Surely Goodness and Mercy Shall Follow Me

Sorry if this one's a bit disjointed!! Stick with it...

Psalm 23 has been all about the care a good shepherd gives his sheep.The health and vitality of the sheep has been the shepherd's number 1 priority. In this last verse the care given the sheep is summed up.
I want to introduce you to two sheep dogs……God's two sheep dogs.
Remember, the shepherd is leading the flock…. I want you to imagine two dogs as rearguard.
God has two sheep dogs that always follow us and their names are goodness and mercy.
They are there not to scare us or hurt us, but to keep us in the fold and guide us to the next pastures.

1. Goodness.
God's goodness means we get things we don't deserve. If we believe in the goodness of God we can look to the future with hope.
Psalm 100:5
For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.

A good parent does not fulfil every wish and whim a child has. Why? Because not everything will benefit the child. Sometimes a parent will need to say, ’No I don’t think you two should play with the carving knives’!! God knows what is good for us far better than we know ourselves. God's goodness is great…

It’s most important that we understand that the promise of God's goodness does not mean a problem - free life. In Psalm 23 David has needed his soul restored, direction, help with fear and assurance of God's presence.
Not everything in life is good but God works in all things.
Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
When my wife makes a cake she mixes together ingredients that by themselves don't taste good but all are needed to make a delicious cake. Raw eggs, Flour. Baking powder etc are not palatable. So many things that happen in our lives are unpalatable, but God works them in to make something good out of it all. Even in our toughest times God moulds us into the people He wants us to be.
Those things which would prove to be detrimental to our good have been kept from us. Those things which will work together for the “good” God has planned for us, God arranges and controls in such a way as to produce that good. Everything in the life of the Christian is designed for accomplishing the “good” God has planned for us.

The “good” which God purposes for us is of course in the future and which we cannot presently see. That “good” includes our salvation, sanctification, and our future full adoption as sons of God. It will involve being tested perhaps by suffering, as the “good” which is spoken of here is not so much happiness as holiness.
So the “all things” which God causes to work together for our ultimate good includes hardship, includes our failures and our sins, our innocent suffering, for the cause of Christ, and that suffering which results from our sin and stupidity.
“All things” includes the malicious things others do to us. It includes, at times, Satan’s attacks by which he hopes to destroy us, but which God allows for our own growth.
The “all things” includes events which took place before we were even born. “All things” includes those things which happened before we were saved. It surely includes the things which have come about after our conversion and also those events yet to come. The “all things” over which God has control and which He is causing to work together for our good includes the minute details of our lives and not just major decisions and actions.

God causes all things to work together for our good.
Joseph is a very positive illustration of God working for our good. Joseph was cruelly sold into slavery by his brothers. They acted sinfully out of jealousy. Joseph was treated badly by others. He was not kindly treated by his father (his favoritism was no favour to Joseph). He was not treated fairly by Potiphar, and especially by Mrs. Potiphar! He was not treated kindly by the king’s wine taster. He could have wallowed in the suffering which he experienced. And yet Joseph seemed to understand God’s goodness better than anyone. He could tell his brothers, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good” (see Genesis 45:5; 50:20). Belief in the sovereignty of God, at work for his good in the midst of his suffering, encouraged Joseph to be faithful, to look to God and to the future for his final “good.” It enabled him to forgive his brothers, knowing that God’s gracious hand was behind their sinful actions.

And there are numerous other examples in scripture and in history.

When our life is not going well we begin to question God's care. . Our natural reaction to trials is fear, worry and to ask "why?" We begin to think He really doesn't know what He is doing with me. We get tempted to panic and want to run from His care. We get the idea we can survive better on our own.
When our health breaks down, someone is taken from us in death, our job folds, we cannot meet our bills or our kids are going in the wrong direction we can wonder where God is…. But His goodness is not far behind!

2. Mercy /lovingkindness.
God's mercy means He bases His actions in our life on His lovingkindness. He has made an unconditional commitment to us to be merciful, because He's chosen to commit Himself to us.
On your best day and on your worst day God's commitment is the same.
God loves you just as you are, but He loves you too much to let you stay as you are. He wants to change some actions and thoughts in your life, but when you make those changes He won't love you more than He has already committed to love you, the fellowship will just be sweeter.
Mercy is not getting what we deserve.
If Romans 8:28 is one of the Bible’s great verses, so is Romans 5:8...
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
We are sinners deserving the penalty of everlasting separation from God… but He takes the initiative…. sending His Son to die for us… while we are still in sin. This is love, this is mercy beyond words.

