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No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
Psalm 84:11
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​This past week we saw crazy amounts of rain.  It's likely that some of it ended up in your basement.  For others, much of it ended up in your basement. 

If that latter, it likely had some devastating effects: it ruined carpet, equipment, and leaves the lingering possibility of mildew build up.  

Then there's the clean up, the bills, and the ever so tight fisted insurance guy with whom you have to deal.

This is just one example of the various providences that come our way on a daily basis.  If this wasn't your experience, you can no doubt fill in the blank with your own horror story.

Let's pause here and get some perspective.  Put on your Biblical lenses and consider what has happened.  Weigh these events from God's point of view:
 
"The Lord withholds no good thing from them that walk uprightly."
 
If you translate the double negative, it means that God is astoundingly liberal in his goodness.  When it comes to His children, He is a fountain that gushes with radical generosity.  

You may need to read it again and again to convince yourself.  Most do not see the Lord in this light.  Typically our theology of God and His goodness is quite impoverished.  We see Him as gaunt and comparable to Pharoah's skinny cows.

This ought not to be so.  Scripture is clear: God withholds no good thing from his people.  The blessings of His covenant are secured in Christ and "the Lord has promised good to me."

Do you think something bad has happened?  Do you feel that heaven is against you?  Think again. 

It is not possible for God to hold back any good from you.  The gate of His eternal benevolence is open wide to you and it ever flows in your direction.  

You will say, "Why then do I not have riches and health and honor?  Why are these good things withheld from me?  All I have is a basement full of water!"

If God has given you such things, it was for your good.  He is to be praised for it.  If He withholds them, it is for your blessed welfare.  They would not serve your betterment and advancement in life.

God would rather have you stoop under the pains and difficulties of trials.  He would rather cultivate in you humility, dependence, and faith.  These are His gems and treasures; they have greater profit than those things which your carnally crave.

Even as you stand in the ankle deep waters of your basement, remember that before you are overflowing buckets of his generosity.  So too is the peace of mind that you may have in the midst of it.


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We have our own version of this proverb.  It goes like this: It's my way or the highway.  

Yet, when it comes to stubborn persistence in sin, we must recognize that God is not tolerant.  He demands holiness in the inward parts.

If someone tries to cover their sin, and does not confess and forsake it, the Lord, you may be sure, will withhold his favorable kindness.

"No sin is too great for him to forgive, but no sin is too small for him to overlook either," said the great commentator, Charles Bridges.

You can easily see how it is excused.  It is only a small sin, it is not flagrant or scandalous.  It will not do any harm!

Tell that to Adam.  A mere bite of an apple plunged all mankind into a world of sin and misery.  Ananias and Sapphira know that their concealment had significant penalties attached to it.

When sin is not adequately repented of, the Lord will not allow one to prosper.  Death is the wages of sin, and God will allow it to wreak its cursed havoc among those who coddle it. 

It's miserable regressions can come in different ways:

• The conscience may be stricken (Gen 52.21),
• Health may be afflicted (Ps 32.3),
• Plans may be thwarted (1 Sam 15:21),
• Life may be cut short (Prov. 7.),
• Prayers may be hindered (1 Pet. 3.7)
• Money may be lost (Prov. 5.10)
• Reputations may be shamed (Matt 23.25f)
• Jobs/promotions may be kept at bay (Lk 15.15)
• Happiness may be frustrated (Ps. 31.10)
• Social calamity may befall (Deut 28)
• And many, many, more!

Any one or a combination of these pains are the just deserts of sin. The Lord will save the sinner, but the sinner must apply the means God has appointed.  He must confess and forsake his sin.

So do yourself a favor.  When your sin is brought to your attention, take it to the Lord.  Flee from it and find reprieve from its devastating effects.  Enjoy the fruit that comes by means of confessing and forsaking it.

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