"Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me" (Psalms 23:4).
What are the things you're worried about? The economy? Your health? Your bills? Your kids? Are you worried about the future? The fact is there are lots of reasons to be afraid in today's world, but God's promise is that, even in your darkest valleys, he is walking beside you.
It's interesting to note that there are 365 verses in the Bible that say, "Fear not." God provided us with one 'fear not' message for every day of the year! Don't you think God is saying, "Get the message. Don't be afraid." It's interesting that almost every time God talks to someone in the Bible, the first thing He says is, "Don't be afraid!"
Why? Because our hurts and hang-ups can often cause us to think that God is out to get us, that all he wants to do is condemn us and punish us. But that simply isn't true and Jesus is the proof of that.
When we understand God's grace and mercy, then we have no need to fear the future. God isn't trying to get even with you. Jesus has taken the penalty for everything you've ever done wrong or will do wrong. He paid for it on the cross. So when a bad thing happens, you don't have to think, "God's getting even with me." Instead, remember, "Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me" (Psalms 23:4).
God's Goodness Will Pursue You
"Surely your goodness . . . will pursue me all the days of my life" (Psalm 23:6).
Even in the middle of your hurts, habits, and hang-ups, God is watching over you.
"Surely your goodness . . . will pursue me": King David is not saying, 'Surely only good things are going to happen to me!' He knew as well as anyone that bad things happen to good people.
David's point is only that God's goodness will follow after or pursue him. No matter how bad, evil, or difficult something seems, God will work it out for good.
It's one of God's great promises that he's given to believers: We know all that happens to us is working for our good - if we love God and are fitting into his plans (Romans 8:28). If you're a believer, the Bible says all things are working together for good - not that all things are good - but working together for good.
There is no difficulty, dilemma, defeat, or disaster in the life of a believer that God can’t ultimately turn toward his purpose.
God's Unfailing Love Follows Us
"Surely your . . . unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life" (Psalms 23:6).
Like goodness, God's unfailing love follows us in life.
Kind David says it pursues us! Picture a parent following a little child around picking up after them. When we're struggling with hurts, habits, and hang-ups, God is coming right along side us, helping to pick up our messes and telling us that his unfailing love is always there.
This means, rather than entering into the future with a question mark, you can do it with an exclamation point! God will be with you no matter what happens. He will help you out: "Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever" (Psalms 23:6).
• God's goodness will provide and protect.
• God's mercy (unfailing love) will pardon and forgive.
• God's goodness will supply.
• God's mercy will sooth.
• God's goodness will help.
• God's mercy and will heal.
Goodness is the fact that God gives us good things in life that we don't deserve. Mercy means God holds back the condemnation we deserve.
God Has Prepared a Place for You in Heaven
"And I will live in the house of the Lord forever" (Psalms 23:6).
When King David says, "And I will live in the house of the Lord forever," he's saying that God has prepared a place for him in Heaven.
That's one of the most important connections we see in the Bible. It connects yesterday with today and then connects them both with tomorrow.
God says, "I've got this great life planned for you, and surely goodness and mercy will follow you through it, but that's not the end! I've got something else at the end!" God builds it to a crescendo.
So David ends his Psalm by saying, "We're going to heaven!" Jesus saves the best until last. With God it just keeps getting better and better. The best is yet to come—"Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands" (2 Corinthians 5:1).
PurposeDriven.com by Rick Warren
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