PURSUED
Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. Psalm 23:6
Stephen Lawson of Ligonier Ministries tells this story regarding goodness and mercy.
Dwight L. Moody, a famous evangelist of the nineteenth century, was once approached by a woman who needed counseling. Two men, she claimed, were following her. Whenever she stepped onto the city trolley, they stepped onto it behind her. When she stepped off, they stepped off. With a nervous twitch in her neck, she insisted that she had even been followed to his office by these very two men.
Moody could easily detect that this precious woman was suffering from a mental delusion. There was no one following her. But to put her at ease, he told her: “Those two men following you are David’s men. Their names are Goodness and Mercy.” He turned in the Bible to today’s scripture and showed her, “Surely goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life.” She was relieved and exclaimed: “That is wonderful. I have always wondered what their names are.” The woman left that day with peace of mind, comforted to know that it was goodness and mercy that were following her.
Is this reasonable to think that this is true? If I look at ‘follow’ in Hebrew, the word if jirdepuni, meaning ‘to pursue.’ The intent of God to bless us is so strong that it does pursue us. Warmed to the core of my spirit, I think of this from Psalm 139.
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
I can run from God, or try to, but I am pursued because I am His and He loves me. His desire to bless me is what moves Him to go wherever I go. He is not a stalker; a menacing presence. He is the Shepherd who never, not even once, loses track of one of His sheep.
God is Good. God is Mercy. Surely ‘Goodness and Mercy’ shall follow me. Some of God’s children proclaim that they feel cursed, that trouble follows them. Although there are times we are out of His will, we are never out of His care.
I will never be lost because You will never lose sight of me. Love is my shadow. Amen
For more from Christine Wyrtzen and Jaime Wyrtzen Lauze, please visit www.daughtersofpromise.org
Originally published Friday, 29 July 2022.
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