APRIL 18.
 
The Lord is good.
Jeremiah 33:11

 

CREATURES are comparatively good,
  God is absolutely good; in this sense,
  “there is none good but one, that is God.”
 
He is naturally good,
  for his nature is the fountain of all goodness.
He is infinitely good,
  for there is no limit to his goodness.
He is eternally good,
  for his goodness will never terminate.
He is so good,
  that he cannot be better.
 
His goodness is immutable, and
  therefore he will never be less good than
    he is at this moment.
 
He is good to all his creatures, and
  his mercy is over all his works.
 
But he is especially good to some.
 
His goodness appears in his works,
  shines forth in his providence,
  but reigns in all its glory
    in the salvation of sinners.
 
Here all the rays of his goodness meet and centre.
 
In the gift of his dear Son,
  in the promise of his Holy Spirit,
  in sending his glorious gospel,
   we see that the Lord is good.
 
But in the conversion of our souls,
  in the pardon of our sins,
  in the justification of our persons,
  in sending the Spirit of adoption into our hearts,
  and in giving us eternal life,
  we feel his goodness and rejoice in it.
 
Yes, the Lord is good or
  he would not have borne with us,
  nor would he have pardoned us until now.
 

Thy goodness, Lord, our souls confess,

Thy goodness we adore;

A spring whose blessings cannot fail,

A sea without a shore.

 
James Smith 1849