Wednesday, July 30, 2014

"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT TWO THINGS THAT WILL FOLLOW YOU"


"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT TWO THINGS THAT WILL FOLLOW YOU"
Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.
Some explanatory thoughts, applications, questions, and a prayer:
This is perhaps one of the most well known Psalms in all of the world. Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd etc.
Written by King David who had himself been a shepherd as a young boy. But now writing as the king he saw the Lord as his shepherd, and himself as one of the Lord's sheep. In this particular verse, there are two things that he says will follow him, and then closes this off by telling us about his eternal future as one of God's children.
1. What's said here to follow David, is also true of every believer in Jesus Christ.
Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.
You will notice the verse starts with the word "surely" designed to affirm beyond any doubt the truthfulness of what is about to be said. This is true is the idea. Thus this is true for you and I who also follow and know the Lord, we can count on these things in our lives.
2. Here are the two things that followed David, and also follow us.
Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.
Goodness and mercy. What a blessing. David was declaring that each and ever day, in fact all the days of his life, that goodness and mercy would follow him.
This is true for you and I also. As we look back behind us we see these two things, the goodness and the mercy of the Lord.
Goodness comes from a word meaning beneficial, blessing.
Mercy is also translated "God's unfailing love"
Today God is being good to us, today God is loving us. And tomorrow we can look back on today, and see that these two blessing were there, and that's the way it will be all through our lives.
3. We can look forward also to dwelling in God's house forever.
Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.
David was declaring that there were these two blessings in his life day by day, and that his future residence would be in the house of the LORD forever.
The same can be said of us. Blessings from God each and every day, and the confidence of being in heaven with God, in the city of God forever, and forever.
Some questions:
1. Isn't it a blessing to pause a little and consider the wonderful truths and blessing from God in our lives?
2. Do you know that because God said it, you can bank on it being true?
3. Do you know that these blessings are following you day by day?
4. Do you know that as a christian you will dwell with God in His house forever and ever?
5. Will you take a moment right now to bow your heart before Him, and tell Him thank you, and that you love Him?
A prayer:
Father, even though we have heard this Ps over and over, it may be new for some. And even though it may be familiar to us, the truth of it is a powerful blessing in our lives today. You are behind us, You are with us, and we will be with You forever.
Thank You for sending Jesus Christ to die for our sins. Thank You for Your goodness that led us to repent. Thank You for giving us faith to believe, and thank You for saving us when we did believe in Jesus and receive Him. And finally, thank You Lord for the glorious eternal future we have waiting for us. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God. In Jesus name, amen.
Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia.