TITLE: God is Good. (Problem of Evil: Part 1)

TEXT: Psalm 107

THEME: God’s goodness should give us hope in suffering and thankfulness in deliverance.

Charles Darwin

The loss of his beloved daughter that was the pivotal experience that shaped his world view and illustrates what is called by philosophers “the problem of suffering and evil.”

Epicurus- The Problem of Evil

• Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; or he can, but does not want do.

Epicurus- The Problem of Evil

• Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; or he can, but does not want do.

• If he wants to, but cannot, he is impotent. If he can, and does not want to, he is wicked.

Epicurus- The Problem of Evil

• Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; or he can, but does not want do.

• If he wants to, but cannot, he is impotent. If he can, and does not want to, he is wicked.

• But, if God both can and wants to abolish evil, then how comes evil in the world.

In light of our suffering why should I believe in the goodness

of God?

I. Because suffering in not inconsistent with God’s goodness.

(1-3)

Psalm 107:1-3

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

his love endures forever.

2 Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—

those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,

3 those he gathered from the lands,

from east and west, from north and south.

A. His goodness and love is depicted in the context of suffering.

I. Because suffering in not inconsistent with God’s goodness.

(1-3)

A. His goodness and love is depicted in the context of suffering.

One could just as easily ask

“If God is holy and just and cannot tolerate sin, and we are all sinners, then why is their pleasure?”

One could just as easily ask

“If God is holy and just and cannot tolerate sin, and we are all sinners, then why is their pleasure?”

The answer is simple, “God is more than those two things just as he is more than just good and all powerful.”

I. Because suffering in not inconsistent with God’s goodness.

(1-3)

A. His goodness and love is depicted in the context of suffering.

B. His goodness is evident in His redemption of people

God’s Divine Right

By divine right he created a world in which He could demonstrate all His divine attributes- we cannot pick and choose and play them against each other. The existence of suffering does not diminish the fact that God is good and powerful.

In light of our suffering why should I believe in the goodness of

God?

Four word pictures with a pattern of:

• Calamity

• Cry

• Rescue

• Thanks

II. Because God ultimately rescues us from our suffering (4-32)

A. He gives needy wanderers a home (4-9)

II. Because God ultimately rescues us from our suffering (4-32)

A. He gives needy wanderers a home (4-9)

B. He restores imprisoned rebels (10-16)

II. Because God ultimately rescues us from our suffering (4-32)

A. He gives needy wanderers a home (4-9)

B. He restores imprisoned rebels (10-16)

C. He saves deserving fools from death (17-22)

II. Because God ultimately rescues us from our suffering (4-32)

A. He gives needy wanderers a home (4-9)

B. He restores imprisoned rebels (10-16)

C. He saves deserving fools from death (17-22)

D. He protects the sailor by calming the storm (22-32)

All four word pictures will include these words:

“Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for

mankind.”

Calamity

4 Some wandered in desert wastelands,

finding no way to a city where they could settle.

5 They were hungry and thirsty,

and their lives ebbed away.

Cry

6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,

and he delivered them from their distress.

Rescue

7 He led them by a straight way

to a city where they could settle.

Thanksgiving

8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love

and his wonderful deeds for mankind,

9 for he satisfies the thirsty

and fills the hungry with good things.

Carol Kent, A New Kind of Normal

When despair tries to take me under…I choose life.

When I wonder what God could possibly be thinking…I choose trust.

When I desperately want relief from unrelenting reality…I choose perseverance.

When I feel oppressed by my disappointment and sorrow…I choose gratitude.

Carol Kent, A New Kind of Normal

When I want to keep my feelings to myself…I choose vulnerability.

When nothing goes according to my plan…I choose relinquishment.

When I want to point the finger…I choose forgiveness.

When I want to give up…I choose purposeful action.

In light of our suffering why should I believe in the goodness

of God?

III. Because God has a greater reason for our suffering (33-43)

Psalm 107:33-43

33 He turned rivers into a desert,

flowing springs into thirsty ground,

34 and fruitful land into a salt waste,

because of the wickedness of those who lived there.

35 He turned the desert into pools of water

and the parched ground into flowing springs;

Psalm 107:33-43

36 there he brought the hungry to live,

and they founded a city where they could settle.

37 They sowed fields and planted vineyards

that yielded a fruitful harvest;

38 he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased,

and he did not let their herds diminish.

Psalm 107:33-43

39 Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled

by oppression, calamity and sorrow;

40 he who pours contempt on nobles

made them wander in a trackless waste.

41 But he lifted the needy out of their affliction

and increased their families like flocks.

42 The upright see and rejoice,

but all the wicked shut their mouths.

III. Because God has a greater reason for our suffering (33-43)

A. The upright see God’s salvation and rejoice

III. Because God has a greater reason for our suffering (33-43)

A. The upright see God’s salvation and rejoice

B. The wicked reject God’s salvation and are silenced

III. Because God has a greater reason for our suffering (33-43)

A. The upright see God’s salvation and rejoice

B. The wicked reject God’s salvation and are silenced

C. God uses it to build character. (i.e., Romans 5:3-4)

Romans 5:3-4

3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Ernest Hemingway, Worlds shortest story:

"For sale: baby shoes, never worn."

In light of our suffering why should I believe in the goodness

of God?

IV. Because suffering is only for a little time to build faith. (I Peter

1:6-7)

I Peter 1:6-7

1:6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Philip Griffin, "A God Who Redeems,"

I got a glimpse of redemption that day. I saw John cross the line of faith and let Christ put his feet on a different path. And I saw God take something that was intended for death—that hose—and use it to fill up something that means life—the baptismal pool

You can choose which path you will follow when you encounter

suffering. One leads to hopelessness and despair the

other leads to praise and thankfulness