Discovering Goodness & Mercy for Your Life
Although David wasn’t a perfect man and experienced great trials how did goodness and mercy follow him? How did David abide in God?
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
As David wrote Psalm 23, his life was not absent of problems and pain. He experienced heartache multiple times throughout his life. He also faced deep brokenness and dysfunction in his family.
Because David is human, we can recognize that he could have been bitter, broken, and defeated. But he is not, which begs the question, why? David does not have a shallow faith.
Avoiding a Shallow Faith
A shallow faith will set you up for added misunderstanding and heartache when we enter times of difficulty. This is another example of why it's important to be a student of Scripture. When we hear people ask, "How could God allow ______?" Throughout Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, things go wrong, but God repeatedly demonstrates His sufficiency in the life of believers.
"If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea. We are far too easily pleased." -C.S. Lewis
When you read the words of Psalm 23, you can recognize the reality of what God made available to you in Christ, even in seasons of difficulty. We see David experiencing great support from the Lord during his trials, which begs the question: What is the root system of that?
Not Defined by Failures
We see in 1 Samuel 13:14 that David is a man "after God's own heart." He has a character that permeates his life.
“Godly people navigate painful things. Knowing Jesus does not protect us from the effects of the fall. However, be encouraged that knowing Jesus will restore all things.”
In church culture, whenever David's name comes up, it is often paired with his failures. He was an adulterer and suffered terrible consequences when he crossed that boundary. I bring that up to say be cautious when you define anyone's life by a snapshot moment. David is referred to as a man after God's heart because of the moving picture of David's life.
If we take a snapshot of your life at the worst moment and display it all over social media, we can recognize that because you're in Christ, that moment does not define who you are. Your life is a moving picture. This is why Paul describes that sin nature is "not your identity." When we draw near to God, He promises to draw nearer to us.
“For the eyes of the Lord roam throughout the earth, so that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.”
So when David declares, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all of the days," it's because he has a heart for God. So we can now ask: What do goodness and mercy look like?
Goodness
Goodness is typically considered to be your general welfare, but let's assume a more profound role. Scripture says, "God uses all things together for the good of those who love him and are called to his purpose." But we see in Psalm 23 that the ultimate good that God pursues is developing Christ's likeness within us. God seeks to develop you into Christ and His likeness because you are prepared for eternity.
Mercy
The goodness of God's grace, but we all see in our passage that mercy also follows David throughout his life. Mercy is when we do not get what we deserve. It's forgiveness of unforgivable sins. We have all fallen short of God's glory, yet we're still offered eternal life with God.
Why Did Goodness & Mercy Follow David?
1) David is Yielding
“For thus says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with those who are contrite and humble in spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite. ”
Let's start with humility because there are many definitions.
To start, humility is not becoming a doormat. That's not a biblical definition of humility. However, the biblical meaning of humility is sensitivity and responsiveness to God with deference for others. So everywhere we see humility in Scripture, whether defined or in someone's life, that's what we see.
But notice, Scripture also says that God dwells with a contrite heart, which means to tell God, I'll move with you. That may look like difficult conversations for peacemaking, forgiveness, or blessing our enemies.
2) David Leads an "Abiding" Life
In John 15:4, Jesus says, "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me." So how do we abide in Jesus?
One of Jesus' metaphors for Himself is not only the Great Shepherd but also living water. Water flows through a conduit, and your heart has valves. So imagine your heart has three imaginary values that you can open.
How Do We Abide In Jesus?
1) Confession of Sin
When a Christian stumbles into sin, it doesn't necessarily mean you've lost your salvation but hindered intimacy with Jesus and grieved the Holy Spirit. You want to make a quick confession. This isn't God putting you in a corner for punishment. 1 John tells us, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." Thus, intimacy is restored.
2) Dying to Self
I recognize that this is one of the great counterintuitive things we find in Scripture, but dying to self is a gift. Jesus said, "Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it cannot have life." You will not bloom into what God designed you to be unless we put aside our preferences for God's purposes.
3) Communion with the Shepherd
“If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”
When David penned most of the Psalms as worship songs. They flow out of David's joy in communing with the Shepherd. Turn on some worship music and praise God. Open Scripture and read for formation, not merely information. Pray the Lord's Prayer over your family, neighborhood, company, city, and nation. Communing with the Lord is a process of being enveloped by Him.
Lewis describes why we see David pointing us to the realm of eternity. One day there will be a new heaven and Earth. We will get to dwell with the Lamb of God forever.
TL;DR
Although David had times of heartache, he did not have a shallow faith. That would have left him in a deep misunderstanding of God’s goodness and mercy.
David was not defined by the snapshots of his failures.
What does David mean when he says, “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me?”
The ultimate good that God pursues is developing Christ's likeness within us.
Mercy is when we do not get what we deserve.
Why did mercy and goodness follow David?
He was yielding.
He led an abiding life.
How do we abide?
Confession of sin
Dying to self
Communion with the shepherd
Related Reading
How to Forgive Those Who Hurt You by Rev. Paul Lawler
The Lord is My Shepherd Explained by Rev. Paul Lawler
How to Hear God & Follow His Will by Rev. Paul Lawler
About Christ Church Memphis
Christ Church Memphis is church in East Memphis, Tennessee. For more than 65 years, Christ Church has served the Memphis community. Every weekend, there are multiple worship opportunities including traditional, contemporary and blended services
