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."