Who is the LORD, abundant in goodness and truth

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At some point, you've probably asked yourself: who is God, really—beneath the layers of religious tradition, church talk, and cultural noise? This isn't just a theological question; it's a personal one. And in Exodus 34, God answers it Himself. When He speaks to Moses, He doesn't offer a lecture or a list of demands. He gives a self-portrait. And what does He highlight? That He is abundant in goodness and truth.

That word abundant means overflowing. Packed to the brim. God isn't casually kind or occasionally patient. He's loaded down with loving-kindness. He's consistent. Unlike us—who wake up one day ready to be generous and the next ready to bite someone's head off—God doesn't have mood swings. He's not unpredictable. He's always good.

But what really hits is how God ties goodness to truth. This isn't a soft, sentimental kind of goodness. It's honest. Solid. His truth means He's faithful. He keeps His word. When He says He's merciful, He means it. When He says He's patient, He doesn't change His mind halfway through the week. God isn't smiling to your face while planning to ditch you the moment you fail again. That's not who He is. The God who loves you in your sin won't quit loving you because you won't stop sinning.

That kind of consistency changes everything. It brings security. You don't have to second-guess where you stand with Him. You're not walking on eggshells with a God who might turn on you. You're being led by a Shepherd who has His "pockets full of candy"—ready to bless, quick to forgive, rich in mercy, steady in His love.

So ask yourself—how would your day look if you really believed this? How would your stress shift? Your relationships? Your outlook? You have a God who is endlessly good, endlessly true, and faithful. He doesn't flinch at your failures. He doesn't play favorites or keep score. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever.

The Lord is your Shepherd. Abundant in goodness and truth. You shall not want.

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Episode Transcript

Austin Gardner (00:01):
I hope you are finding out just how good your
God is.
The Lord is my shepherd.
I am still thinking about theLord.
We have found out that the Lordthat's Yahweh, that's I am is
my shepherd, I am, isshepherding me.
I am and who is I am.
Who is God?

(00:22):
Because we are so easilyconfused about who he is because
we've listened to what thechurch and religion and our
parents and our grandparents andsociety tells us.
It's kind of a lot offoolishness gets put into it.
But he said I am merciful.
Then he said I am gracious,which was another way of saying
merciful.
Then he said I am slow to anger, I am patient.

(00:45):
He made the comment basicallythat he has a long nose.
In other words, he doesn't getbreathing crazy and agitated
like so many people would.
It's not who he is, that's notwhat he does.
And then, in the verse thatwe're reading from Exodus, you
remember that we're letting Godtell us who he is.

(01:07):
In Exodus 34, 5 through 7,.
The Lord descended in the cloudand stood with Moses and
proclaimed the name of the Lord.
The Lord passed by Moses andproclaimed the Lord, the Lord,
the Lord, the Lord, godmercifulsuffering and abundant
in goodness and truth.

(01:28):
Wow, what does that mean?
He is abundant in goodness andtruth.
Now, I'll be honest with you.
We so easily find ourselvesgetting confused when we read
something like that abundanceand truth and goodness and truth
.
It's like, well, goodness isbeing nice to you and merciful
and truth is being harsh intothe law.

(01:49):
But let's talk about what thatmeans.
First off, the word abundantthere means he's the leader, he
is the chief, he abounds, he'sexceedingly plenteous.
In other words, he's rich with,he's heavy with riches.
He's carrying a load of beingrich.

(02:10):
Now, what is he rich with?
What is he abundant with?
What does he have so much of?
He has goodness.
So what is goodness there?
Goodness is his kindness, hisdoing favors, his benefiting us.
It is the word loving kindnessthat he's using there.
It is God is a God ofunchanging love.

(02:33):
He is a God who is faithful.
He is a God who's loyal.
He is a God who is merciful.
And he said but that's whatgoodness means.
He said I am abundant, I amrich, I am rich, I'm the leader,
I'm the number one guy when itcomes to being good.
Oh, taste and see that the Lordis good, he is good.

(02:53):
You know, we already know this.
But God is love and God is goodand he's rich.
He's rich, he's abundant.
The Bible says in Psalm 134,four through 6, he says it so
many times he said his mercyendures forever.
His mercy endures forever.
His mercy endures forever.

