I SHALL NOT WANT FOR GOODNESS AND MERCY

Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life… – Psalm 23:6a

The Shepherd guarantees the sheep rewards of GOODNESS and MERCY. Once you belong to the Shepherd, goodness and mercy will pursue you for the rest of your life. However, only if JESUS is your Shepherd and you are following Him will these two virtues be your perpetual rewards. No matter what else may happen, you know that goodness and mercy will always pursue, overtake and accompany you.

The word used here as “follow” means to pursue, to overtake as in battle. David felt the utmost assurance and confidence that the goodness and mercy of God would never fail all his days on this earth. This is a beautiful picture of God’s desire to live in relationship with His sheep. He will look on us with mercy and withhold our due punishment. He will shower us with good things. Our Shepherd looks on us with Mercy, withholding our due punishment, and Goodness, showering us with excellent things.

Goodness and Mercy – not demon spirits – are my angelic aid-de-camps! What are their purposes in my life? These divine twins are to keep me in the fold, check me from straying, guide me to new pastures, scare off predators, and demonstrate my Shepherd’s love toward me. If I carelessly stray, the Shepherd does not yell at me, throw a rock, or leave me to my folly. Rather, “the goodness of God leads me to repentance” (Rom. 2:4). When Moses asked to know God, this was the answer, “The Lord God merciful and gracious, long suffering and abundant in goodness” (Ex. 34:6).

The story of Rahab in Joshua 6 attests to the truth that Mercy is always greater than sin! Rahab was a harlot, but even a harlot if she is willing, can be useful to the kingdom of God and become a recipient of Mercy. The moment she served God’s purpose, she walked up and sat right down to the blessing at the table that the Lord God had already prepared for her in the midst of her enemies. Everyone in her household and that was connected to her tasted of God’s goodness and mercy. Rahab was not only saved that day, she ended up in the genealogy of the Saviour, in the bloodline of Gods own Son, Jesus. That day Rahab stepped into her amazing divine destiny that God already had prepared for her from the beginning!