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
Oh, thus ends one of the most famous chapters in all the Bible, certainly in the Psalms. Psalm 23, this picture of the Lord is our shepherd. And I feel like there’s so much to meditate on here, so much we could pray according to.
Psalm 23:6 Reminds Us of God’s Care and Protection
But the reason I choose this last verse to pray according to right now is because I just want to encourage you when this perspective, as you wake up in the morning or wherever you are in your day, as you lay your head on your pillow at night, Psalm 23:6 promises you that goodness and mercy are always following you.
When you wake up in the morning, the goodness and mercy of God are not just waiting for you, they’re pursuing you. When you open your eyes and you first come to consciousness in the morning, goodness and mercy from God are flowing into your life. A new mercy, mercy that will be sufficient for whatever that day holds. And that’s the beauty of this picture of, “shall follow me all the days of my life.” So you get up from bed and you start your day, goodness and mercy are right there with you.
God’s goodness and mercy following you all day long in whatever you face, all the way to the moment you lay your head on your pillow at night and who’s there right with you? It’s goodness and mercy. The goodness and mercy of God, tracking with you at every single moment. And when you go to bed at night and you are no longer conscious as you’re sleeping, goodness and mercy are still following you.
Psalm 23:6 Encourages Us to Rest in God’s Mercy
Ah, doesn’t this change your perspective on your daily life to know that you are nonstop being pursued by the goodness and mercy of God? Oh God, transform our perspective today and every day according to your word to us in Psalm 23:6, according to your promise. Surely without question, guaranteed, no doubt, goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our life amidst ups and downs, amidst challenges and trials and temptations, and mountains and valleys. In it all, at every moment from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to sleep and while we’re asleep, your goodness and mercy following us. God, we praise you for this promise. We praise you for this reality and we pray you’d help us to live in light of it.
And God, we pray that you help us to be a reflection of it. God, help us to be a reflection of your goodness and your mercy in other people’s lives today as we receive your goodness and mercy all day long. May we reflect it in others’ lives today. May we encourage and build up others with goodness and mercy, others who are in Christ and those who are not in Christ, to show goodness and mercy in a way that leads them to the Gospel.
Praying for the People of Turkey
God, we pray for people groups all across Turkey today. We pray that your goodness and mercy would flow to all the people groups, to all the millions of people in Turkey who are unreached right now by your grace in the Gospel. God cause your goodness and your mercy to spread throughout Turkey. Bless all those who are laboring for the spread of your goodness and mercy in Turkey, we pray. We want all the people of Turkey and all the peoples of all the nations to know your goodness and mercy. Use our lives we pray, however you will, to reflect your goodness and mercy to people around us and peoples around the world. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
