Psalm 23:6 - Surely Goodness And Love Will Follow Me All The Days Of My Life.
Psalm 23:6 - Surely Goodness And Love Will Follow Me All The
Days Of My Life.
Psalm 23:6 (NIV) Surely goodness and love will follow me all the
days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
The psalmist draws comfort that God's love and presence are
constant. His "goodness and love" reflect the attributes of Yahweh. The
"goodness" of God is demonstrated in his abundant care and promises, and
these are evidence of his blessing. The "love" of God is the
covenantal commitment to bless his people with his goodness, i.e., his
promises. The psalmist expresses deep confidence in God's loyalty. Instead
of being pursued by enemies who seek his destruction, God's
"goodness and love" follow him. He need not fear, because God's care will
always manifest itself in his provisions, abundance, and protection.
His loving care follows him throughout life. The psalmist does not
say that our cup shall always be full or that our heads will always
be anointed with oil, but we do have the promise that God's
beneficence will be our lifelong companion. [Expositors Bible Commentary
mod]
We must shape the powerful and transforming thought in our
minds that the goodness and faithful love of God follow hard on our
heels to turn every tragedy into a triumph and every loss into a gain.
It is easy to affirm this as we look back - the challenge is to
affirm it with equal conviction as we look ahead.
If you can get hold of this truth and absorb it into your
life as a working principle, then it will transform your attitude
toward everything. Never again will you be at the mercy of
circumstances. In Acts 5:40-41 we read an astonishing statement: "After they
called in the apostles and had them flogged ... Then they went out from
the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing ..." Rejoicing? Over
injustice? How is it possible to rejoice over an injustice? Because they
believed, with David, that the last word was not with men, but with God -
"goodness and faithful love" would follow them and turn the situation to
their advantage. When you can rejoice over injustice, you are
indomitable.
Another verse from Acts that always intrigues me reads thus:
"The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt, but
God ..." (Ac 7:9). That phrase, "but God," is at the end of every
injustice - He has the last word. And just as God used the injustice done
to Joseph to feed the Egyptian people and his own family, so He
transforms every sorrow, every bereavement, every tragedy. Christianity may
not explain everything, but it most certainly transforms everything.
[Every Day With Jesus Bible with Selwyn Hughes devotionals mod]
"My goodness and love don't just come to those who deserve
them. I don't ration out My blessings as though they are in short
supply. If you're observant, you'll notice that I pour out blessings and
chase you down with My goodness every day. The reason most people
don't know that is they aren't very observant.
"Human beings have a tendency to focus on what is lacking. I
tell you to focus on what has been given. I deal very harshly with a
complaining attitude and very generously with a grateful one. I want you to
be able to say, as David did, that your cup overflows with
blessings and that My goodness and love will surely pursue you. And in
order to do that, you have to be watching. Your fallen nature will
magnify all apparent contradictions to My goodness and minimize all
evidence for it. My Spirit within you will do the opposite. That's why
it's vital to cultivate your relationship with My Spirit and dwell in
My Presence. That's where your cup overflows.
"Let your mind dwell on these things. Don't let My blessings
go unnoticed. See how your cup overflows. Understand that My
goodness and mercy never waver. In fact, they pursue you relentlessly all
the days of your life. You couldn't get away from them if you tried.
Even when you distance yourself from Me, I pursue. I put gifts in
your path and ordain works for you to walk in. I arrange your steps
to walk into My grace. Believe that with all your heart and trust
Me to do it. And all the days of your life will be much more
pleasant."
Father, I don't see Your goodness nearly enough. I know
that's not because it isn't there; it's because I don't notice. Open my
eyes to see the many ways You relentlessly pursue me with Your love.
[The One Year Experiencing God's Presence Devotional by Chris
Tiegreen]
"You need to live your life with an eternal perspective. When
you are fully convinced that you'll live in My house forever - in My
family and in the safety of My hand - you will have a much greater
tolerance for discomfort. You'll find yourself much less impatient, much
more generous, much less driven by short-term gain, much more willing
to sacrifice for the ultimate good. When you finally realize, deep
in your soul, that My Presence is an eternal state, your life takes
on a whole new meaning.
"David's psalm was a statement of perspective. He understood
from his youth as a shepherd that My shepherding changes the way a
person sees. He no longer focused on what he lacked, questioned his
path, feared death, obsessed about getting the upper hand over his
enemies, failed to notice blessings, or planned only for the short term.
He knew Me as Provider, Guide, Comfort and Strength, Victor,
generous Giver, and eternal Lord. That's why he began his song with a
statement of not living in want. He knew that in Me, he had all he needed.
"I want you to live with that perspective. Know that you have
all you need - in Me, through Me, or both. Live fearlessly and
faithfully. See your losses as temporary and your gains as eternal. Believe
- always know, beyond the shadow of a doubt - the depths of My
goodness and faithful love. And understand that every benefit of this
relationship is forever."
