PSALMS CHAPTER 23, Verse 6

“Goodness and grace will pursue me every day of my life; and I will live in the house of Adonai for years and years to come.‘ (Complete Jewish Bible)

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (KJV)

This verse brings a smile to my face because I saw an illustration of it once. I was young and thought it was irreverent but very funny. The picture was of a man’s back and following behind him were three dogs with names written on them: Surely, Goodness and Mercy. Looking at the Thesaurus today, I found that many synonyms for “pursue” are: follow, chase, hunt, trail, track, tail, shadow, dog and hound. Sounds like the illustration was right on the mark!

Think about it—maybe there aren’t dogs but there could be lots of people following us or maybe there are those hunting for us like the enemies from verse 5. I’m mulling over the idea that having a buffer of God’s goodness and grace between me and those enemies would be extremely helpful. The concept that any of the weapons they launch at me being required to pass through God’s goodness and grace is definitely comforting to me.

Our enemies aren’t the only people following us; there are masses of lost and searching people out there and some are attracted to the lovers of God (that’s me). Hopefully, they see God’s goodness and grace following me, so they want what I have! Sometimes my actions less like who I am striving emulate (that's Jesus) than I would like. In spite of the stressful and insufficient attempts, others can still see Jesus in us because there’s a trail that His goodness and grace leaves behind us; it’s kind of like a “scent of His essence.” That’s because our life is not about us; it’s all about Him!

The reason God’s goodness and grace follows us is not only that we are lovers of God but because God lives within us. 1 Corinthians 3:17 (b), “…For God’s temple is holy, and you yourselves are that temple.” (CJB) Therefore, the second part of verse 6 is a declarative statement of my intention to let myself be the “House of ADONAI (Lord/Master).” And that’s not for just the remainder of my life, but for all eternity. Within me my God reigns forever! I will serve Him with the goal of letting Him perfect His Kingdom in me and increase His Kingdom on Earth.

So, my interpretation of verse 6 is this: “Because you live within me, the aroma of your exceedingly great goodness and overwhelming grace is detected by those in search of you. May your Presence in me, your abiding place, lead the ‘seekers’ to become ‘lovers’ of God.”

Ladying for today: “God-within-us leaves a trail, a fragrance of His goodness and grace, that leads any who are looking for Him to me—a point of contact to find Him. The challenge is to lead others to become lovers of God also.”

PSALMS Chapter 23, Verse 5

Psalm 23:5  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

When reading through this Psalm, this verse often gets passed over quickly in the recitation, but it contains an incredibly profound concept. The idea of sitting down to eat a meal with Jesus while my enemies look on is mind-boggling! Wouldn’t time have to be suspended for that to happen? Especially for David because you will notice that he mentions his enemies in every chapter he wrote except the last two. He knew what it was to have enemies and at no time did he sit down to a meal without being aware of them and where they were in relation to him.

But David also knew what it was like to have God protect him from the arrows, the words and any other manner of weapons that were meant to harm him. He gave all praise to his protector, God, in Psalm 7:15, “I couldn’t begin to count the times you’ve been there for me.” (The Passion translation) Through all the disappointments, betrayals, running and dodging, David did not succumb to the evil that was tenaciously determined to destroy him. He knew the who he could turn to for help.

We also are in a very real spiritual battle—against evil and its initiator, satan (sic). The attacks launched against us subtly invade our minds, violently batter our emotions and never stop blitzing our spirits. Surrounding us with hostile lies and menacing deception, with full-blown emotional damage and violent suffering, and with debilitating physical disease and oppression, satan sets out to “deceive, kill and destroy us” with a passion. His business is to take out as many people as he can before they come to fully understand and accept God’s extraordinarily loving grace. His next goal is to defeat as many Christians as possible with clever confusion and guided misunderstanding of that grace. When faced with satan’s ploys, we must know what God’s grace provides for us!

I am overwhelmed by the immensity of God’s provision! So, this is my interpretation of verse 5: God calls us out of our world, where our enemies are banging on our door and throwing rocks at our house, to commune with Him and receive sustenance that nourishes us physically, emotionally and spiritually. After the meal, He arranges for the Holy Spirit to accompany us providing wisdom and guidance from God for moment-to-moment instances in our daily lives. Then, He empties His dump-truck-load of favor and blessings into our coffee-mug-sized hearts until we can’t endure any more.

God is calling us out—to come to Him. Really!? Yes! Kinda amazing, huh? When we get that one-on-one time of connection with God, we could get some strategic advice for the war; we could get clarity of mind for a critical problem or healing for our gaping emotional wounds. Wouldn’t that help us a lot in our daily battles? God desires to and will provide those benefits for us when we are “at table” with Him--in spite of what is going around us. Some people call that connection a “Quiet Time” or a “time of prayer and devotions.” Will He find you looking for Him? Don’t try to walk through the battles of Life alone when you have Almighty God offering to be your tank!

Ladying for today: My God is calling me out of the world because He has so much to give me—time, the Holy Spirit and blessings galore—so I will passionately seek Him.  “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13