By Apostle Aje Pelser
Pathways of God that crown the year with goodness.
O God of Our Salvation
Psa 65:1 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A Song. Praise is awaiting You, O God, in Zion; And to You the vow shall be performed.
Psa 65:2 O You who hear prayer, To You all flesh will come.
Psa 65:3 Iniquities prevail against me; As for our transgressions, You will provide atonement for them.
Psa 65:4 Blessed is the man You choose, And cause to approach You, That he may dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Of Your holy temple.
Psa 65:5 By awesome deeds in righteousness You will answer us, O God of our salvation, You who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth, And of the far-off seas;
Psa 65:6 Who established the mountains by His strength, Being clothed with power;
Psa 65:7 You who still the noise of the seas, The noise of their waves, And the tumult of the peoples.
Psa 65:8 They also who dwell in the farthest parts are afraid of Your signs; You make the outgoings of the morning and evening rejoice.
Psa 65:9 You visit the earth and water it, You greatly enrich it; The river of God is full of water; You provide their grain, For so You have prepared it.
Psa 65:10 You water its ridges abundantly, You settle its furrows; You make it soft with showers, You bless its growth.
Psa 65:11 You crown the year with Your goodness, And Your paths drip with abundance.
Psa 65:12 They drop on the pastures of the wilderness, And the little hills rejoice on every side.
Psa 65:13 The pastures are clothed with flocks; The valleys also are covered with grain; They shout for joy, they also sing.
1. The circuit pathway of a Crown
H5849 ‛âṭar (aw-tar’)
to encircle (for attack or protection); especially to crown (literally or figuratively): – compass, crown.
God not only brings the year to full circle and closure, but also encompasses the year ahead with His goodness and abundance for you. He is ready to attacked and protect you throughout and is ready to perform awesome deeds in righteousness, in answer to our prayers.
2. Pathway of our responsibility
But the first verse sets up our responsibility:
Praise is awaiting God in Zion – the place of tabernacle of David, where we bring our sacrifice of praise.
And further – our vow will be performed and completed.
We who expect God to encircle and crown our year past and the year we await, know that there are vows that need to be fulfilled and by His grace through faith we can fulfil and encircle – or bring to a point of completion, those vows.
3. God’s pathway of response:
God will in turn hear our prayers.
4. God’s pathways of gravitational pull
To Him all flesh will come – God’s drawing power in His ‘crown’ or circuit is so powerful it draws people in to His goodness. Is it not the goodness of the Lord that leads to repentance?
Romans 2:4
5. God’s pathway of atonement
God provides atonement for our sins. Through Jesus’ work on the cross His blood was shed for the remission of our sins, and through His communion blood and flesh we are at one with Him – “at-one-ment.”
6. God’s pathways of blessings
God blesses those whom He chooses and causes to approach Him – to dwell in His courts.
Those who worship Him in Spirit and in truth.
7. The pathway of satisfaction
We in turn shall be satisfied with the goodness of His house – of His holy temple. Godliness with contentment is great gain. Satisfaction in life is rare and we are given this as a promise.
1 Timothy 6:6
8. God’s pathways reach the ends of the earth
God is the confidence of all the ends of the earth – we live at the end of the earth here in Cape Town, at the top of Africa, where two oceans meet (South of Arugulas) – we are those far off seas that David sang about – or at least one of them!
9. God’s pathways establishes you in His power
God establishes the mountains by His Strength – being clothed with power.
Jesus calmed the storms of the seas and the tumult of peoples.
People are afraid of God’s signs.
When Jesus did signs and wonders people were amazed with awe inspiring wonder. “Who is this man that demons are subject to him? That the seas listen to him? That multiplies food? That raises the dead and cleanses the lepers?”
Surely He is the Son of God.
When God crowns your year with goodness, he sets you on a powerful path where signs and wonders follow those who believe.
10. God’s pathways of watering the earth
God has a network of irrigation, both physically and spiritually. We know of the water cycle and the catchment of mountains that cause streams to grow into rivers that reach the dry lands. Spiritually God also has a network of watering that proceeds from the throne.
