Good is not a description of what God does on his best days.
It is a description of what he is.
2. Oh, Taste and See That the Lord Is Good
“Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” — ESV, Psalm 34:8
The invitation is to experience the goodness, not just to accept it as a proposition.
Taste is a word for direct encounter.
3. His Goodness and Mercy Shall Follow Me All the Days of My Life
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” — ESV, Psalm 23:6
Follow is an active word.
Goodness does not occasionally appear. It pursues.
4. You Are Good and Do Good
“You are good and do good; teach me your statutes.” — ESV, Psalm 119:68
The psalmist held both: the character and the action.
What God does flows from what God is.
5. Every Good Gift and Every Perfect Gift Is From Above
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” — ESV, James 1:17
Every good thing in your life has a source above you.
No variation or shadow means the goodness is consistent across every season.
The Goodness Documented in History
6. I Will Remember the Deeds of the Lord
“I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old.” — ESV, Psalm 77:11
The remembering is the deliberate act of the person in distress.
Asaph chose to remember when feeling had nothing to offer.
7. He Sent Moses and Aaron Who Performed His Signs Among Them
“He sent Moses, his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen. They performed his signs among them and miracles in the land of Ham.” — ESV, Psalm 105:26–27
The signs and miracles are the recorded acts of God’s goodness in history.
The accumulated record is the evidence for the faith that holds in the present.
8. He Led His People Out With Joy and His Chosen With Singing
“So he brought his people out with joy, his chosen ones with singing.” — ESV, Psalm 105:43
The exodus was the defining act of God’s goodness for Israel.
He brought them out, not reluctantly, but with joy.
9. The Lord Has Done Great Things for Us and We Are Glad
“The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad.” — ESV, Psalm 126:3
The declaration came from people returning from captivity.
Great things is the summary of what the mind reviews when thinking of the goodness of God.
The Goodness That Shows Up in Ordinary Life
10. His Mercies Never Come to an End, They Are New Every Morning
“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” — ESV, Lamentations 3:22–23
New every morning means today’s mercy has not been diminished by yesterday’s need.
The supply resets.
11. He Heals the Brokenhearted and Binds Up Their Wounds
“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” — ESV, Psalm 147:3
The binding up of wounds is attentive, personal, careful work.
When you think of the goodness of God, include the ways he has tended your specific wounds.
12. He Satisfies You With Good So That Your Youth Is Renewed Like the Eagle’s
“Who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” — ESV, Psalm 103:5
The satisfaction he provides is not merely adequate.
It renews what should have been spent.
13. He Forgives All Your Iniquity and Heals All Your Diseases
“Who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases.” — ESV, Psalm 103:3
The psalmist listed the specific items of goodness received.
Thinking of the goodness of God begins with listing what he has specifically done.
The Goodness at Its Most Profound: The Cross
14. God So Loved the World That He Gave His Only Son
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” — ESV, John 3:16
The giving of the Son is the goodness at its maximum.
Every other act of God’s goodness is smaller than this one.
15. He Who Did Not Spare His Own Son Will Also Give Us All Things
“He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” — ESV, Romans 8:32
The logic flows from the cross.
If the greatest gift was given, all lesser gifts follow.
16. While We Were Still Sinners, Christ Died for Us
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” — ESV, Romans 5:8
While we were still sinners is the condition under which the goodness arrived.
Not after improvement. Before it.
The Response That the Goodness Produces
17. Bless the Lord, O My Soul, and Forget Not All His Benefits
“Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” — ESV, Psalm 103:2
Forget not is the instruction.
The deliberate remembering of benefits is the practice that sustained David’s worship.
18. Enter His Gates With Thanksgiving and His Courts With Praise
“Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!” — ESV, Psalm 100:4
Thanksgiving is the currency of the gates.
Thinking of the goodness of God produces what gets you in.
19. I Will Give Thanks to the Lord With My Whole Heart
“I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.” — ESV, Psalm 9:1
Recounting the wonderful deeds is the practice of the grateful heart.
The recounting is the thinking of the goodness made audible.
