He Will Withhold No Good Thing: Our Part

by Anita Wood · Published October 22, 2021 · Updated March 5, 2023

cornicopia with fruit and flowers in background; no good thing will He withhold; the fruit of the Holy Spirit

Photo by Jill Wellington

“. . . No good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless” Ps 84:11b.

This post could be considered part 2 of last week’s post. Click here to read it: No Good Thing Will He Withhold. To read all of Psalm 84, click this link.

Think about how astounding this promise is. It’s almost mind-boggling to consider the scope of it. It doesn’t say He withholds few good things or even a single good thing. No! No good thing will He withhold, but we have a part to play.

We’ll get to that in a minute. The fulfillment of this promise wouldn’t make for a good life. It would make for a GREAT life! God is generous. He doesn’t do anything half-way. But He does have high standards and expectations.

God Has High Standards

It’s a well-known concept in psychology circles that the best way to get people to be productive is to give them high standards. Ones that will require them to stretch and reach a bit to attain. Here’s a link to a business (not specifically Christian) article that conveys this idea succinctly.

But, of course, as Christians, we don’t do anything in our own strength, it’s only by the power of the Holy Spirit within us that we are able to attain any degree of maturity.

What’s the Definition of “Good Things”?

But that begs the question, what are the “good things” that this verse is referring to? The Strong’s Bible concordance, which I frequently reference, isn’t particularly helpful in this instance.

The word “good” simply means “comparative=better, followed by infinitive”. It certainly does convey the ideas of all- encompassing broadness though.

We could intuitively come up with things we would consider good, couldn’t we? Especially given the comprehensiveness of the definition. I don’t know about you, but my list would include things like the following in no particular order.

Good health

Enough money to enjoy life

Happy, healthy children

Usefulness

Long life

Healthy relationships

What’s the Definition of “Blameless”?

I don’t think any of these would be out of the pale of “good things”, do you? In fact, I’d say these are pretty basic. According to our passage, the Lord blesses the blameless with good things.

Well, then, that brings us to the next logical question. What does it actually mean to be blameless? Strong’s Concordance is more useful for this one. Here’s the definition (brace yourself!):

Entire

Without blemish

Complete

Full

Sincerely (-ity)

Sound

Undefiled

Upright

Whole

candlelight dinner with fajitas; no good thing will He withhold — Photo by cottonbro

As you can see, this is a pretty comprehensive word. The promise is breathtaking in its scope, but the condition answers to it beautifully. We know instinctively that nothing worth having comes easily or cheaply. Still, I don’t think it means sinless perfection, but rather freedom from besetting sins.

I believe it means to be free of sin habits. Some of the newer Bible translations have substituted the word “integrity” for “blameless”. This is an acceptable translation, and it does sound a bit less exacting and easier to attain.

At the same time, I think it does Christian’s a disservice. Changing the wording to make it more palatable doesn’t change the meaning of the word in the original language. And more importantly, it doesn’t change God’s expectation.

It also could explain why many of us aren’t experiencing the fullness of this promise. No good thing will He withhold, but we have a part to play.

God is a generous and good Father. He wants to go all out for His children and throw open the windows of heaven. But He also wants us to understand that it won’t come easily or cheaply.

No good thing will He withhold, but we have a part to play. This isn’t because He’s an ogre and wants to see us struggle. Rather, it’s to enable us to be everything we were meant to be for Christ.

It’s About our Walk, Not our Position

I’ve heard some preachers say that the word “blameless” in this verse refers to our position in Christ- in other words, to all Christians. But then they also acknowledge that they don’t understand why some who are in Christ experience more of the good things promised in this verse than others.

I don’t agree with this idea for a few reasons. First of all, this passage, which is in the Old Testament, was written to Jews originally, not to Christians. And Jews don’t even believe in Christ! So, clearly, that cannot be the intent of the passage.

Secondly, even if the verse had been written to Christians, the above interpretation still wouldn’t work because it’s not talking about our position in Christ, but rather our walk.

According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, this word walk refers to our moral and religious life, especially our integrity. It does not refer to our position in Christ.