WHAT’S FOLLOWING YOU???

Ps 23:1 <<A Psalm of David.>> The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. {green…: Heb. pastures of tender grass} {still…: Heb. waters of quietness}

3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. {anointest: Heb. makest fat}

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. {for ever: Heb. to length of days} (KJV)

The above is a very well known Psalm…maybe best known for reading at funerals because of the death reference, and there is nothing wrong with that.  It makes for great reading after the passing of a loved one.  But, I like to look at Psalm 23 as life verses…meant for living in the here and now…very relevant for everyday living.

Actually, my blog is not about the entire chapter but I want to write about verse 6.  I love the phrase goodness and mercy!  (I read a book series a few years back about female angels by the names of Shirley, Goodness, and Mercy—nice play on words)

Goodness from the original Hebrew  is pretty simple; it means good-in the widest sense.  Let your imagination play with that one.  Good-in the widest sense (I believe our imaginations are important to help us picture what the Word is speaking to us).   How do you picture Good—in the widest sense?  I picture God who is so good and all of the good things He does.  These words are also used to describe goodness:  beautiful, best, better, cheerful, at ease, favor, fine, glad, joyful, and kindness to name a few.

Mercy is translated from kindness (God’s kindness) and favor.  It is the unfailing, steadfast covenant love of God.  This loving kindness is similar to the NT word grace.

Couple those words together and WOW..does God love us or what?

Now here is where my imaginations gets a bit wild…picture this…goodness and mercy following you around everywhere you go for all your life.  That is what it says!!!  When we normally think of things following us around, they are not usually good things…like someone trying to harm us, a stray dog or cat looking for a home, a child that just won’t leave us alone because they want something…you know those kind of things.  But really, I want you to get a good image of this in your head and then into your heart.  Goodness and mercy as described above following us.

Look behind you and they are there!  Go ahead, I dare you….LOOK!!!  Every day…every hour…for all of your days…they are right behind you.  Does it get any better than that???

If they aren’t there, it is only because of one thing:  I will refer back to verse 1 for the answer.  The only reason goodness and mercy would not be behind you is because the Lord is not your shepherd.  That is a choice you make.  (Please write me if you would like to make the Lord your shepherd)