Goodness and Mercy
Psalms 23
I have preached to you a lot lately concerning the life of David. We see him throughout scripture in all facets of life. We can see him on the mountain top moment, such as when he defeated Goliath, and when he was anointed king. But we have also seen David in his low moments, such as when he sinned against the Lord, and the various times his enemies almost killed him. *But irregardless of where he was, his life was founded on his relationship with God. No matter where you see him, he was chasing the heart of God. Yes, he sinned at times and messed up, but wanting God’s heart he repented and came back to the Lord.
He knew God very well, and wrote about him here in what is probably the most profound/popular scripture in the entire Bible, the 23rd Psalm. He knew God as a shepherd that provided for his needs to be met, and causing him to lie down and rest in green pastures (in other words, places of fulfillment/blessings). He knew God to be a restorer of his soul in times of brokenness, and one that led him in righteous pathways, for his name’s sake. He knew him to be a protector, that even when he went into the low valley of death he knew he had nothing to fear because the Lord was certainly with him, with a rod and a staff. God was even preparing tables to feast off of right in the presence of his enemies, as if there was already a certainty to victory. He knew God to be one that anointed him, causing his cup of joy to overflow. *God had proven to him over and over that he will be anything you need, any moment, any time, for any reason! He is our God, he is our shepherd, and as long as you are following him, you will never want for anything!
But I want to preach to you about V.6. David says, “Lord, all my life you have been there. You were there when I was watching over my father’s sheep and I had to wrestle a lion and a bear. You were with me when I stood before the giant of the Philistines. You were with me when Saul tried everything he could to get me killed. You were with me when I went to get the ark and bring it back to Jerusalem. You were with me through every war I had to fight. You were with me when I committed adultery and needed to be forgiven. All my life, you have been there. And no matter what I do, I can’t seem to get away from your goodness and your mercy. When I look behind my shoulder, there it is. When I speed up, goodness and mercy are still tracking me down. When I hide behind a wall of offense, you know just where to find me. I just can’t get away from the goodness and the mercy of the Lord!”
I guarantee you, this still works today. I can’t speak for anyone else, but all my life his goodness and mercy has been following me. Through divorced families and wrecked homes, through years of rejection and hurt, through years of hatred and despair, his goodness and mercy has been chasing after me. Even when I turned away from him and withdrew fellowship with the Lord, his goodness and mercy was still coming after me. It followed me when the cabinets were empty and I had no money for food. It followed me when Erica had a brain tumor, and needed a miracle. It followed me when Andrea woke up and couldn’t walk one morning. It followed me when my heart was broken over circumstances of life. *I can’t help it, I’m blessed with the goodness and mercy of God!
Some of you here today need to start looking behind your shoulder, because while your moping around saying how bad life is, goodness and mercy are following after you. You think life couldn’t get any worse, but if you’ll take a good look, you’ll see his goodness and mercy taking every step along with you. You are blessed coming in/going out. You are made the righteousness of God, and are an heir to a promise. This same God that has brought you out of so much is chasing after you to give you the miracle you need! Shout it out to the devil: I’m blessed and I can’t help it!
Let me talk to you about goodness, then about mercy.
Psalms 31:19 “How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you. You lavish it on those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world”.NLT
Let me tell you what he means here: For every person that will reverentially fear him, that will trust him, that will rely on him as their only true source of strength/provision, he has an abundance of goodness waiting to give them. It’s stored up, ready to be tapped into. And he will do it not merely in secret, but he’ll do it right before the whole world. In other words, he’ll bless you in front of everyone around you. And they all will know just how blessed you are!
That’s powerful, because I believe God is getting ready in this house today to show the people beside you how good God really is in your life. Some of you are going to be healed, some of you are going to get a loved one saved, some of you are going to get some peace, etc. and everyone is going to witness it! And I think it’s about time to obey the words of Ps. 107, which says “O that men would praise the lord for his goodness”.
Romans 11:22 “Notice how God is both kind (good) and severe. He is severe toward those who disobeyed, but kind (good) to you if you continue to trust in his kindness (goodness). But if you stop trusting, you also will be cut off”
Paul is saying, he will continue to be good to you if you’ll keep trusting in him. I realize it rains on the just and the unjust. But let me tell you something, the life of fulfillment through Christ Jesus will bring on some of the greatest blessings of your life, far greater than the typical day by day things like air to breath and clothes on our back. It’s the times when we’d normally fall into depression but God brought us out. It’s the time when we don’t have any direction for life but God guides us toward his will. It’s the times when your kids are sick in the midnight hour and need to be healed. It’s the times when you’ve lost your job and the bills keep coming in. That’s when you’ll discover how great it is to be in right relationship with the Lord!
NOW LET ME TALK TO YOU ABOUT THE MERCIES OF THE LORD
Mercy is defined as God’s kindness or pity on you and I. It is an aspect of God’s love that causes him to help the pitiful/miserable, in other words people like you and I. It’s the reason we are saved. It’s the reason God keeps getting us out of the messes we drag ourselves into. It’s the reason why in our carnal state God keeps on loving us. *Thank God he gives us mercy instead of justice! He pardons and forgives and keeps on watching us! Thank God for mercy!
Let me tell you something about his mercies: it is the reason you and I aren’t condemned straight to the pits of hell every day. His mercy endures forever. Lamentations 3:22-23 “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness, O God” You and I need to get this in our spirits: he really wants us to succeed in life and in eternity. I don’t know why some folks still believe only that he is a god of judgment and vengeance, but refuse to believe for his mercy and grace. Listen, I know he is able to destroy both body and soul in hell, but this same Jesus also said that he came that we could have life, and that more abundantly! So go ahead and live in constant fear if you so desire; I choose to live in his grace, mercy, and abundance!
