Psalm 23:6 Goodness and Mercy
Food for Thought
An all-creatures.org Guide to Kingdom Living

By Marni Montanez

Psalm 23:6 New King James Version

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

The psalmist had an intimate relationship with God, which gave him great confidence in God’s love.  He believed that God’s plan offered hope and a close walk with his Lord.   

He had already experienced the Lord’s goodness and mercy through the many difficulties he had faced.  Through it all, God never abandoned him nor stopped loving him. The God he trusted continued to show Himself as a good and merciful God even in the consequences David suffered.   God’s goodness and mercy is not dependent on our behavior; otherwise we would probably never be blessed. God’s goodness and mercy are dependent on God Himself and whom He chooses to show mercy to.

Romans 9:15New King James Version

15. For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion

He is not moved by unholiness or carnality.  God is moved by His own holiness.

We need to have this same intimate knowledge of God and the assurance of God’s love toward us.  Every person on earth has experienced the goodness and mercy of God.  

Matthew 5:45 New Living Translation

For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.

It’s the same because He is the same.  God is God and he does not change.  

Malachi 3:6 New King James Version

“For I am the Lord, I do not change

He offers the same relationship to all.  God desires to have intimacy with every single person on this planet.  Speaking of God in:

1 Timothy 2:4 New King James Version

“…who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

When we accept this invitation we are assured eternal life.  This eternal life is the Kingdom of God. It is a spiritual domain that exists within and around us.  It is our spiritual dwelling place.  We are responsible to remain in God’s presence by keeping ourselves resting or at peace in the Lord.

Challenge:  Meditate on these verses - God is an eternal God.

God bless

Marni

Go on to: Psalm 25:4
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The purpose of this series is to encourage people to live as loving, compassionate, and peacemaking children of God: Jesus tells us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) God tells us through Micah (6:8), "He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God." And we know from Revelation 21:4 that there will be no more mourning, or crying, or pain, or death. Thus, Christian living requires us to set the standards of these conditions here on earth for our fellow human beings, and for the other animals, as a witness to the rest of the world. To do otherwise is not Christian.