GOODNESS AND MERCY

 


The famous words of the famous psalm 23.

The last stanza or verse reads:

“Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever and ever. Amen.”

What does this really mean?

This does not only mean that I will always be the beneficiary of God’s goodness and mercy.

It also implies that I will always be a channel or dispenser of God’s goodness and mercy.

In other words, anywhere I go, goodness and mercy will go with me; they will always follow or accompany me to places and as I meet people.

That is, I will bring goodness into that place and I will also be merciful to people who I come across and interact with along life’s journey.

Meaning, I will help them, be compassionate towards them, forgive them, give to them, honor them, appreciate them, and be gracious to them.

In whatever capacity I am able to, at that point in time, and as is appropriate, I will do so.

So when we say goodness and mercy shall follow us all our days, we are affirming and trusting that the Lord who is our Shepherd will cause His goodness and merciful to accompany us in our lifetime and through any circumstance we may have to face or endure in this world.

We are also affirming that the Lord who is leading us through the torturous journey of life will cause us to be good and merciful to others.

We are His Ambassadors, experiencing and dispensing His Goodness and Mercy everywhere we go and with everyone we encounter.

The highest expression and experience of God’s Goodness and Mercy is in the Gospel of Christ.

When we hear and believe the True Gospel, and God has worked His Salvation in us, then we have experienced God’s Goodness and Mercy.

As we share and proclaim the Gospel of Christ, we are then spreading God’s Goodness and Mercy to everyone everywhere we show up.



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