20. The Lord Is My Strength and My Song, and He Has Become My Salvation
“The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.” — ESV, Exodus 15:2
Moses sang this on the shore of the Red Sea.
The goodness just witnessed became the song.
The Goodness That Is Still Coming
21. Eye Has Not Seen What God Has Prepared for Those Who Love Him
“But, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.’” — ESV, 1 Corinthians 2:9
The goodness experienced so far is not the complete picture.
What is prepared exceeds what has been experienced or imagined.
22. He Will Wipe Every Tear From Their Eyes and Death Shall Be No More
“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore.” — ESV, Revelation 21:4
The final act of the goodness of God is the elimination of everything that has caused pain.
Every tear. No more death. No more mourning.
23. The Lord Is Good to All and His Mercy Is Over All He Has Made
“The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.” — ESV, Psalm 145:9
All that he has made is the scope of his mercy.
The goodness of God is not rationed. It is lavished across all of creation.
What Happens When You Think of the Goodness of God
The thinking is not passive. Asaph chose to remember. David chose to bless his soul and forget not. The Israelites were commanded to rehearse the acts of God to their children.
The practice of deliberately recalling what God has done is one of the primary mechanisms for sustaining faith when current circumstances offer little support.
When you sit with the goodness of God, specifically, personally, and with the memory of what he has done in your own history, something shifts.
The anxiety that the present moment carries gets measured against the track record of the one who has been faithful in every previous moment. The worry begins to look different when held against the accumulated evidence.
Think of it often. Tell it to others. Write it down.
Let the documented goodness of God be the ground you stand on when the ground seems uncertain.
Questions People Ask About the Goodness of God
What does the Bible say about the goodness of God?
Psalm 34:8 invites tasting and seeing that the Lord is good. Psalm 23:6 says goodness and mercy pursue the believer all their days. James 1:17 attributes every good gift to God’s consistent nature. Psalm 119:68 declares God is good and does good. The Bible treats goodness as fundamental to who God is, not merely what he occasionally does.
How do you recognize the goodness of God in your life?
Psalm 103:2–5 prescribes listing what God has done: forgiveness, healing, redemption, satisfying provision. James 1:17 establishes every good gift as coming from above. The practice of recognizing God’s goodness involves deliberately attributing the good things in your life to their actual source rather than to luck, circumstance, or personal achievement.
What does “taste and see that the Lord is good” mean?
Psalm 34:8 uses sensory language to describe experiencing God directly. Taste implies active, personal encounter rather than passive observation. The invitation is not to accept the goodness intellectually but to encounter it experientially. The verse connects tasting the goodness of God with taking refuge in him, suggesting the experience happens in the context of trust.
Why is it important to remember the goodness of God?
Psalm 77:11 shows Asaph choosing to remember God’s deeds during a night of distress. Deuteronomy 8:11–14 warns that forgetting God’s goodness leads to self-sufficiency. The accumulated memory of what God has done is the foundation of the faith required for what is not yet seen. Remembering is a spiritual discipline, not a nostalgic exercise.
How do I thank God for his goodness?
Psalm 100:4 says enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Psalm 9:1 says to give thanks with the whole heart and recount the wonderful deeds. First Chronicles 16:34 commands giving thanks and declaring his goodness. Biblical thanksgiving is specific, audible, and sustained. It names what God has done rather than offering generic gratitude.
Receive My Gratitude for What Your Goodness Has Looked Like in My Specific Life
Father, I want to think of your goodness right now.
Not the general version.
The specific version.
The door you opened when I had stopped believing one would.
The provision that arrived on the morning after the most difficult night.
The peace you gave me in the season that had no natural reason for peace.
The person you sent at exactly the moment I needed them.
The thing I prayed for that I almost stopped praying for.
I am recounting the wonderful deeds the way Psalm 9:1 describes.
And I want to tell you that when I do this deliberately, the present becomes more manageable.
Not because the circumstances have changed.
Because the one who handled every previous impossible thing is still the same.
Great is your faithfulness.
Let me live in the evidence of it.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.