We read about it Ezekiel and Revelation:
11. God’s watering pathways cause the pathways of His people to drip with abundance:
Ridges
Furrows
He makes the land soft with showers
He blesses its growth
You crown the year with your goodness and your paths drip with abundance
The Water drips on the pastures of the wilderness, and the little hills rejoice on every side.
12. God’s pathways provide for His flocks the church
The pastures are clothed with flocks – Jesus the good shepherd ensures his pastures are well watered with His word, and the flocks are the churches of His fold.
The valleys covered with grain speaks of the pathways of harvest – they shout for joy, they also sing!
God’s pathway of Goodness defined:
Apostle Andre preached this sermon about God’s crowing goodness on the 27th of November in 2005:
Goodness defined:
Used as an adjective, ‘towb’ (H2898) describes something valuable that indicates prosperity: you will prosper and grow in understanding too. When God bestows his goodness on us he makes us prosperous. He does not only give us money, he makes us rich on the inside as well. He gives us rich understanding. When you understand God’s ways it is a crown of life. You can live your life differently. He satisfies both our sensual and our spiritual natures with His goodness.
What was the worst moment in your life this year? God wants to crown in with glory at the end of the year. He wants to give you understanding and help you work through that moment.
Other people may have treated you badly at school or in the work place or even in church! But today God is crowning your year with goodness! He is making everything work together for good because you love Him and you are called according to His purpose which is to be conformed to the image of His Son in a corporate body of believers of which He is the Head!
‘Towb’ also indicates ethical goodness. When God acts benignly towards us it is not only for our pleasure and our understanding, but also to make us pure and ethical in our thoughts and actions. He purifies our motives when He shows us His kindness.
Only Jesus Christ could have made all of this possible. His goodness leads us to repentance! He is so good to us that we eventually repent of all our wrongdoing, all our unrighteousness, all our iniquities – for which he died on the cross.
He wore a crown of thorns so that we can receive a crown of goodness – every year for the rest of our lives! It is an ongoing action! What a wonderful team to play for – they receive the prize every year! How would you like to play for a team that wins every year, every league they play in?
No matter what you have had to face this year – God will find a way to turn it around for your benefit. He will find a way to glorify His own!
You share in a collective goodness!
When ‘towb’ is used as a noun it speaks of welfare, benefit and prosperity! It is used collectively as well. Because we belong to the body of Christ we share in the collective benefits or joint benefits of divine welfare! We are on Christ’s welfare programme: it will continually go well with us! Everything works together for our good – even our present suffering works an eternal weight of glory for us! There are those who have to go without things at the moment – but God is weighing up the eternal rewards for you! And in this life He crowns you with goodness! He satisfies your soul. It literally drips with His abundance! God is so good – He just cannot help Himself! He wants to display His goodness to you at the end of the year.
Taste and see that the Lord is good!
We need enlightened eyes of understanding to see just how good God is. We sometimes miss it because all we look at are the bad things that happen to us. We remember the worst times. Remember the best times of your year today and give thanks to God for His goodness. Let the goodness of God appear on your radar screen. Call up the goodness of God in your life.
God wants to honour you and justify you and glorify you – just like He did to His Son, Jesus Christ when He was on the earth. He glorified Him again and again – publicly! Even His greatest defeat on the cross became His greatest victory! Through the cross He saved mankind! Because He obeyed God to go through that terrible experience for our sake, God has also highly exalted Him and given Him a name that is above every other name that at His name every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord!
God will crown your year with goodness in such a way that even your enemies will have to admit that God is with you. You cannot crown yourself – God will do it on your behalf!
God’s goodness towards you is abundant!
The word ‘fatness’ is ‘deshen’ in Hebrew and it refers to fatness or abundance and also has the reference of the ashes of your enemy mixed with their fat being given to you…on the other hand it also shows that your ashes will be taken away – He will give you beauty for ashes and the oil of joy for mourning; the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness – that is how He crowns your year with Goodness!
Today is a day of great rejoicing! Believe that this message has been sent from the heart of God for you – just you and that those who believe and trust in God share it with you: God crowns the year with goodness!