Goodness gracious!

Goodness:
–noun
1.the state or quality of being good.
2.moral excellence; virtue.
3.kindly feeling; kindness; generosity.
4.excellence of quality: goodness of workmanship.
5.the best part of anything; essence; strength.
6.a euphemism for God: Thank goodness! –interjection
7.(used in expressions of surprise, alarm, etc.): Goodness, you gave me a start! Goodness gracious!

I've been pondering the word "goodness" lately and trying to figure out what that means in relation to God. When we say "God is good" or talk about God's goodness, what does that mean? What I've started to realize is that the culture around us will always influence our view of God- therefore, when I think of God's goodness or when He is good to me, I associate that with Him giving me what I have asked for or something that I need but haven't even asked for yet. So, since I am American and we associate gifts and good things with material wealth, I assume that's what God's goodness is. In conversations I've had with some wise people in my life, we've talked about feeling "entitled" to things- again, this comes out of our culture. If we work hard, we are entitled to vacation time, to a paycheck, to retirement. If I study hard, I am entitled to scholarships, good grades, a good job. When those things don't happen, we get enraged and say that we deserved it, that it's our right. I think I often treat God like the American system- if I have served Him, if I have done what He's asked, if I ask Him enough times for something, then I am entitled to what I am asking for and He, in His goodness, should grant it to me. When the things I am asking for don't arrive as such, I become angry with Him and tell Him that I deserve these things and I proceed to remind Him of the things I have done for Him. It sounds so child-ish written down like this- yikes.
Now when I come across verses that talk about God being good to those who serve Him, to those who seek Him, etc, I don't know how to disassociate "good" from "material or gifts". Some of my favorite verses are in Lamentations 3- I was reading verse 25 that says "the Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him". I love that verse, but the problem I have is that I use that verse to maintain hope when I really want something. Maybe it really does mean that He's good and therefore, He'll grant me my wishes. But that kind of makes him out to be a genie in a bottle in my mind. I'm trying to figure out what it means to say that God is good to us, despite the crap that is going on in my life or in the world. I need to know what it means to talk about God's goodness and be able to separate that from the things that I am so desperately asking for. This isn't to say that His goodness couldn't be displayed in giving us what we're asking for- I just want to know how to continue to say that He is good during those times when those things aren't being given and to be able to define some of the other ways in which He is good to me.