Surely Goodness and Mercy shall pursue you

Psalms 23 is a famous chapter of the Psalms which perhaps, even pre-believers have heard of. Most notably, people would recognize the opening verse: "The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want."

Who wrote Psalms 23

Psalms 23 is credited by most to be written by King David. Namely because it comes with the subtitle of "A Psalm of David" and also because of the notable references of the life of a shepherd (David was a shepherd before he became king). In addition to the relations to David's life as a Shepherd, the tone and words of the writer aligns very closely to the man that is describe in 1 Samuel, which describes David as a Harpist and also a man after God's heart.

Psalms 23 draws upon the picture of a Shepherd leading his sheep

The book of Psalms

The book of Psalms is a large collection of short and long works of literature, ranging from intimate cries out to the Lord, to praises and lover letter to God, to poetical recollections of Jewish history. While they are largely not in chronological order, we believe that it comes with no coincidence that Psalms 22 is a Messianic Psalm that prophesies the sacrifice of Jesus. It begins with "My God, why have You forsaken Me?" and ends with the beautiful cry of victory:

"They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born, That He has done this." Psalms 22:31

What Psalms 23 means

And we are led into Psalms 23, which is like a gush of fresh wind in a drought, like the calm right after a storm, like cool water splashed across the face of one who has just been raised from the pits. We would love to dwell on each and every one of the verses, but for today, we will have to limit ourselves to the verse of the week. Which by itself is filled with inexhaustible encouragement, love, hope.

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever." Psalms 23:6

The word "Surely" is an anchor and a strong tower of refuge in which this promise for the believer lies. Surely, this shall happen: Goodness and mercy shall follow you, believer, for all the days of your life. We would like to draw your attention to the word "follow" in its original Hebrew:

KJV's translation count: rāḏap̄ or "follow" found in Psalms 23:6

We encourage you to see the full study of the word by clicking on the image, but just looking at how the same Hebrew word is translated in other contexts gave us an idea of what the word is usually used for. To "pursue". Hear this beloved:

"Surely goodness and mercy shall PURSUE you all the days of your life."

Praise God for this promise found in the bible, right after the prophecy of Jesus. Psalms 23 is surely a prophecy for those who have accepted Christ as their offering!

Beloved, find strength as you meditate on this verse which foretold your life after the cross. Goodness and Mercy shall pursue you for the rest of your life, because of the finished work of Christ!