Goodness and Mercy Shall Follow Me

Mount Calvary On-Line Bible Study

23^rd Psalm

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me”

November 8, 2012

I thank God that we have shared in this brief study of the 23rd Psalm.  Our time together has been fruitful, informative and challenging and to God be the glory for it all.  

Finally we are at the end and David says something interesting: He says, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

We have to ask ourselves what would cause David to make such a statement and what does that have to do with the sheep shepherd relationship?  Well let me share a few things and then we can let this scripture rest for a moment. 

Sure About it!

We live in a strange and confused world.  Things that were written in stone yesterday no longer hold any permanence today.  Values are in flux, ethics are flexible and honesty and integrity are lost as collateral damage.  Many ministers have been caught up in the wave of secular relativism and have allowed themselves to be compromised. These incursions into the life of the Church and believer leave some of us wondering about life and God.   Here is the question for us today is there anything that you are sure about?  Can you list at least three things that you sure about and nothing can dissuade you otherwise?

David makes this statement based on:

Key principle:

1. His relationship with the master!  

Because of what you have been through thus far there should be some things that you can stake your life on.  My relationship with the master has revealed some truths about his love for me, his care for me and his strength.

Here is what I know:

1. I am blessed!

David said that the Lord is my shepherd.  I am sure about it today that the Lord is my shepherd.  David says because of all that has occurred to me surely goodness and mercy will follow me and I will dwell in Gods house forever.  I can now look back over my life and see some things.

1. Not because of me but because of him I am blessed/ he did it in spite of me
2. My relationship with him makes me blessed/ as long as I am connected to him I am blessed
3. Because of what he has already done
4. Relationship has its privileges

Key principle:  Before goodness and mercy followed me it flowed to me!

I have experienced it and now it is a part of my character and my personality.

David would say that because of what has come my way the mercy that I received, the grace that was evident in my life mercy flowed to me before I even acknowledged it.  Think about beloved can you look back over your life and see God intervening in your affairs?  Before you ever acknowledged him he blessed you! 

Principal at work.  

Goodness and mercy do not mean that I will never have a hard time but what it does say this:

Good can come out of evil!

My confidence in him is based on the fact that he has set principles in order he has loosed them in my life.

He has declared that if it does not kill me it has to bless me.

What is following you?

And what determines what follows you?

• Watch your attitude it will determine what you see and what you say
• Your altitude will determine how and you receive.

What should follow you?

What I am asking here is this, are all the blessing of God in your life just for you?  

Why does God allow us to suffer and then survive?  

Is there a message to the motives of God?  What is God trying to say to us?

Keys to the lesson:

Manure:  This is what sheep leave behind and it is the very best manure known to humanity!  It can cultivate a dry field; turn a desert into an oasis.  .

The point is this, if goodness and mercy are following you what should be the end result of your presence in a place?

Here are a few suggestions:  

People should be blessed just-

• talking to you
• singing with you
• Working with you
• Praying with you 
• Riding on the bus with you
• Living in the house with you
• Being married to you
• Being in the same class with.

They ought to be blessed because goodness and mercy.

Final thought:

You see beloved I have come to understand that the more blessed I am the more of a blessing that I should be to others. 

What are you resolved to as a result of the goodness and mercy of God?

I am determined to stay in his house! I will never leave his pasture!

No Fly Zone

Mount Calvary online Bible Study

Psalm 23

No fly zone

He anoints me head with oil and my cup runs over

November 1, 2012

We have now reached a point in our time together where everything has finally been put into place.  The sheep are where the shepherd wants them to be.  The sheep are eating the greenest grass and drinking the coolest water.  The Shepherd is right there with them.  They are in table land a plateau, a higher elevation the next level if you will.  The sheep and shepherd are now close they have formed that intimate relationship.  Everything is good everything is lovely.  It is a perfect situation: The mountain lions have been tamed and the snakes have been chased away and the poisonous plants have been plucked up.  This is what the Shepherd has been trying to move the sheep to all along.

Has it ever been that way with you and God?  Prayer is easy, studying Gods word brings nothing but pleasure.  You can’t wait to get to church.  You can see and hear God at work, at home and even at play; you are in an intimate relationship with your Savior.

Oh beloved just when everything is going well, its summer warm days and cool nights, but with all that perfection there is a literal fly in the ointment.  You see beloved it’s now summer and its fly time!

Hoards of flies invade sheep territory in the summer.  This is a serious problem for the sheep and the shepherd relationship.  Yes beloved flies, show up not just your run of the mill ordinary fly but special flies that have their own agenda!

• There are warble flies, Bot flies, heel flies, deer flies, black flies, mosquitoes, gnats.  There attack can and will ruin the perfect rest and relationship of sheep and shepherd.  They drive the sheep to distraction.  But beloved the most notorious of those flies are the nose fly.

Flies with an agenda! /Distraction

1. He wants to plant his eggs in a vulnerable place on the sheep

1. In the nose mucus membranes

1. The eggs hatch and crawl up the nasal passage into you guessed it the head of the sheep
2. Once he plants them and they hatch and crawl up to his head they dig themselves into his brain and they cause the sheep pain swelling 
3. The problem is this, the sheep need relief from these flies, so they deliberately beat their heads against trees, rocks, post, bushes thorn bushes.  They rub themselves in dirt.  Just trying to get some respite from these flies.

Keys to the Lesson: Distractions come from the enemy!

If the enemy can’t get you with the big stuff he will send bugs, flies the small stuff to distract you.  He realizes by now because of your relationship with the shepherd he can’t get you with a mountain lion or a snake or a poisonous plant.  

He will attempt to drop the egg of:

• Doubt
• Fear
• Negativity
• Stinginess
• Hoarding

Because of the irritation some sheep have gone blind and some have even killed themselves just to escape relief from the flies.  

Keys to the lesson: Fear/Distraction

So when the sheep even see the flies hovering around he takes his eyes off the shepherd and becomes afraid he becomes frantic with fear and panic.  

The results of this fear:

The female sheep stop milking the baby sheep/ death

The larger sheep in an attempt to escape run over baby sheep/ death

The sheep become so afraid that they even refuse to go out into the pasture because that is where the flies hover, in the green grass.

Confess to the Lord:  Lord I am a sheep because it is the small stuff that drives me crazy.  Notice if you will the flies are always trying to get into the head of the sheep

Keys to the Lesson:  Attack the head and the body will fall!

Why do you think the fly attacks the head?

What happens when the enemy gets in your head?

Stinking thinking!

Not just your physical head but the spiritual head

Remember the enemy wants your life and your soul!

The Cure

Only the watchful eye of a shepherd can cure these issues.  He is always watching the sheep even though they take their eyes off him and when he notices there behavior pattern changes, he gets the remedy.  When he notices that they are bugging out he gets the remedy.

He gets some oil and sulfur and tar and he mixes it together and then he rubs it all over the head of the sheep and guesses what, instantly the behavior of the sheep changes.  The sheep begin to eat, drink and graze.  

Keys to the Lesson 

Notice that the shepherd does not remove the sheep from the situation he just adds an agent into the mix, the Holy Spirit!  He anoints the head of the sheep in the presence of the flies.  The Holy Spirit is the oil of my life.  When petty annoyances begin to drive me crazy the Holy Spirit is the cure.