‘Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life’
By Dean Collins
Reading God’s Word is a good thing. Yes, some passages are hard to understand. In fact, some passages stump Bible scholars who have studied the original languages and ancient history and were taught by world-renowned scholars. But the grand arc of Scripture is not hard to understand.
God created a perfect world for us to enjoy, and made us in his image. We sinned and separated ourselves from God. God sent his Son to pay the price for our sin and reconnect us to our Creator. As his sons and daughters, we are filled with his Holy Spirit and guided as sheep watched over by their shepherd. One day Jesus will return and finish the work of redeeming and restoring all things. Meanwhile, we surrender to God, follow his path, partner with him in the work of transformation, and share his gospel far and wide.
Always near us
When we get to the last verse of Psalm 23 we are reminded by David that we can share his confidence that God’s goodness and mercy is always near us. He is with us in the darkness of the valley of the shadow of death. He is with us when the enemy lurks near the table God boldly sets for us right in front of the enemy. And his goodness and mercy follow us everywhere and every day.
David said, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me.” According to David, there is no doubt that God’s goodness and mercy are nearby at all times. We learn early in Psalm 23 that the Lord leads us in paths of righteousness. This is great news. The Lord himself is out in front of us, leading us on the right paths. And his goodness and mercy come along behind us with goodness and mercy.
Bad days and good
We know that even as the Lord leads us, there are moments every day when we either carelessly miss an opportunity to follow as we should or even deliberately make decisions that are not, in fact, righteous. But the good news of verse 6 is that God’s goodness and mercy come behind us, cleaning up our mess. What a blessing to know that God is merciful to us on our bad days as well as our good. He just loves us that much.
Because we know God leads us and follows us with goodness and mercy, we can be more confident and more comfortable with everything that happens. We can walk without fear in the valley of the shadow. We can fear no evil because God will always offer his protection by promising his very presence in every step of our journey. There is no place we go where God is not surrounding us.
Because God loves us so very much, we can rest assured that when we get to the end of all the days of our lives on earth, we will live forever in the house of the Lord.
Heavenly Father, we love you and thank you for your goodness and your mercy. Thank you for going ahead of us, even preparing a place for us through the cross of Christ. Today we choose to live confidently and to walk the paths of righteousness, knowing you go before us and follow us with goodness and mercy every step of the way. Help us share the simple-to-understand truth with others that you love us all and we can trust you completely through all the days of our lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Your time with God’s Word
Psalm 23 ESV
Photo by Luca Bravo on Unsplash
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