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God Withholds Nothing We Need · Pastor John Piper's answers

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  Speaker 1: Today we read a Psalm eighty four together in the
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  Speaker 1: Navigator's Bible reading plan. God has promised to not withhold
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  Speaker 1: any good thing from us nothing. That's Psalm eighty four eleven.
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  Speaker 1: It's a mega promise. It's a huge blanket promise. But
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  Speaker 1: what does it mean when it feels like God is
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  Speaker 1: actually withholding good things from our lives? What does it
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  Speaker 1: mean for the single Christian who desperately wants to be married.
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  Speaker 1: Marriage is a good thing, right, so why is God
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  Speaker 1: withholding it? Or what about the married couple struggling with
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  Speaker 1: infertility and who desperately want to have children. Children are
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  Speaker 1: a blessing from the Lord, right, so why is the
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  Speaker 1: gift of children being withheld? We've looked at both of
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  Speaker 1: those situations in the past, both through the lens of
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  Speaker 1: Psalm eighty four, actually, as you can see in the
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  Speaker 1: APJ book on pages one, two and when ninety three.
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  Speaker 1: But Pastor John, there's another side to this question, which
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  Speaker 1: is why must we even ask him for good things
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  Speaker 1: in the first place. He's already made the promises to
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  Speaker 1: us to give us every good thing, and so why
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  Speaker 1: must we ask for more? That's the question on the
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  Speaker 1: mind of Luke a listener to the podcast who wrote,
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  Speaker 1: in this Hello Pastor John, I've noticed that many worship
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  Speaker 1: songs being written today express a desire for more, more
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  Speaker 1: of Jesus, more of the spirit, more of God's revealed glory,
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  Speaker 1: more of his felt presence, and so on. It seems
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  Speaker 1: to me that we're asking for more of something when,
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  Speaker 1: according to Romans eight thirty two, when Psalm eighty four eleven,
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  Speaker 1: we've already been given all things. This gives the impression
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  Speaker 1: that Jesus might be withholding something from us and that
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  Speaker 1: we must beg for it before he gives it to us.
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  Speaker 1: What is the difference between asking God for more of
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  Speaker 1: something and realizing that He has not withheld any good
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  Speaker 1: thing from us? As Romans eight thirty two and Psalm
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  Speaker 1: eighty four eleven indicate.
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  Speaker 2: This is such a good question. I've asked it to
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  Speaker 2: myself in various forms for decades because that promise is
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  Speaker 2: so close to the heart of what we love about
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  Speaker 2: our salvation. One way to put the question would be,
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  Speaker 2: if if God is working everything together for our good
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  Speaker 2: that's Romans eight twenty eight, and if he withholds no
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  Speaker 2: good from those who walk up brightly, it so maybe
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  Speaker 2: four eleven. And if He most certainly will give us
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  Speaker 2: all things from his eight thirty two, then why ask
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  Speaker 2: him for more of anything? Doesn't asking him for more
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  Speaker 2: imply that yesterday's good wasn't good enough. There are so
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  Speaker 2: many things that need clarifying here. Let's start with the
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  Speaker 2: last point. If you ask God for more good today,
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  Speaker 2: does that mean yesterday's good was somehow defective or deficient
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  Speaker 2: or inadequate, less than good? And the answer is no,
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  Speaker 2: not necessarily think about it. The word more can have
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  Speaker 2: three meanings. At least when you pray for more faith,
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  Speaker 2: or more love or more obedience. It can mean more
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  Speaker 2: in the sense of continuation. Just do it again, Lord,
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  Speaker 2: do it again today like you did yesterday. His mercies
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  Speaker 2: are new every morning. And saying that is no criticism
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  Speaker 2: of yesterday's mercy or yesterday's good. You're so thankful for it.
