A Certain Promise for the Journey
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
and I will dwell in the house of the L ord forever” (Ps. 23:6, NKJV).
When we are in the valley or surrounded by enemies, it is sometimes
tempting to believe that we have been left alone. It does not always feel
as though God has been doing much; we reason that if He had been
helping, we wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with. But David obvi-
ously does not see it like this.
In spite of his trials, what two things does David say in Psalm 23:6 that
he is certain of? (See also Eph. 1:4, 2 Pet. 1:10, and Heb. 11:13–15.)
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Some translations say that goodness and unfailing love (God’s cove
nantal commitment) will “follow” me all the days of my life. However,
the original verb is much stronger, and the text should read that good-
ness and unfailing love will “pursue” me all the days of my life. (In fact,
it’s the same Hebrew verb used in such verses as Genesis 14:14, Joshua
10:19, and 1 Samuel 25:29, where the idea of “pursuit” is very clear.)
What picture do you get in your mind when you imagine goodness and
unfailing love “pursuing” you? What do you think David meant to
tell us about God by describing His care for us this way?
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No matter how deep the valley or how persistent the enemies, the cer-
tainty of God’s goodness and unfailing love and the certainty of His guid-
ance to the very end of our journey is unquestionable. If these thoughts
could sustain Jesus through Calvary, we should take heart, as well.
There are times, however, when those we care for are full of ques-
tions. Like David, the best way to address these concerns is often not
with a theological description of what God can do. Rather, as David
shows us in Psalm 23:6, it is through an affirmation, the sharing of a
personal conviction, of the truth about our God.
What evidence is there from your own knowledge of God that can
illustrate the certainty that His goodness and unfailing love pursue
us? What evidence could you add from the Bible? How could you
share this with those who may be questioning the certainty of God’s
care? How is the Cross the greatest example of this “pursuit”?
