Pastor Rick's Daily Hope

Pastor Rick Warren: Hello everybody. This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope with Rick Warren. I'm really glad you're here. Today we're continuing our series from Psalm 23 called, Living in the Goodness of God. It's all about how God's goodness meets you right where you are and brings hope even in difficult seasons. And now today, here's the final part of a message called, Is God Really Good All the Time?

Well, one of my definitions of hope. I want you to write this down. Hope is anticipating God's goodness. Hope is anticipating God's goodness. The only reason you have hope is because God's a good God. If God is not a good God, there is no radical, rational, logical reason for hope, because we're up a creek as I said, without a paddle.

We're all on our own. The foundation of all hope is the goodness of God. If God is not a good hope, good God, we don't have any hope. Not for the future. You remember this verse, we memorized it one of the previous campaigns. Jeremiah 29:11, For I know the plans I have for you. God has plans for your life.

I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, and they're plans for good. Why? Because he's a good God. God only has good plans for your life. He does not have bad plans for your life, he only has good plans for your life. Now, you can miss those plans.

A lot of people miss God's plan for their life because they're doing their own plan. But he says, the plans I have for you are good plans, plans for good, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Hope is tied to the goodness of God, and the more you understand God's goodness, the more hopeful you're going to be in life.

Let me read that verse again we read earlier, that Psalm 27. I would have despaired. I would have despaired about my life and about everything, unless I had believed that I'd see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. I have a future because of God's goodness. Instead, instead of despairing, I thought, wait for the Lord, be strong, let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for the Lord. We actually sing a song about this.

It says, I will remain confident of this, that I will see the goodness of the Lord. Now, some of you've turned the outline over and go, oh no, we got nine more points. And you go, are you kidding me?

I have no intention of teaching this material to you, because I'm going to teach it the next nine weeks. This is the index for the series. I want you to just fill this in. I'm just going to give you the fill-ins, and then you're going to know where we're going to go. I'm going to spend an entire weekend on each one of these nine points.

So all this is is just to let you know where you're going. I want you to see the forest, not just the single tree. Psalm 23 lists nine different benefits of God's goodness to you, and we're going to cover them in detail. So write these down. Because God is good, number one, verse one, he will meet my needs when I'm worried.

Because God is a good God, he will meet all my needs when I'm worried. The Lord is my shepherd, I will lack nothing. Nada, zip, zero. He meets my needs when I'm worried. Number two, because God is a good God. Number two, you need this one. He will teach me to relax when I'm stressed out.

Some of you, if you just come that one week, that's the week you need. He will teach me how to relax when I'm stressed out. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. This is a metaphor for peace and tranquility.

He makes me lie down. Has God ever had to make you lay down, because you are not smart enough to lay down on your own? And you're working so much, and you're burning the candle at both ends and you're not as bright as you think you are. He makes you lie down. He'll teach you how to relax when you're stressed. Number three, because God is good, he will replenish my strength when I'm empty.

And the truth be told, some of you are out of gas. You've been running on fumes for miles. You need this series. The Bible says, he restores my soul. Most of the modern translations say, he gives me new strength.

So I've got sustenance. He meet my needs when I'm worried. And I've got balance, he's going to teach me how to relax. And then I got resilience, because he restores my soul. He he fills me up when I'm empty. Number four, because God is a good God, he will guide me when I'm confused.

And nothing stresses you out as much as indecision. You've got guidance. He guides me in the right paths for his name's sake because he is a good God. He's not playing games with you. Number five, because God is a good God, he will walk with me in my dark and fearful days.

Because God is a good God, he will walk with me. He's not going to leave me alone. You're going to go through some dark days ahead. You're going to go through some fearful times ahead, but he's going to be with you. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me.

And if God's with you, it doesn't matter who's against you. Number six, he will protect me when I feel insecure. The Bible says in verse four of Psalm 23, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Now, that didn't mean anything to you, because you don't know that the rod and the staff are the two tools of a shepherd in leading sheep. And the those tools are given to a shepherd for the benefit of the sheep.

I'll explain that. He will protect me when I feel insecure. That's God's assurance. And then number seven, because God is a good God, he will publicly show his favor on my life.

Now, we're going to cover this word favor in depth in this series. God wants to put favor on your life. Favor's another way for another term for goodness. It's another term for God's grace. God wants to show favor. When you have a favorite child, or when you have a favored status in economic trade, you get privileges nobody else gets.

I have the favor of God on my life. I've had God's favor on my life since a young man. I know it, and I feel it, and other people see it. It's not something I'm proud about, it's something I'm humbled by. I have the favor of God on my life.

I want the favor of God on your life, too. I want you to feel the favor of God, the smile of God on your life.

And God says, I will publicly show my favor on your life even when everybody's attacking you, criticizing you, when they're against you. The Bible says, you prepare a banquet for me in front of all my enemies. Na na na na na.

And you anoint my head with oil. There's meaning behind this. And my cup overflows. He said, I'm not just going to meet your need, you'll have abundance. It's going to overflow in your life, if you'll trust me. Number eight, because God is a good God, he will be good to me no matter what happens.

Other people may not be good to you in the future, but God will, and you can count on that, the consistency, his benevolence. He will be good to me no matter what happens. Surely goodness, there's that word, surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life. I don't know what's going to happen in my life. You don't know what's going to happen in your life, but I do know this, goodness and mercy will be with me.

God's goodness will be with me and God's mercy will be with me, and I can handle anything if God's goodness and mercy with me. That's his his love, it's his benevolence. And then number ten, as if that's not enough, he takes us into the next life. Because God is a good God, he will take me to heaven one day.

