“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalm 23:6

Life can be described as a journey filled with moments of joy and, at other times, sadness. Through it all, our shepherd is with us, providing for us in every season.

Verse six affirms, “Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” Not just some, not most, not many, but ALL the days of my life! Goodness and mercy result from the attention and expert care of our shepherd.

It’s God’s will for goodness to be a main staple in your life, not the occasional encounter.

• Psalm 34:8 “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!”
• James 1:17 says that every good and perfect gift comes from God.

God is the One who brings good things into our life, even taking the bad things and making them good. (Romans 8:28) Those who make the LORD their shepherd will discover in every season how valleys and mountaintops are filled with the goodness of God.

David’s declaration is emphatic. The word “surely” is defined as only or yes. When what we see and how we feel paints a different picture of who God is, we need to stand by faith upon Psalm 23:6.

The word translated as mercy comes from the Hebrew word hesed, which means loyalty and faithfulness. Hesed is most commonly translated in English as faithfulness in the Old Testament.

But here, David is making a point, and translators have stuck with mercy to highlight this point. God’s faithfulness is an act of mercy. God’s faithfulness is not based on us but on who He is.

“If we are faithless, he remains faithful- for he cannot deny himself.”  2 Timothy 2:13

This means your past or present choices do not provoke God to be more or less faithful to you.

Because God is faithful and His goodness follows you, the question is, what kind of trail are you leaving? Every one of God’s blessings in your life is meant to be reciprocated, thereby leaving a trail of goodness and mercy.

We must ask ourselves, am I leaving a blessing or a mess? God’s goodness in our life becomes evidence to unbelievers of God’s faithful care over us.

As our shepherd takes us on a journey, which is emblematic of our spiritual life, He manages every variable we face, protecting and comforting us with His rod and staff, walking and providing for us through every valley, leading us to prepared mountain tops among our enemies and ends this journey by bringing us home.

“I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”

A literal translation of this phrase is, “We will live in the presence of God forever.” This is the definition of Heaven.

With the skilled and competent care of our good shepherd, He will bring us home as we follow. The shepherd’s care for the sheep is focused on bringing the sheep home safely.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “God has put eternity into man’s heart.” Inside every human being, there is a craving for eternity.

This desire leads some to spend $200,000 to be cryogenically frozen, hoping to be brought back to life when a cure for the disease that took their life is found.

But here’s the catch. No cryogenics organization has a way to bring life back to its preserved patients. Alcor Life Foundation says it’s confident “revival may be possible.” [1]

Eternity is promised to those who believe in and follow Jesus, where we will live in God’s presence forever! It’s guaranteed! Jesus affirmed this truth to us in John 14.

“¹Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. ² In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” John 14:1-3

Not only do we have the promise that our journey with our great shepherd in this life will end with our entrance into Heaven, but until then, we remain under the watchful eye and care of Jesus!

In His provision and timing, we will lack no good thing. What a promise and conclusion to our story, journey, and this study!

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[1] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/200-frozen-heads-and-bodies-await-revival-at-this-arizona-cryonics-facility-180980981/