Good in God

Scripture Reading: Psalm16:2

I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”

In Psalm 16, David writes about a God-centered life. In verse one, he takes refuge in God. In verse five, the LORD is his chosen portion and his cup. In verse eight, he sets the LORD always before himself. Then, he concludes in verse eleven by claiming that joy and pleasure are found only in God’s presence.

In verse two, David declares that there is no good apart from God. What does he mean by this? Is he, like the Preacher in Ecclesiastes, suggesting that all is vanity? Is he saying that the only good we will experience in life is God? Since this Psalm, unlike Ecclesiastes, is a joyful song, I don’t believe that is what he is getting at.

Also, consider the fact that when God created the world, after every act of creation He looked upon what He had made and said, “It is good.” Other Scriptures would lead us to think David could not have meant that nothing except God is good. For example, the Bible tells us that the man who finds a wife finds a good thing. And James said that every good gift comes down from God in heaven.

The Bible is clear that there is a lot of good for us to experience in this life. What then, is David getting at when he says, “I have no good apart from you?”

What he is testifying to is that fellowship with God, a life lived in God’s presence, is what makes things good. Work is good when we work as unto the Lord. Marriage is good when husbands love their wives as Christ loved the church and wives submit to their husbands. Meals are good when they are eaten with gratitude toward God who provides.

All things are good when we love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

The opposite of this is true as well. Nothing is truly good when it is divorced from God. Everything is good in God and we “have no good apart from [Him].”

If you want to live what you could call a good life, take refuge in God, say to God, “You are my Lord,” choose the Lord, set Him always before yourself, and live in His presence. Live Coram Deo.