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  Speaker 2: You just want the same thing today. It's more in
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  Speaker 2: the sense of being in addition to yesterday's good, not
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  Speaker 2: an improvement on yesterday's good. So that's the first meaning. Second,
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  Speaker 2: more can mean not just a continuation of yesterday's good,
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  Speaker 2: but an increase. Paul prayed this way repeatedly. He said,
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  Speaker 2: for example, first Disalonians, for verse one, Brothers, we urge
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  Speaker 2: you that, as you received from us how you ought
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  Speaker 2: to walk and to please God, just as you are
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  Speaker 2: doing that, you do so more and more. Or verses
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  Speaker 2: nine and ten. You yourselves have been taught by God
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  Speaker 2: to love one another. For that, indeed is what you
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  Speaker 2: are doing. But we urge you, brothers, to do this
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  Speaker 2: more and more. To desire increase of yesterday's good is
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  Speaker 2: not an indictment of yesterday's good. It's a commendation of it.
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  Speaker 2: It was so good, I want more and third more
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  Speaker 2: can mean not just a continuation or an increase, but
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  Speaker 2: a restoration of what was missing yesterday, as when David prayed,
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  Speaker 2: restore to me the joy of my salvation.
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  Speaker 1: Ps.
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  Speaker 2: I'm fifty one twelve. I want more joy in You
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  Speaker 2: God than I had yesterday, or than I have right now.
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  Speaker 2: That's the way David prayed. Now this more is more
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  Speaker 2: complicated than previous. To the continuation of good and the
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  Speaker 2: increase of good. That's one thing, and not much problem there.
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  Speaker 2: But to want more joy in God than you once
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  Speaker 2: had is a commendation of that joy and that good,
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  Speaker 2: not a criticism of that indictment. But on the other hand,
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  Speaker 2: not having that joy yesterday is something you want to change.
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  Speaker 2: You want to change that. So we asked, was not
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  Speaker 2: having joy in God yesterday good? If it was good,
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  Speaker 2: why are you asking to change it? Not good? Then
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  Speaker 2: does God withhold good from his people? That's what the
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  Speaker 2: question boils down to in asking about more now to
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  Speaker 2: solve that riddle, we need more clarifications. You might immediately say, oh,
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  Speaker 2: you didn't. You didn't quote the verse quite right, piper.
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  Speaker 2: You said God doesn't withhold good from his people. But
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  Speaker 2: Psalm eighty four eleven says no good thing does he
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  Speaker 2: withhold from those who walk uprightly, And that question would
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  Speaker 2: imply so when we lack good like joy in God,
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  Speaker 2: it's because we have done some sin, like David with
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  Speaker 2: Bathsheba say. But that doesn't work in Psalm eighty four
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  Speaker 2: eleven because it implies that if you walk in the
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  Speaker 2: paths of right nowrighteousness uprightly, you won't experience any emotional
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  Speaker 2: or circumstantial pain. But that's not true. The Bible says,
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  Speaker 2: many are the afflictions of the righteous, that is, those
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  Speaker 2: who walk up rightly, the people from whom He withholds
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  Speaker 2: no good thing. Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
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  Speaker 2: those who.
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  Speaker 1: Walk up rightly.
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  Speaker 2: So I'm thirty four nineteen. Jesus and Paul were two
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  Speaker 2: of the most righteous people, and then they both suffered
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  Speaker 2: more than anybody else in the New Testament, and they
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  Speaker 2: taught us to expect the same. So what does Psalm
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  Speaker 2: eighty four eleven mean no good? The word thing is
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  Speaker 2: not there in the Hebrew. It's just no good. Does
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  Speaker 2: he withhold from those who walk uprightly? It means the
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  Speaker 2: same as Romans eight twenty eight. For those who love
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  Speaker 2: God God, all things work together for good, namely those
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  Speaker 2: who are called according to His purpose. Loving God and
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  Speaker 2: being called by God means being a Christian. All things
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  Speaker 2: work together for good for Christians, God's children, God's elect.
