The Following of Goodness

by Caryl Havasy

“Surely goodness and lovingkindness (mercy) will follow me all the days

of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” Psalm 23:6

I have often envisioned the goodness and lovingkindness of the Lord that follows me in Psalm 23 as God’s blessings to me for my walking in obedience to His commands. Goodness and mercy are following me, meaning they come after or as a result of my faith in action. Yet the word “follow” in this verse does not mean to come after as a result, it means to pursue or run after; to chase, to hunt. In other words, it is an active pursuit, not a result. Therefore, the goodness and lovingkindness of the LORD my Shepherd is pursuing me, running after me and chasing me! Why?

The answer can be seen in the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 18:12-14: “If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.”

Since it is “not the will of my Father in heaven that I perish” (Matthew 18:14) but that “I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Psalm 23:6), my Shepherd pursues me. Even as His sheep I am prone to wander, to “go astray and turn my own way” (Isaiah 53:6), yet all the days of my life, He pursues me. But His pursuit is not harsh – instead it is marked by goodness and lovingkindness and mercy.

And it is “His goodness and kindness that leads me to repentance,” and it is with “lovingkindness that He draws me to Himself” (Jeremiah 31:3). He is truly the good Shepherd!

My precious friend, is God pursuing you? Does every sermon, song, and Bible verse point to that specific area in your life where you have “gone astray and turned your own way”? If so, then respond to His goodness and kindness by repenting and once again following His voice. In doing so, you will not perish in the hand of “the thief who has come to steal, kill and destroy” (John 10:10a) – but you “will dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Psalm 23:6) and enjoy the “abundant life that only Jesus can give” (John 10:10b)!