based on the LGG Study, The Fruit of the Spirit, w4d5
Today’s Roadmap for the Journey: Psalm 23: SOAP verse 6
Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue meall the days of my life,and I will live in the house of the Lordforever. Ps. 23:6 NLT
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. Ps. 23:6 KJV
This is the very first passage of Scripture I remember my dad having me memorize. I’m sure I knew others, but this one will forever stick in my mind as my first memory verse(s). I don’t recall how old I was, but it has stuck with me through the years and has been a pillar of my life. God is not just God to me, for I know Him as a shepherd who has cared for me through the years. His rod and his staff have comforted me more times than I can count or tell. He has led me to green pastures, walked with me through the deepest valleys, and used the crook of His staff to pull me from many pits. Despite the turmoils of this life, whether dangers, deaths, diagnoses, heartaches, unmet needs, or battles with the enemy, I have known both His goodness and faithfulness. Even in times of great need, my cup has been full and often overflowing.
If you’re more familiar with the KJV and/or NKJV, you may be wondering why I’m talking about “goodness and mercy” rather than “goodness and faithfulness.” The answer is simply a slight difference in translations. However, when we look up the meaning of “mercy” in this verse, we find that it is the same covenant-word translated as ‘steadfast love’ elsewhere… Together with goodness, it suggests the steady kindness and support that one can count on in the family or between firm friends. (Kidner)1Other commentators use the term “twin angels” when referring to the term “goodness and mercy”.2 While I have never heard this phrase or description before, I must say I love it! Picturing God’s goodness and mercy/steadfast love always with me, pursuing me, gives me strength and encouragement for all my days ~ whatever they may hold. The ‘twin angels’, goodness and mercy as they have been called, serve as beautiful and powerful reminders that with God as my Shepherd ~ I have nothing to fear for He is always with me…caring, providing, leading, protecting, refreshing and attending to my needs. Or, as Meyer suggested, “we are well escorted” through this life/world3, “with a Shepherd in front and these twin angels behind.”
“We are well escorted, with a Shepherd in front and these twin angels behind!” (Meyer)
Enduring Word / Psalm 23:6
“These twin guardian angels will always be with me at my back and my beck. Just as when great princes go abroad they must not go unattended, so it is with the believer.” (Spurgeon)
Worship Response
Reflection and Application
- Looking back over your life, where have you seen God’s goodness and faithfulness pursuing you even in the seasons when you didn’t recognize it at the time?
The More We Know
- Derek Kidner (1913–2008) was a British Old Testament scholar, Anglican clergyman, and warden of Tyndale House, Cambridge. His works are widely celebrated for combining concise, reliable scholarship with rich devotional and pastoral insight. [1, 2, 3] ↩︎
- Meyer ↩︎
- Spurgeon ↩︎
Other Beautiful and helpful commentary concerning Psalm 23:
i. “In the Old Testament world, to eat and drink at someone’s table created a bond of mutual loyalty, and could be the culminated token of a covenant… So to be God’s guest is to be more than an acquaintance, invited for a day. It is to live with Him.” (Kidner)
ii. “While I am here I will be a child at home with my God; the whole world shall be his house to me; and when I ascend into the upper chamber I shall not change my company, nor even change the house; I shall only go to dwell in the upper story of the house of the Lord for ever.” (Spurgeon)
The More We Know
Other Beautiful and helpful commentary concerning Psalm 23:
