What is Favour?
Before we go on to explore the goodness of God and its relation to favour, let us establish a general, brief understanding of the word Favour.
When we say that we favour someone, we are in fact saying that we prefer an individual over another or over serveral others (often unfairly). The word favour in the Bible (mentioned some 449 times), shares a similar meaning, but also involves a much wider scope. To favour (someone), from both the Hebrew and Greek perspective is: to show grace, to be gracious, to be kind, to show kindness, to find delight in, to graciously grant (gifts or blessings), to accept (someone), to find pleasure in (someone), to desire (someone), to find grace in one’s eye, to give undeserved preferential treatments, to show mercy, to be merciful, to have joy (in someone), to have a divine influence upon the heart which is reflected in the life (of an individual).
The above list, although not exhaustive, shows us the rich meaning of favour in the Bible and very often, grace is used interchangeably with favour. In short, one might say that the active expression and manifestation of grace is favour. Thus in what follows, whenever we see words like grace, mercy, blessings, delight and kindness, we must have a mental picture of the favour of God at work.
Why me, Lord?
The original (root) meaning in English for the word ‘God’ is ‘the good’. In a sense, ‘God’ and ‘good’ are essentially the same. Thus when we talk about God, we are also talking about Him being good. The psalmists captured this aspect in the divine nature of God when they declared,
"You are good and do good..."
(Psalm 119:68)
"Good and upright is the Lord..."
(Psalm 25:8)
Yet even after understanding the equation of God and goodness, we still might not fully understand why our good God is good to us. Why does God favour us? And what connection does favour have with goodness? To have a better picture of the ‘why’ of God’s favour and goodness, let us look at the following psalm.
"Oh how great is your goodness, which you have laid up for those who fear you, which you have prepared for those who trust in you …"
(Psalm 31:19)
The psalmist then continued in verse 21, "Blessed be the Lord, for He has shown me His marvellous kindness in a strong city."
In another place, the psalmist declared, "Be gracious to me, O Lord…For thou, Lord, art good…" (Psalm 86:3, 5 NASB)
In yet another place, the Lord Himself said, "I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy."
(Exodus 33:19)
(In Hebrew, the word ‘gracious’ carries an understanding of an inclination by God to show favour. The word ‘mercy’ in Hebrew carries the meaning of ‘fondle’; that is to gently touch and move your fingers over part of someone’s body in a way that shows love.)In all of the above, we can observe something about God: because of His goodness, we have favour from Him. His goodness causes us to enjoy His favour. His goodness leads us to His favour! (Remember in the previous section, we say that whenever we see words like ‘grace’, ‘mercy’ and ‘kindness’, we must also understand that the favour of God is at work.)
It is exactly because of His goodness, that we find favour (or grace) in His sight. Thus His goodness and His favour go hand-in-hand. No wonder the psalmist says,
"Surely, goodness and mercy (or loving favour) shall follow me all the days of my life."
(Psalm 23:6)
Mercy is a manifestation of the overwhelming goodness of God commonly experienced in the salvation or deliverance of God’s covenant people. Mercy is a result of His goodness, an expression of favour or loving-kindness shown to His people. In fact, mercy (or loving favour) is dominant in all God’s benevolent dealings toward His beloved people.
"The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and abounding in mercy and loving-kindness." (Psalm 145:8 Amplified)
One of the consequences of our covenant relationship with God (as Christians) is that His mercy (or loving favour) and His goodness will always abound toward us. This ‘covenantal pair’ is mentioned over 18 times in the Old Testament. And in 14 occasions in the Old Testament, the two words ‘goodness’ and ‘mercy’ are used in similar fashion.
"...the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord." (Psalm 33:5)
"The earth, O Lord, is full of Your mercy..." (Psalm 119:64)
Other examples are found in Psalm 52 verses 1 and 8,
"...the goodness of God endures continually ...I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever."
In the New Testament, we can also find both the goodness and the mercy of God in action. In Romans 2:4, Paul says that "the goodness of God leads you to repentance." In other words, because of God’s goodness, we can obtain His mercy as we repent! Thus whenever, we see His goodness, we are also witnessing the loving favour of God in action! His goodness leads to abundant grace, mercy, kindness and so much more! As Christians and as His covenant people, we should be bold to proclaim, "God is good and His mercy endures forever. His loving kindness and favour are always upon me. As God’s covenant people, I will never lack His favour. God always favours me for He is good!"
The goodness of God leads to favour! Indeed, the goodness of God ‘points’ favour; His goodness is the root of favour! ....
|
