Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever. Psalm 23:6
In Psalm 23, King David details a deep, caring, and inseparable relationship between the Good Shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ, and His sheep. The word “surely.” is a word of unwavering assurance. Regardless of the dark road, no matter how deep the valley, surely the promise of ‘goodness’ and ‘mercy’ belong to the sheep.
The Hebrew word goodness is an adjective; it means “beautiful” or “pleasant.” It represents how our Lord shows His love for His sheep. Mercy is the Lord’s faithfulness despite our failures. David declares that our Lord is perfectly good and flawless in His character. When we understand this, we won’t doubt His ways in our lives.
Goodness and mercy are attributes of our Lord Jesus Christ. Goodness, to convict us of our sins and meet our physical needs. Mercy to forgive all our sins and to sustain our soul. Goodness is God’s provision for us, and Mercy is God’s love over us.
The Hebrew word for follow — means “to pursue, to set off after someone to catch him.”. Let’s think of ourselves as being followed by the Lord’s goodness and mercies all our days. It could be good days, happy days, sad days, tired days, or rush days – we in faith need to believe that goodness and mercy are right behind us. Until we reach our eternal home, to live with the Lord, in His house, in His presence forever, we’ve got company – Goodness and Mercy.