Lord, I want to see with "forever" eyes. I want to live
anchored in eternity and have attitudes that reflect ultimate victory and
unquenchable life. I want to live as fearlessly and faithfully as You want me
to. Help me do that. Shape my perspective. Guide me in Your good and
everlasting ways. [The One Year Experiencing God's Presence Devotional by
Chris Tiegreen]
Billy Graham makes a thoughtful observation: "Sometimes life
touches one person with a bouquet and another with a thorn bush. But the
first may find a wasp in the flowers, and the second may discover
roses among the thorns."
Bouquets, wasps, roses, thorns--they come to all of us in
strange sequences and indecipherable patterns. No one gets all flowers
without any wasps, though we all hope for that. The human condition is
such that sorrow and grief come to every home and every person.
From long experience, Graham concluded that it's very often
people with the most vital faith who experience the deepest suffering.
To give an example, he tells a story about his friend Corrie ten
Boom.
For sheltering Jews from the Nazis in her native Holland,
Corrie and her sister Betsie were taken to Ravensbruck concentration
camp, where they suffered terribly. Corrie survived the war, but
Betsie died before the camp could be liberated.
By the time Corrie ten Boom was eighty-five, many good things
had come to her in America, and a colleague chanced to remark about
how good God was to provide for her. She answered in a way that
gives us much pause for reflection: "God was good to me when I was in
Ravensbruck, too."
Many of us have heard and repeated the affirmation, "God is
good all the time." When we put that in the context of Corrie ten
Boom's experience in the concentration camp where her sister died, it
powerfully demonstrates the link between vital faith and suffering.
In solitary confinement for four months in a dark, wet cell,
Corrie ten Boom heard the screams of people being tortured. She was
terrified and cried out to the Lord. She noticed an ant run into its
hiding place in the wall and sensed God saying to her that he was her
hiding place. She could run to him.
Billy Graham often quotes Corrie ten Boom as saying, "The
worst can happen, but the best remains."
Lord, help me in my circumstances to concentrate on the
best--what you are doing and the grace you bring into my life. Let Corrie
ten Boom's example of seeing your best in the worst bring forth
praise from me, no matter what.
The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need . . . Surely
your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my
life. Psalm 23:1, 6 NLT [The One Year Book of Encouragement by Harold
Myra]
LINK FOR FURTHER STUDY ON THIS PASSAGE:
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2003/20030217-0920.html
EXCELLENT BIBLE PROPHECY SERIES - Prophecies Decoded By Dr. Ron
Clouzet:
1. Coming Soon: A New Superpower -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTcZ-oQGWUw
2. 2012 and Signs of the End of the World -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVgTGGGO33c
3. Armageddon and the Seven Last Plagues -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcFPUq2JAiU
4. War in Heaven Between Michael and the Dragon -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGnb54Qo_Lg
5. Revelation's Three Angels' Messages -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msy6mZLQ7EA
6. The Lamb Slain and the Seven Seals -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xdpQdli9J0
7. A New Revelation of Jesus Christ -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b2IwriWwY0
8. The Anti-Christ and the Cults that Follow Him -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDKzf5Z6VPQ
9. In Search of the Ark of the Covenant -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc6IM9cm2SU
10. The Greatest Issue in the Book of Revelation, Part 1 -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLQbWSpTUXs
11. The Greatest Issue in the Book of Revelation, Part II -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUQr_DHJYMc
12. How to Keep God's Holy Day, Part 1 -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX5HtCx90oY
13. How to Keep God's Holy Day, Part 2 -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPR5Pu8_1rM
14. Taking a Stand at the Time of the End -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7caCWSrpGU4
15. The Longest Time Prophecy in the Bible -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvAsJGlmrmE
16. Doctrines of Demons and the Mystery of Death -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJHE1cyLlcY
17. The Fall of Babylon the Great -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O70xfBDKxVQ
18. The Mark of the Beast and the Seal of God -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqm1xgG9NuM
19. Israel and the Rapture of the Church -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMZhsKEzPPA
20. The United States in Bible Prophecy -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6-umijrrKI
21. The Beauty and the Beast of Revelation -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2cLfTDQyQg
22. The Remnant's Use of Time, Treasure, and Talent -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CMdmIIHCUY
23. The One Thousand Year Millennium -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFbu9WsSK0Y
24. Revelation's Lake of Fire -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DccBQcLZGso
25. Heaven and the Apocalypse -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiXDN9_d0Mw
26. A Messenger for the Last Days -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSAgxCcNSqM
27. Christian Standards for Today -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFHCFFoRw98
28. The Work of the Holy Spirit in Your Life -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiwYeGKQg58
EXCELLENT VIDEO SERIES ON EXPERIENCING GOD:
http://sda.biggytv.com/watch/Revive!_-_Dwight_Nelson:_Experiencing_Gods_Grace/revive/
