Psalm 23 – Part 9 of 9

“Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

In the previous post, we left off seeing how “our cup overflows” and also how the effects of this will be seen by others, especially those that are closest to us. I’ll go into a lot more detail about this shortly.

This verse brings a fantastic climax and ending to the psalm. We’ve seen how, throughout, there is a wonderful parallel between the life of the sheep being governed and led by a good shepherd with how our lives could look, if we surrender our lives and put them into the hands of our ultimate Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ.

We saw how the good shepherd will take great and careful care in looking after his sheep. He will seek to take away fear and anxiety and promote and work for peace within the community. He will protect the sheep, not only from predators but from them partaking in their own downfall by eating or drinking the wrong things. He will lead the to good green pastures, he will make it so good for them that they can lay down in peace. He will provide great food for them, in the presence of their enemies. He will seek to make sure they are protected and feel comfortable by anointing their heads with oil.

The good shepherd will look at his sheep with pride and love. This love will be reciprocated by his sheep who will appreciate and love their shepherd too and indeed will not, for the most part, wander off and be enticed by another shepherd or other circumstances. I say for the most part, because we’ve already seen how some discontented ewes can always look to “the grass that seems greener on the other side” and how sadly, these ewes have to be dealt with for the good of the whole flock.

John 10:10 is such an amazing verse telling us, pleading with us to trust in the Good Shepherd, who wants us to have life and to have it more abundantly!

As Christians, we have three very deceptive enemies that would really seek to take us out of the covenant care of our LORD and Master; the world, the flesh and the devil. We need to be sober minded and alert and not let any of these infiltrate us, less we are robbed of the amazing benefits that the care of the Master bestows upon us.

The NIV translation doesn’t really bring out the full meaning of the last verse (6). Some others, and some might argue, more accurate translations say that “surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” This word “mercy” is a tremendously important word and is repeated over and over again, especially in the Psalms. In Hebrew it’s the word “hesed”. It means God’s faithful loving kindness, steadfast love. Some scholars tried to argue that it means his covenantal loving kindness but in reality it combines the covenantal loyalty element as well. “Goodness” and “mercy” are attributes of God’s character. “Goodness refers to His benevolent nature.

The idea of these attributes following” suggests a relentless pursuit, indicating that God’s blessings are not passive but actively seek out the believer. This assurance is rooted in the covenant relationship between God and His people, as seen in passages like Exodus 34:6-7 where God describes Himself as abounding in love and faithfulness. The phrase “all the days of my life” underscores the perpetual nature of God’s care, echoing the promise of His unending presence found in Deuteronomy 31:6. Also, we can see this beautifully fulfilled and seen in our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ in John 10 and also in His promise of never leaving us but always being with us (Matthew 28:20).
I also love what it says in John 13:1, “Having loved those who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”

When I think of his goodness and mercy following us all the days of our lives, we can think of this in a bit of selfish way. However, I said right at the beginning that I wanted to talk more about the affect this has on others around us.

Over many years, I worked with recovering addicts and one of the greatest blessings I got to witness was how when a recovering addict gave his or her life to Christ there was a dramatic effect, not just to them but also what happened in their families. Relationships with family and loved ones were restored. It was especially heart warming to see when children are re-united with their parents and the relationships begin to thrive. You see, before this, an addict looks back with shame and guilt at the chaos and hurt that had been a result of what how they behaved.

I believe when we are experiencing the loving kindness, mercy and goodness of God in our lives, there should be a ripple effect. We should leave in our wake, positive effects and lives effected for the good. And this is the true legacy and beauty of this goodness and mercy following us.

At this point I’m reminded of a beautiful and relevant song by Cece Winans and I’ll put the link in below.

So, we conclude by looking at the end that says; “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

On this journey we have seen with the shepherd and his sheep, we last left it at the point where the shepherd has led the sheep to the rich pastures in the tablelands during the summer months. Well, as winter approaches, the shepherd will wisely lead them back down to the lower pastures before the bad weather and snow starts. But this journey will lead them all back to the main ranch, their home. By now, the sheep have realised how great it has been to be under their shepherds great care and will be delighted to be going with back home.

As we spend our days here on earth and slowly but surely, especially for some of us like me, we realise that our Good Shepherd really does look after us and it is the only way to have an abundant and fulfilled life, and no matter what the circumstances are that we find ourselves facing, we can face even uncertain days knowing that our Good Shepherd is always with us every step of the way. He will never leave us or forsake us.

One day it will be time to go “home” and when it is we will be so delighted to go and be with our Good Shepherd, Jesus and live with Him for all eternity! Maranatha! Amen!