(03:14):
His mercy endures forever.
Do you understand what that is?
He said look, I'm good all thetime, I'm rich all the time.
It's not like I have good daysand bad days.
I am rich all the time.
I'm rich all the time.
It's not like I have good daysand bad days, I am rich all the
time.
Uh, the word here abundant andmercy of mercy has to do with

(03:35):
covenant.
It has to do with the jointobligation between relatives and
friends, or host and guest.
It's it's like the relationshipbetween a husband and a wife.
And he's saying I am good, Ikeep my word, I am close to you,
I am one with you, I stand insolidarity with you, I have a

(04:00):
covenant relationship, I gave myword to you and I do not change
, I do not lie, I am notchanging on this deal.
I am good, I am good, I am fullof goodness and I'm full of
truth.
Now, before I stop today, Ineed to just take a little bit

(04:22):
of time with you and help youunderstand.
When he says I'm full of truth,he said I'm rich in goodness and
truth.
Well, that word truth there isreferring to I keep my word.
It's not referring to now I'mreal good on goodness, but I'm
pretty strong on the law.
It's not like I'm real sweetand graceful but I got a lot of

(04:42):
rules and I'm rich in my rules.
That's not what that's about.
He said when I say it, I meanit.
When he said I'm rich in truth,he said when I say it, I mean it
.
When I tell you I'm good, Imean it.
When he said when I say it, Imean it.
When I tell you I'm good, Imean it.
When I tell you I'm merciful, Imean it and it's who I am.
You don't have to worry aboutme.
I'm not going to wake uptomorrow and say, well, I

(05:02):
decided to change my mind.
I was merciful yesterday, I wasa good guy yesterday, but as of
today, I change.
That is not what's going on withGod.
You see, he is rich, he is good, he is full of goodness, but he
is the God who keeps his word.
He's a God who can't lie.
Do you understand?
He's the God who cannot lie.
He's a God that tells it likeit is and means it always, and

(05:29):
he's not going to change.
That's who God is.
So I want you to go back and Iwant you to think through who
God is real quickly, for todayhe is the God.
He is the God, do you remember?
He is the God who is abundantin goodness and truth.
He's good and he's alwaysfaithful.

(05:51):
He's always the same faithful.
He's always the same.
You know, I knew a guy who had amother and his mother was one
day the sweetest lady and thenext day she could be mean.
And you never knew.
You had to walk on pins andneedles.
You know, you know what I'mtalking about.
Are they good or they're bad?
Are they on or they're off?

(06:12):
I knew a guy that said shecouldn't be pleased.
He didn't know.
But that's not who God is.
That's not who God is.
You don't have to wake uptomorrow and say I wonder if
God's going to be good to me.
Today.
He's rich in goodness.
Always he's full of truth.
He doesn't change, he doesn'tlie.

(06:33):
That's who he is.
Is he's full of truth?
He doesn't change, he doesn'tlie.
That's who he is.
Is God going to be mercifultoday?
He's truth, he is what he says,he is.
He's not two-faced.
He's not your friend when he'slooking at you and not when he's
behind your back.
He doesn't say one thing toyour face and another thing to
your back.
He's merciful, he's gracious,he is slow to anger and he is

(07:01):
abundant, rich, overflowing withgoodness and truth.
So as you go about today, youthink about your dad.
I see I want you each day tojust kind of meditate on the
truth about who the lord is.
I want you to know he's.
He's not going to change.
The god who loves you.
It's not going to hate youtomorrow.
The god who loves you is notgoing to hate you tomorrow.
The God who saved you is notgoing to dump you tomorrow.
The God who loves you in yoursin won't quit loving you
because you won't quit sinningNow.

(07:23):
You could sin against him, buthe'll just keep loving you
because he's just full oflong-suffering goodness and he's
always the same.
That gives us security, alwaysthe same.
That gives us security.
That gives us security.
It means that you can wake uptomorrow and know it's okay.
You can mess up today and like,well, I didn't want to mess up.

(07:44):
I was wrong, I shouldn't havemessed up, but God is good to me
and he's always good and healways takes care of me.
If you'll bear that in mind, ifyou'll keep that in mind, I
think you're going to be veryhappy all day long.
Thinking about this, the guy whois your shepherd is rich,
abundant in goodness and truth.

(08:04):
So the guy leading you aroundtoday, he just loaded down with
being good to you.
His pockets are full of candy,don't forget.
He's indulgent, don't forgethe's sweet, don't forget he
doesn't get angry quickly.
He loves you.
The Lord is my shepherd.
I shall not want you thinkabout that today.
The Lord who is he?
Abundant in goodness and truth.