Psalm 23

Finally David wrote, “(6) Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” I want you to think about the word “follow” for a moment. To follow means “to come after or to pursue.” So we can actually think about this verse in this manner: no matter where we go with the Lord, goodness and mercies will pursue after us – they will track us down. Remember what I told you last week from the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy about all those blessings tracking us down and overtaking us? Well here is another confirmation! Not only are blessing pursuing us, but also goodness and mercy! We have no choice but to be blessed when we are in a relationship with God. Many are those who are actively “seeking” God’s blessings but when we understand our relationship with God we know that we do not have to seek what He has already given to us. They will chase us down and overtake us because that is God’s desire for us. We have a target on our backs and those blessings are just following us around aiming to hit that target. We cannot escape God’s blessings for us!!!

He ends with “.…and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” First blessings will chase us down in this life and when we cross over to the other side we will forever be in the house of the Lord. I know we have all heard about the mansions in the sky – but that’s not what this is about. I do not know what your house will be like, but I do know that to be in God’s presence forever outweighs anything that we have here on this earth. Jesus confirmed our security in John 14:1-3 when He said “(1) Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. (2) In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” God is making preparations right now for us to spend eternity with Him.

Strangers Rest, in order for us to be God’s sheep, we must decide to be stupid – willing to admit we do not know everything and therefore willing to yield to our Shepherd. This is one of the few times we can admit to being stupid and be proud of it. As sheep, we should have a dependency on Christ. That dependency can only come through our understanding and acceptance of the fact that we are sheep. As sheep, we are to be led and cared for. As sheep, we are to follow where the Shepherd leads. As sheep, we should be able to rest without being fearful for tomorrow because our Shepherd is keeping watch over us. As sheep we should not attempt to be the Shepherd. When we truly value our Shepherd, we have no problem being sheep.

Throughout history man has tried to be the Shepherd instead of the sheep. Satan convinced Eve to eat the fruit by telling her that by doing so she would “be like God knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5) When God brought the Children of Israel from Egypt, throughout their history there were some who refused to walk as sheep and tried to be the shepherd. When Christianity was born, throughout the age of the Church, there have been many who felt that the calling on their life elevated them to the role of Shepherd thus giving them the power to “change” God’s word to suit their own interpretation and doctrines – I will talk more about that next week. If we want the benefits spoken of by David in Psalm 23 to apply to us, we must walk in the role of obedient sheep. Anything other than this can be construed as rebellion as we may be trying to walk in the role of Shepherd, thinking we know what is best for us. As you reflect on Psalm 23 in the future, remember, when we value God as much as He values us, we do not have a problem being sheep and only listening to His voice as He guides us. May God bless you “real good!”