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. That's a long time. Forever. That is the goodness of God. Now, we're going to go in depth on each of these nine things in the next nine weeks. I want to summarize this for you up here on the screen. Look at this.

Because God is a good God, God wants to give you a life of sustenance. He'll meet my needs when I'm worried. A life of balance. He'll teach me how to relax when I'm stressed out. God wants to give you a life of resilience. He'll replenish my strength when I'm empty.

He wants to give you a life of guidance. He'll guide me when I'm confused. He wants to give you a life of confidence. He'll walk with me through my darkest days. He wants to give you, because he is a good God, assurance. He'll protect me when I feel insecure.

He wants to give you a life of influence. He will publicly show his favor on your life if you'll trust him. He wants to give you a life of abundance. Your cup will run over. He wants to give you a life of benevolence. Goodness and mercy will be with me. He will he will be good to me the rest of my life. And he wants to give you an inheritance.

I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Who doesn't want that? Who doesn't who doesn't need that?

Everybody needs what God has to offer. We're just looking for it in all the wrong places. We're expecting those ten needs to be met by our careers, by our bank accounts, by our relationships, by our marriages or boyfriend, girlfriend, whatever. And God says, no, no, no, it's me. I'm it. I'm the source of all goodness in your life. You're looking in the wrong thing. You make anybody else the source of goodness in your life, they're called an idol.

Who does not need this? Everybody needs it. Everybody wants it. Now, where do you get those ten benefits? All those good benefits? From the Lord who is your shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd.

Now, who who is the shepherd? It's Jesus. Jesus is the Lord. Jesus is the shepherd. Look at this verse on the screen. Jesus said, my purpose is to give life in all its fullness. I am the good shepherd. I'm it.

No doubt here, I am the good shepherd. He's either telling the truth or he's lying. I am the good shepherd. And the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. All of those benefits are only available to you, not because you're good, because God is good.

And he, Jesus Christ, came to earth and paid for all those things on the cross. He paid for all those benefits in your life when he died for your sins. That's why they call it Good Friday.

Good Friday certainly wasn't good for Jesus. It was painful, it was torture, he died. But he willingly, he said, no man takes my life. I give it up willingly. He came to die for our sins.

To pay to make all those things possible. You see, sending the Messiah to die for you is the ultimate expression of God's goodness. Let me show you a verse, last verse on the screen. The Bible says this in Isaiah 49, 15 and 16. Can a mother forget the baby at her breast? Obviously not. No mom's going to forget a nursing child.

Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has born? No. Though she may forget, God says, I will not forget you. See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.

Now, Isaiah said that hundreds of years before Jesus Christ died on the cross and they put nails through his hands. Did you know that God has a tattoo of you?

I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. When you get to heaven, the only person who's going to have scars in heaven will be Jesus Christ. And you'll see, I've engraved you on the palm of This is how much I love you. This is how much I love you. This is how good I am to you.

Let's bow our heads. God, you are so good. We could never deserve your goodness. We would not be alive, we would not take our next breath, our heart would have its not have its next beat if you weren't a good God.

Forgive us for ungratefulness. Forgive us for prideful, self-centeredness. Forgive us for thinking that we did it all. Yeah, right.

Nothing would happen. We wouldn't even exist if it weren't for you. Now, you pray.

I want you to say something like this. God, I I I'm sorry that I've often forgotten your goodness. I don't think about it.

And God, when I don't think about how good you are, I start claiming credit for things that you did for me and through me and in me and to me. And I'm sorry. I'd have nothing without you.

And God, so much of the time I forget your goodness, and I just stop asking you for help. And so I'm not learning to trust you, because I'm not asking you to meet my needs.

You've told me to come boldly in prayer to the good and gracious God. And expect you to answer out of your goodness. So I want to start asking for your blessing and answers to my needs every day of my life.

And Lord, because I forget your goodness, I often stop trusting you in difficult times. Help me to remember that in everything you're working for good, even the bad stuff, because you have a good plan for my life.

I don't want to be pessimistic about my future. Like David, I would despair if I didn't know the goodness of God.

Help me to wait for you. Help me to be strong, to take courage in my heart, and to wait for God to answer the needs in my life. Lord, I want this life that is outlined in Psalm 23, a life of sustenance and balance, resilience and guidance, confidence and assurance, influence and abundance. Benevolence and inheritance.

And I know that you've made this available, not because of my goodness, because I'm not. But because of your goodness and your grace.

Jesus Christ, thank you for paying for all of these things with your life. And as much as I know how, I ask you to be my good shepherd.

The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep and you did that for me. So, I don't understand it all, but I'm asking you to make yourself real to me.

And I want to learn to love you and follow you and trust you. You are a good God. And I pray this humbly in your name. Amen.

You know, if you just prayed that prayer for the very first time, or you just recommitted your life to Jesus again today, would you let me know about it? There's something real about sharing your commitment. So write me, Rick, at pastorrick.com and say, Rick, I prayed that prayer of commitment. I gave my life to Christ, and I'll send you some material that'll help you on your journey with Jesus, and I'll also pray for you. God bless you.

Hey, if you're looking for daily encouragement from God's word, I'd like to invite you to download the Daily Hope app. It's designed to help you grow in your faith every day. It has easy access to devotionals, audio messages you can listen to anywhere, and video teaching right at your fingertips. You can even search for topics that matter to you and set a daily reminder, so you never miss time with God. Just search, Daily Hope, in the Apple App Store or Google Play, and I hope it's a real blessing to you. Be sure to join us next time as we look into God's word for our Daily Hope. This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support.