Mount Calvary On-Line Bible Study
23rd 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:
- 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:
- 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.
- Not because of me but because of him I am blessed/ he did it in spite of me
- My relationship with him makes me blessed/ as long as I am connected to him I am blessed
- Because of what he has already done
- 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!
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