The Hounds Of Heaven Series

God’s goodness supplies our needs; God’s mercy blots out our sins

Let’s remember this: Our God is a good God. All you have to do is read the Old Testament and understand what those ancient Canaanite gods required of their people…all you have to do is read about some of the Greek and Roman Gods and you understand those people lived under a system where they didn’t know what mood their god would be in, or whether they had angered him or whether they had pleased him. Our God is a God who is characterized by goodness and mercy.

Just the idea of the word mercy or lovingkindness is unique to our God. Linguists have not been able to find another language where the Hebrew word HESED has an equivalent. God’s lovingkindness is unique. And it is limitless; it is huge; it is multi-faceted. This assurance of goodness and mercy is a statement about God’s covenant relationship with us.

Lamentations 3:21-24 “His mercies never fail…His faithfulness is great.”

Goodness and mercy are the explanation of the abundant life of John 10:10.

***Goodness and Mercy are not an abundance of possessions or an abundance of wealth.

***It is not an abundance of health or good times

***It is an understanding that I am a child of Grace…that God’s mercy is falling all around me and that His mercy doesn’t ever stop. Our lives are abundant and full in ways that unsaved people don’t understand—peace, joy, hope. With God as my shepherd, I shall not lack any of those things.

You may have heard of the expression “The Hound of Heaven.” The Hound of Heaven is a religious poem written by English poet Francis Thompson. It talks about how God’s grace pursues us until “ the soul feels its pressure forcing it to turn to Him.”

Today I want to talk about the hound of heaven—but not the way that Francis Thompson meant it. It is God’s Grace, but not in pursuing a sinner to bring him to salvation, rather in pursuing believers who may be wandering from the Shepherd.

Goodness and mercy are the shepherd dogs. It is the duty of the shepherd dog to keep the sheep following the shepherd. If a sheep begins to wander, they nip at the sheep or bark at them (sometimes just to get the shepherd’s attention). God’s dogs pursue us (—they “dog” us!!!!) When we wander into doubt and discouragement, God’s dogs remind us that the best place to be is in God’s flock. When we look at the greener pastures of another flock, God’s dogs remind us how our shepherd restored our soul; how our shepherd leads us beside still waters. “Hey,” the dog barks, “stop wandering away to find green pastures somewhere else. Where else can you find goodness like our shepherd?” “Bark”, says the dog, “Where else can you find a God who forgives your sin and understands your hurt and cares about your fears?” In a very real sense, goodness and mercy are the “hounds of heaven.”

This is an important concept for the whole understanding of Psalm 23.

If you don’t believe vs. 6a, you will not believe vs. 4 & 5.

You have to believe vs. 6a in order to believe that where He is leading you is good.