I Timothy 1:15-16
15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
16 However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.

Mercy, grace and love are here. We are saved by the blood of Christ on the cross. We do nothing. All is of grace… the only thing I can offer is the sin from which I need to be saved. All is of grace…undeserved mercy.
Romans 5:1
Standing then acquitted as the result of faith, let us enjoy peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:1
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
What mercy, what love…. We are saved from sin and death.
But His mercy does not end there…. This sheepdog called mercy also follows us all the days of our lives, so when we mess up as surely we will, mercy pursues us again.
1 John 1:8-9
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
He is a merciful God.

3.All my life.
God's two faithful sheep dogs follow me all the days of my life. They will be with me as long as I am on this earth…. What a promise.
Heb 13:5
Be content with what you have; for God Himself has said, "I will never, never let go your hand: I will never never forsake you."
They follow me no matter the kind of day I am having. Discouraging days, distressing days, dangerous days, delightful days….days of sweet fellowship with the Lord.
David is pointing to the future. No matter what problems I may face, I am sure my shepherd will be there for me. Whatever David faced he chose to have complete confidence in God.He was confident that goodness and mercy followed him even when he could not see them.

4. Surely
What a great word. Not maybe, perhaps, possibly or hopefully. It is a certainty. No guess work, no doubts, no wondering, no hesitation, no question marks - absolutely without a doubt. When we go through times of confusion, discouragement and depression we can be sure that means we can be secure. We only become insecure when we forget how much God loves us. When the Lord is your shepherd He is for you.
Psalm 56:9
When I cry out to You, then my enemies will turn back; This I know, because God is for me.

David said surely - God's goodness and mercy are following us.
God is always at work but with our limited understanding as finite human beings we cannot always comprehend His infinite wisdom.
God does not give up on us. He does follow us with His goodness and mercy because He loves us and despite our doubts and misgivings about His management of our life, He picks us up and brings us back to Himself.
It is so often in hindsight that we realise we were never out of His care. No difficulty can arise, no dilemma can emerge, or no seeming disaster can descend on our life without God eventually bringing good out of the chaos.
Heb 5:13 again “God Himself has said, "I will never, never let go your hand: I will never never forsake you."

The valley of deepest darkness

Thankyou to Kate for reminding me to keep my sermons blog up to date!
Not doing a lot of preaching at the moment...

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."
This verse is probably most often used at funerals to remind us of the triumph of resurrection over death and that we no longer have to fear its dark shadow. We often think how this dark valley relates to the final journey in life. David was stating in Psalm23:4 his complete and utter trust in God's ability to lead and guide him through the actual valley of death as well as the dark valleys of daily life. From the perspective of the ending of our earthly life, the emphasis on this verse is found in the comforting words that "God is with us" and there is no need to "fear any evil" for God will lead us home.
God does not want His children cowering in fear of what lies on the "other side". As much as we fight to live.... and that's a natural instinct God placed within us, there comes a time in every person's life when the hope of what is to come overrides and replaces the pain of what has been. Fear of the pain of dying is understandably human... let's be honest.... but God wants us to know that when that moment comes when we literally find ourselves walking the valley of death, that He will be right there with us holding our hand and leading us to glory where there is no more pain, sorrow or death. There are many promises in the Bible which give us firm ground as Christians to be sure of eternal life. We hear them at every funeral service.
We will look again at this subject when, on another occasion, we examine the last phrase of Ps23; 'I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever'.

But what I want to focus on is not so much our last days, but on life's struggles.
The question really isn't whether we'll have a handful or a cartload of valleys to go through in our lives but, 'how?'; "how do we get through them." The key is in this verse because we don't go through life alone. The Good Shepherd is our constant companion.

There is a road that goes between Jericho and Jerusalem known as the "shadow of death" due to its narrow way and steep sides. David may well have known it. As a shepherd, he was very much aware of the dangers of these narrow trails that could result in the death of a sheep sliding down into the ravine.
When the shepherd of Bible times led his flock into the mountains to graze during the summer, there were valleys marked by cliffs and cold winds that must be crossed. The sheep had to go further and further up the mountains to graze, then later in the year go through it all again on the way home.
The comfort given in these dark, treacherous valleys was the presence of the shepherd, his rod, and his staff. The sheep had learned to depend on the shepherd for shelter, guidance, and safety. In these dark, shadowy valleys where there were life-threatening obstacles, a good shepherd protected of his sheep with his own life.
The word "shadow" implies it is late in the day when the sun has already gone behind the rocks and thus the ravine or valley would be darkened by late day shadows. The darker it would get, the more treacherous the attempt to navigate the trail. As it would get darker, the temperature would drop, and the vicious wild animals would appear looking for their evening meal.