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  Speaker 2: It's not a declaration that when Christians do good things,
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  Speaker 2: good things happen to them, and when they do bad things,
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  Speaker 2: bad things happen to them. That's not what it says
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  Speaker 2: or what it means. It means God works everything that
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  Speaker 2: happens to a Christian for his or her good, and
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  Speaker 2: in that sense what happens to them is good good
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  Speaker 2: for them. That's what I think. Psalm eighty four to
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  Speaker 2: eleven means no good does God withhold from those who
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  Speaker 2: walk up rightly means for those who are truly part
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  Speaker 2: of God's people, truly faithful, truly saved among the elect,
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  Speaker 2: God does not withhold what is ultimately good for them.
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  Speaker 2: And you can see this because the same phrase walk
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  Speaker 2: uprightly is used that way, namely for God's faithful person,
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  Speaker 2: not just for a person who today does a good thing,
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  Speaker 2: but God's faithful one, God's perfect one Psalm fifteen two
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  Speaker 2: one oh one six one nineteen one, Proverbs twenty eight eighteen.
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  Speaker 1: Those who walk up rightly.
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  Speaker 2: Are simply Christians. They are the Saints, Which leaves time
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  Speaker 2: perhaps in this episode for perhaps one more clarification. The
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  Speaker 2: fact that God, in his infinitely wise and holy sovereignty,
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  Speaker 2: plans for Christians to experience some affliction in this life
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  Speaker 2: rather than perfect safety and health, and plans for Christians
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  Speaker 2: to experience some sinfulness in this life rather than sanctifying
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  Speaker 2: them instantaneously and completely so that they're only sinlessly perfect
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  Speaker 2: Christians in the world. That's not his plan. That fact,
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  Speaker 2: the fact that He will turn all that affliction and
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  Speaker 2: all that sinfulness for their good, does not mean that
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  Speaker 2: Christians should want to be sick or want to be sinful.
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  Speaker 2: Why because it is presumptuous to want to be sick,
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  Speaker 2: and it's evil to want to be sinful. God's providence
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  Speaker 2: ordains whether we are struck with sickness or struck with sin.
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  Speaker 2: It does, but his word. You don't read God's providence.
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  Speaker 2: You read Good's word. His word commands us to pray
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  Speaker 2: that we be healed and that we be holy. Indeed,
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  Speaker 2: it is right to sing and pray more love to you,
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  Speaker 2: Oh Christ, more love to you, more obedience to you,
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  Speaker 2: more joy in you. It's right to pray that way.
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  Speaker 2: God can take yesterday's lovelessness and disobedience and joylessness and
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  Speaker 2: turn them for our good. But it is dangerous. It
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  Speaker 2: is a dangerous sin to think that we should choose
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  Speaker 2: lovelessness and disobedience and joylessness. No, no, we shouldn't. Rather
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  Speaker 2: let us sing and pray more love, more obedience, more
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  Speaker 2: joy in you, Oh Christ.
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  Speaker 1: And no good does God withhold from those who walk uprightly.
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  Speaker 1: God withholds nothing from us that is ultimately good for us.
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  Speaker 1: We take that promise to the bank because we don't
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  Speaker 1: read God's providence. We read God's Word. Thank you Pastor
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  Speaker 1: John for that meditation on Sami eighty four eleven text
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  Speaker 1: in our reading today. If you are joining us for
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  Speaker 1: the Navigator's Bible Reading Plan, you can jump in with
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  Speaker 1: us right now. Find the Navigator's Bible Reading Plan online,
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  Speaker 1: print it off and join us in today's reading of
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  Speaker 1: Psalm eighty four, which falls on month four day fourteen.
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  Speaker 1: That's how you find it in the reading list, month
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  Speaker 1: four day fourteen. That's today. Join us. Next time we
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  Speaker 1: look at Christian loaners and what they miss out on. Loaners,
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  Speaker 1: whether by choice or by consequence, may feel safer being
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  Speaker 1: alone than risking relationships, but it's actually robbing them something bigger,
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  Speaker 1: and that is more of Christ himself. That's next. I'm
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  Speaker 1: Tony Rank. We'll see you on Thursday.