Matt Redman - Your Grace Finds MeНамуна

Good Forever

“Blessings before me, blessings behind me –
Forever You are good.
Battles before me, battles behind me;
I look to You alone.”

The Christian life is full of battle and blessing. We’ve all known seasons where the smile of God is so clearly over our circumstances and there’s an effortless momentum to our lives. We’ve also known seasons where we experience quite the opposite - everything seems like a fight, and we’re not quite sure where God is hiding in all of the confusion and heartache. Sometimes, of course, battle and blessing occur right alongside each other in our lives - and a heightened sense of favor is accompanied by an amplified sense of struggle.

Whether we face battle or we face blessing, running through it all is the goodness of God. It is a constant thread, unchanging and unending, consistent both through the best of times and the worst of times. The healthiest of worshippers can sing the song of God’s goodness not only in those bright sun-kissed moments of life, but even during the darkest nights of the soul. Jesus Himself modeled this for us as He journeyed towards the cross. Picture this - our Savior and His disciples were finishing the Last Supper, which would actually have been a celebration of the Passover meal. We are told, “‘When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives’ (Mark 14:26) That meal traditionally ended with Psalm 136, ‘The Great Hallel’ - so it’s really likely that this hymn we hear about in this moment was that very same psalm. Here they are, gathered together, and Jesus is foretelling the cross. He knows what He is to face, and the shadow of His sacrifice falls over this heavily moment. And yet, what is the theme of His song here? It is the goodness of God. Over and over again in this hymn we hear Him singing:

“His love endures forever.”

Jesus models here something that is so crucial to grasp in our worship today. For we must not only be declaring the goodness of God when life is all blessing, peacefulness and ease. We must also announce His goodness over our more troubled moments. The enlightened worshipper realizes that even though they may not have the clearest view of it right now, the goodness of God is as real and present as it ever was. And so we begin to sing:

“You are good forever, and Your love endures,
You are good forever, and Your loves endures.
Jesus always, Your love remains –
You are good, You are good.”