Life can press in so hard that it feels like the air is being squeezed from your lungs. The challenges mount, the darkness creeps closer, and the spiritual battle rages relentlessly. You pray for a breakthrough, for a prodigal to come home, for relief from a trial that seems to have no end. In those moments, the temptation to simply give up—to faint, spiritually and emotionally—is overwhelming.

David, a man well-acquainted with trouble, knew this feeling intimately. Pursued by enemies, betrayed by friends, and facing impossible odds, he penned a testimony that has become an anchor for believers throughout the centuries. In Psalm 27:13, he reveals the secret to his endurance: “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.”

Notice the raw honesty. David admits he was on the brink of collapse. His strength was gone. Hope was flickering. What pulled him back from the edge was not a change in his circumstances, but a choice of his will. He chose to believe. He chose to believe he would see God’s goodness, not just in the sweet by-and-by of heaven, but right here, right now, “in the land of the living.”

This isn’t just poetry; it’s a battle plan. It’s a divine principle that encourages us that God is always working to accomplish His purposes, both on this earth and for eternity. Believing to see God’s goodness is the key to standing strong when everything around you screams, “Give up!”

The Precipice of Despair: The Reality of “Fainting”

David’s confession that he “had fainted” is deeply comforting because it’s so relatable. To faint is to lose consciousness, to collapse under pressure. Spiritually, it’s the point where you lose heart, where weariness overtakes your faith, and you begin to doubt if God is truly there or if He even cares.

This world gives us plenty of reasons to feel faint. You might be standing on that precipice right now, looking at a situation that seems utterly hopeless:

• A Major Personal Challenge: A frightening medical diagnosis, a financial crisis that threatens to swallow you whole, or a relentless attack on your character at work. The trial is so immense that you can’t see a way through.
• A Wayward Child: You raised your children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, but one has strayed far from the faith. Your heart breaks as you watch them embrace the world, and every prayer seems to hit the ceiling.
• Lost Loved Ones: You faithfully share the gospel with family and friends, but their hearts remain hard. You long to see them saved, yet they continue to mock the very faith that is your lifeline.
• A Wearying Ministry: You serve faithfully in your church, pouring yourself out for others, but you see little fruit. The spiritual ground feels hard and rocky, and you’re tired.

In these moments, the enemy whispers that your efforts are futile, your prayers are unheard, and your God has forgotten you. This is the spiritual faint—the point of surrender. But David’s testimony shows us there is an “unless.” There is a pivot point. That pivot is belief.

The Divine Antidote: The Choice to Believe

The critical phrase in Psalm 27:13 is “unless I had believed.” Belief here is not a passive, intellectual agreement. It is an active, stubborn, and defiant act of the will. It is looking at a mountain of evidence to the contrary and declaring, “Nevertheless, I will trust God.” It’s a conscious decision to anchor your hope not in what you can see, but in the character of the God you cannot see.

What, then, are we to believe? David is specific: he believed “to see the goodness of the LORD.” He didn’t just believe God existed or that God was powerful. He focused his faith on a specific attribute of God: His inherent goodness.

This is where many Christians stumble. We often treat God’s goodness as a bonus or a perk—something we enjoy when life is easy. But the Bible presents God’s goodness as a foundational, non-negotiable aspect of His very nature. It is the rock upon which we can build our hope when the sands are shifting beneath our feet.

Understanding the Fullness of God’s Goodness

To truly “believe to see,” we must saturate our minds with what the Word of God says about His goodness. It’s not a vague, sentimental feeling; it is a mighty, theological truth with profound implications for our daily lives.

Goodness as God’s Very Nature

When Moses asked to see God’s glory, God’s response was stunning. He didn’t put on a display of cosmic power or blinding light. Instead, He made a declaration about His character. In Exodus 33:19, God says, “I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.”

God’s glory is His goodness. It is the sum total of His perfect attributes—His mercy, grace, long-suffering, and truth. Goodness isn’t just something God does; it is who God is. When we believe in His goodness, we are trusting in the unchangeable core of His being. Circumstances change, feelings waver, and people fail, but the essential goodness of God is an eternal constant. He cannot be anything other than good, just as He cannot be anything other than holy.

The Greatness of God’s Goodness

David, having experienced this goodness firsthand, erupts in praise in Psalm 31:19: “Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!”

