Now let us consider our fourth word:  Good.  This will be especially significant to us when delve into the context of this poetic passage.“Good” is a tricky word that can obscure a confusion of ideas we all too easily blur.  In the context of the Bible’s presentation of the God of the universe Who we know to be loving and “good,” leads us to conclude that He will see to it that we experience what we would have chosen were we God.  (In other words, we are inclined to wrap into “good” a very arrogant idea, namely that we know what it is and, even worse, demand it of God or else we are prepared to call into doubt whether God Himself is truly “good” after all!).

We will consider the promises YHWH / Lord made to Abram (later Abraham) to show us a deeper understanding of what “good” means in the domain of God’s work on and into us and all His creation.