Psalm 23:6
Scripture Reading - Psalms 23:6 KJV
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.
In today’s lesson we will continue looking at the 23rd Psalm historically known as the psalm of “The Good Shepherd”. Of course the Good Shepherd is no doubt the Lord Jesus Christ because in the New Testament according to St. John 10:14 Jesus boldly proclaims, “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.” In this particular Psalm we must always acknowledge who is The Lord and who is not. Since we know that The Lord is Jesus Christ Himself, or we could generally say God it is important to note that this psalm is being shared from the perspective of a sheep. We notice first in verse 6 that the word “surely” is used some translations substitute the words “truly” or “certainly” to highlight the following words. This means the sheep has one-hundred percent confidence in what he is about to say. Yes, so much confidence that he is fully persuaded beyond reservation or quietness. We all get excited when we hear that “goodness and mercy” shall follow us all the days of our life. We (ihlcc) have heard it said that “goodness” is an angel bringing good things whereas “mercy” is an angel keeping away judgment for the wrong things we have done. When we add the possibility of these two mighty angels companying us all the days of our life one can’t help but to be excited. However, we (ihlcc) do not share the same opinion about “goodness and mercy” being angels but rather we believe this is talking about the Spirit of the Lord which is a whole other dimension because God Himself is accompanying us. Yes, we do know that Thee Spirit of the Lord has manifold blessings because God’s Spirit has all “good things” in Him and He is also the transmitter for all God’s blessing unto all mankind. Therefore, when this mentions “goodness and mercy” we believe that God is saying I am always with you looking to do “good things” for you. Yes, Thee Good Shepherd is even looking to put “goodness” inside you so that more “goodness” will come out of you. Yes, the Lord uses the word “good” to even describe the works of Jesus according to Acts 10:38 KJV which states, “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.” Isn’t this what we just mentioned that God is with us in “goodness” for us to be totally blessed and we ought to be so full of “God’s goodness” that we are running over to blessing others with “God’s goodness” too. This blessing of “goodness” is used to remind the saint that God loves you so much that He constantly and consistently desires to do “good things” for you and be a “good God” inside of you. However, we must know why “mercy” follows us too. The primary reason the Good Shepherd is with us is twofold. The first purpose is to do you “good” which was just mentioned whereas the second blessing and purpose of God being with us is to remove the penalties of the curse. Yes, “mercy” follows us not as an angel but rather a presence of God that is always inclined to forgive you when you do wrong. Remember, under the Law of Moses both blessings (goodness) and curses (bad punishment) were spoken in Deuteronomy chapters 27 and 28. The covenant was all based upon the Children of Israel’s ability to keep the Law which was impossible to do. Thus, we have a new covenant that is established upon better promises so we don’t try to keep the law of do’s and don’ts we simply look unto to Jesus and receive God’s unmerited love, “goodness”, favor and “mercy” for ourselves. Yes, what we are saying is that God is always with us in Christ Jesus. Is The Good Shepherd with us to judge our sins? No! Maybe He is with us nit-pick on things we can do better? No! Well He could be with us to punish us for evil thoughts? No! No! A thousand times No! He is with us to keep His Precious Blood nigh unto us. This means whenever we just simply decide to do something stupid, no fault of God’s, The Good Shepherd is ready and willing to forgive us personally and/or corporately all we need to do is call upon His Name. Yes, if you can believe this we are saying God always has His Blood present with Him so He can cover whatever sin we might have done instantly without hesitation or reservation. Applying God’s Blood to our sins is applying the “mercy of God” upon our life including our circumstances that we deal with in this life upon the earth. The Lord surely wants you to be happy and blessed all the days of your life so never feel like God is watching over you with disappointment or despair. No! The Lord God Almighty (Thee Good Shepherd) loves you and delights in you and for that reason He always wants you to be in sincere fellowship with Him. We do firmly believe that sin is a separator between us and God, it keeps us from being in intimate fellowship with Him and it can open the door to ungodliness because we are keeping God out of our life. Knowing that the “mercy of God” is always with us reassures us that many things we do and say are being covered by “God’s mercy” so we have much reason for rejoicing. Yes, even the times when we did something wrong and didn’t even realize it “God’s Mercy” is shouting to our Father in Heaven, “Have mercy upon them Father for they know not what they are doing.” In a court of law when we are on trial we desire “mercy” not judgment, so rest assured that you have “mercy” in the high court of Heaven because Mr. Merciful Himself, our Heavenly Father, with our “most merciful” advocate Jesus Christ have got you blood covered such that you come out of the court with a favorable ruling which reads “Innocent by the Blood of Lamb” Amen! This is why we desire to dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. Yes, this is why we desire to be with The Good Shepherd continuously, not just in our physical state but much more in our spiritual state. God gave us a world to live in victoriously through Jesus so why shouldn’t we let God be a part of our world through close fellowship with Him? Yes, we (ihlcc) are talking about being with God in thought, in song, in meditation, in praying, in reading, in studying, in fellowship with church members and in communication with non-believers too. Yes, we are speaking of dwelling with Jesus 24/7 not just on Sunday morning but communing with The Good Shepherd all during the day every day. Yes, when King David was speaking about the Good Shepherd being with us it is understood that He (The Lord) wants to be around His sheep and likewise His Beloved Sheep delight in being around their very own Good Shepherd. For we are one with Christ Jesus and He, The Father and the Holy Spirit are all one in us. Yes, we will dwell in the House of the Lord forever because forever is not long enough to deeply know and understand and fully appreciate all that the Good Shepherd has done for His sheep. So we will simply praise God and thank the Good Shepherd for all He has done, all He is doing and all that He shall do for us and in us because He truly (surely) is “good and merciful” to us all. Amen!