Notice two things here. First, God’s goodness is great. It is immense, abundant, and inexhaustible. It’s not a shallow well that can run dry during a long drought; it’s a bottomless ocean. Second, this goodness is “laid up” for His children. Think of a king storing treasure in his vaults for his heirs. God has a storehouse of goodness reserved for you, ready to be accessed by faith. He has already “wrought” or worked it out for those who trust Him publicly, “before the sons of men.” Your act of trusting Him in the middle of your trial is the very key that unlocks the storehouse.

The Purpose of God’s Goodness

God’s goodness is not just for our comfort; it has a redemptive purpose. It is one of His primary tools for drawing souls to Himself. Romans 2:4 makes this clear: “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”

This verse is a powerful weapon in our spiritual arsenal. When you are praying for a wayward child or an unsaved loved one, you are not just hoping they will “come to their senses.” You are praying that they will have a personal encounter with the goodness of God. It is God’s kindness, His patience, and His unmerited favor that breaks the hard heart and exposes the ugliness of sin, leading to repentance. God’s goodness is the active agent that woos the rebel, convicts the sinner, and calls the prodigal home. When you believe to see His goodness, you are believing that He is actively working to lead that loved one to repentance.

Seeing His Goodness in the Land of the Living

How does this theology play out in the trenches of daily life? Believing in God’s active goodness transforms how we navigate our hardest battles.

When Facing Overwhelming Trials

Believing in God’s goodness doesn’t mean the trial will instantly vanish. It means you can see the trial differently. You begin to look for His hand in the struggle. You see His goodness in the strength He gives you to face another day, in the friend who calls at just the right moment, in the verse that leaps off the page and speaks directly to your soul. You trust that, as with Joseph, what others (or the enemy) mean for evil, God in His goodness intends to use for good—for your refinement, for His glory, and for the encouragement of others. Your prayer shifts from “God, get me out of this,” to “God, show me your goodness in this.”

When Praying for a Wayward Child

This is one of the deepest pains a Christian parent can endure. Believing to see God’s goodness here means trusting Romans 2:4. You pray with confidence, asking God to orchestrate circumstances that will reveal His goodness to your child. Maybe it’s the kindness of a Christian stranger, an unexpected provision in a time of need, or simply a moment of quiet reflection where the memory of God’s past faithfulness breaks through their rebellion. You believe that God’s goodness is patiently, relentlessly pursuing them, leading them toward repentance, even when their every action seems to be running in the opposite direction. You stop fainting from fear and start believing with hope.

When Longing for the Salvation of Loved Ones

It’s easy to lose heart when you share your faith and are met with indifference or hostility. But believing to see God’s goodness means you trust that the seed of the Word of God will not return void. You have done your part in sharing; now you trust in the goodness of God to do His part in convicting and drawing. You stand on the promise that “how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee.” Your faithfulness in prayer and witness is an act of fearing the Lord, and you can trust that He has a storehouse of goodness ready to pour out in His perfect timing.

Goodness Now, and Goodness Forever

It is important to understand that “the land of the living” includes both our time on earth and the eternity that follows. Sometimes, we see the full manifestation of God’s goodness on this side of heaven. The prodigal returns, the medical report comes back clear, and the financial breakthrough arrives. We praise God for these tangible victories.

However, sometimes the ultimate goodness God has for us is not the removal of the trial, but His presence with us through it, and the ultimate reward in heaven. The apostle Paul was not delivered from his “thorn in the flesh,” but he saw God’s goodness in the grace that was sufficient for him. Many of the martyrs did not see earthly deliverance, but they saw the goodness of the Lord as He welcomed them into glory.

Our belief is not a transaction where we demand a specific outcome. It is an expression of trust that, no matter what happens, God is good and is working all things together for our ultimate good and His eternal glory. We will see His goodness here, in part, as a foretaste of what’s to come. And one day, we will see it in its fullness, where there are no more tears, no more pain, and no more reasons to faint.

Don’t Faint—Choose to Believe

The Christian life is a marathon, not a sprint. There will be hills that leave you breathless and stretches of road that feel lonely and dark. The temptation to faint will be real. But God, through David, has given us the secret to endurance.

It is a choice.

Today, you can choose to focus on the size of your problem, or you can choose to focus on the greatness of God’s goodness. You can fixate on the silence that follows your prayers, or you can believe that His goodness is being “laid up” and is actively leading others to repentance.

Don’t let the enemy convince you to collapse on the side of the road. Stand up, dust yourself off, and make the same declaration that David did: “I will believe to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” Anchor your soul to this truth. Meditate on it, pray it, and declare it. For as David says in the very next verse, the outcome of such belief is certain:

“Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD” (Psalm 27:14).

He will not fail you. His goodness is real, it is active, and it is coming. Believe it.