“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalm 23:6 ESV
We have all gone through times when we have faced an unknown future. Perhaps the last obvious example of this occurred on September 11th, 2001. Most of us remember where we were when we heard the news of the attack on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. What happened in New York, Washington D.C. and in that Pennsylvania field on that day created a panic throughout this country. Suddenly, people were dealing with an unknown future.
I clearly remember a couple things I noticed as a result of this uncertainty. First, attendance at church grew significantly for a solid two weeks. Secondly, at least for the first few days after the attack, there were long lines at the gas station. I know that may sound silly, but when people are frightened or anxious or uncertain about the future, they tend to worry about tomorrow and seek for a sense of security.
This brings me to what David wrote in the last verse of this Psalm. “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (Ps 23:6)
A repeated theme that we have seen throughout this Psalm is that we have no reason to fear, or to be worried, or to be stressed out. Why? Because the Almighty God, the Creator of all there is, the Savior of the world is indeed our Shepherd. He walks with us and guides us to green pastures and still waters. He restores our soul. He takes the lead and brings us down those paths of righteousness. He is even right by our side as we walk through that valley of the shadow of death, protecting us with His rod and guiding us with His staff. What this Psalm shows us so clearly is that we have a future that is absolutely certain, where we will be with our Shepherd for all eternity.
What we are looking at in this Psalm is a very real and very close relationship with our Shepherd. He loves us, His sheep, so much that He suffered, bled, and died, protecting us and saving us from our sins and from death. He laid down His life on that cross so that we could be restored and make our home with Him for all eternity. Isaiah puts it this way: “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed.” (Is 53:4-5)
Is there a greater love than this?! Is there a greater God than this?! Is there a greater Shepherd who walks with us today, tomorrow and throughout eternity?!
Understand, our future is not unknown, nor is it uncertain. This truth needs to affect how we live today and every day. For it is this truth that changes how we look at our life here in this world. It is this truth that changes how we deal with the issues, the struggles, and the worries of this life. It is this truth that changes how we deal with people and all the hurts and pains that are involved in these relationships. It is this truth that changes how we deal with illness, disease, and even walking through that valley of the shadow of death. This is a certainty! When we truly trust in our Good Shepherd, our Lord and Savior, that is when we know, to the depth of our soul that; “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (Ps 23:6)
Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you,
Keith Enko