David's soothing voice of confidence in this verse is that even if he must walk through the darkest valley late in the day with shadows abounding and potential for disaster with every step; he would fear no evil. In other words, he was able to walk through this valley with a deep assurance that God was with him and that God would guide him and bring him comfort.

Phillip Keller, once a shepherd himself, describes the closeness between the shepherd and the sheep.
Sometimes, I have been fascinated to see how a shepherd
will actually hold his staff against the side of some sheep
that is a special pet or a favorite, simply so that they are "in touch". They will walk along this way almost as though it were "hand-in-hand". The sheep obviously enjoys this special attention from the shepherd and revels in the close, personal, intimate contact between them...It is a delightful and moving picture.

The shepherd's rod and staff were not instruments of fear used to beat sense into the sheep or punish them for straying. These tools were simply used to keep the sheep on the "straight and narrow". When wild animals threatened, the shepherd would be ready with his rod. When the sheep would veer off course, the shepherd would gently nudge the sheep to the right or left to keep them on the trail instead of falling into the valley of death. The staff is the familiar crook which would be used to lift up and pull the sheep up out of danger.

As the Shepherd is with us we don't have to be afraid of the shadows. Do you know what a shadow is,? ... it's the outline of something blocking the light. The shadow is harmless except for the fear we let it generate in our hearts because of the unknown 'whatever' which it hides.
Would you rather be run over by a bus or the shadow of a bus? The shadow has no substance, you see. And also the shadow implies the light.....the Light of Christ reminding us there is nothing to fear for He is with us.

Donald English writes:
"We are no nearer to explaining why suffering is allowed as an element in our daily lives. Nor are we ever likely to be much nearer to that. We have seen how much of it we bring upon ourselves, either individually or corporately. But much more important is the assurance we have that however deep our sense of dereliction may be, God is actually in it with us....'

I was reflecting on the 62 mile walk we did for Christian Aid. The first bit from Melrose was going to be in the dark, so I walked it in daylight a few weeks before when Cindy and I were up there on holiday. So on the actual weekend of the walk I was able to lead and guide the other three easily in the dark since I'd been there.
The next morning, however, as we crossed the moor to Wooler in the dark, it was much harder, and we got lost. I hadn't done that bit in daylight.

Donald English continues; 'There is no place where we can go on earth's surface where the footsteps of God in Jesus have not preceded us. There is no deep place of suffering where God will not be with us. And God's presence is to redeem.... The God whom we worship is the one who, as Rabbi Hugo Gryn put it about his reaction to losing family in the concentration camps of WW2, 'wept with me'.
He's been there. He understands, and He's right beside you..... with His rod to protect and correct, and His staff to rescue and guide.

The valley of deep darkness will be ours sooner or later..
In more than 40 communications, published since her death, Mother Teresa bemoans the 'dryness,' 'darkness,' 'loneliness' and 'torture' she is undergoing.
Churchill spoke frequently to his family and friends about his 'Black Dog' which was a euphemism for depression.
He suffered with depression for most of his life and at times struggled to hide the extent of his black moods from his political colleagues. Interestingly he used to lay bricks as a means of distracting himself when depressed and felt that this kept the 'Black Dog' at bay.
. John of the Cross writes of 'the dark night of the soul', and two chapters of his book extol the benefits... not least that we learn to trust and depend on God more.
He leads us through these shadowy valleys, teaching us to trust and obey......"You are with me": The good Shepherd is with us even in what can seem the most troubling situations in our lives....working things out for our good.
And the Good Shepherd guards us with His life. 'He lays down His life for the sheep', says Jesus of himself.....the heart of the gospel is here, friends. Jesus died for me!

If I were to ask you now if you have known dark valleys, I don't think that one of you would say 'no', if you're honest. The trouble so often is we look at each other across the room and say to ourselves, 'He doesn't understand what I'm going through. She can't know the pain I feel.' Well, actually, he probably can. She probably does. Part of our commitment to love one another involves being authentic... honest with each other, being vulnerable, being available for each other...

As Jesus prepares to leave His disciples, as His time on earth is over, whilst assuring them of His presence always, He commands them to 'Love one another as I have loved you.'
That's perhaps a step beyond David's experience.
We must support and help one another. This love is the mark of the Christian and, reaching out, to come along side those outside these walls who suffer, not only to share the suffering, but to rescue and redeem ......that they may come to know the Good Shepherd as we do.