Meditations for Difficult Days - No. 25 - Goodness and Mercy
Pastor’s Blog - By Pastor Roy Summers
"A Lack of Literal Touch"
Timothy Keller, the godly American preacher was recently interviewed about the church and Coronavirus. Listing some of the problems Christians are facing today, he included a "lack of literal touch."
We are wired for physical touch. We all need someone to put an arm around us, shake our hands, even give us a holy kiss.
It is no accident that "greet one another with a holy kiss" appears five times in the New Testament, four from Paul, where it is always called a holy kiss, and one from Peter, who says, "Greet one another with a kiss of love." How can you and I obey this command? Well in ordinary times we might touch a hand or arm, give a hug, put arms around a shoulder, or even give a holy kiss.
Perhaps this will be something we'll be better at when we return to normality. Those of us in happy marriages and family settings where physical contact is the norm (I am always giving my four lovely sons a hug, whether they want one or not!) need to remember brothers and sisters who do not get this necessary indication of love.
Our line from Psalm 23 today is this:
"Surely Goodness and Mercy will follow me all the days of my life."
David is convinced that goodness and mercy (also translated love) will follow him all the days of his life. Why "follow" him, rather than be by his side? The Hebrew word (radaph) translated "follow" means more an active pursuing and chasing rather than the passive English follow.
Goodness and Mercy (love)
First, what is this Goodness and Mercy? Well, God's goodness is something he expresses to all his creatures, "The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made." (Psalm 145:9) His goodness is astounding, for he sends the rain and sunshine on all - even those who do not acknowledge him or give him thanks. He feeds the birds and clothes the plants.
Mercy is more love towards the pitiful, reaching down to those in desperate need. It's more of a salvation word.
In other words David is convinced that God's general goodness towards him as a creature and his specific grace towards him as a saved sinner will be experienced by him into the future. To put it another way, God will always provide him with what all his material needs and God will always forgive him and love him as a child.
Future Provision is Secure!
We live in uncertain times. I have deliberately limited my news input to the 6:00 pm news. This is not because I am burying my head in the sand, but because the world is panicking and we should not. I don't want to fill my mind with the fears of the world.
Someone once described Fear like this. Fear is, False Evidence Appearing Real. I like that. We imagine some present or future scenario - it is not certain at all, it is false evidence - but we imagine it to be true and real, and what happens? We become fearful and anxious today.
The word "follow" is too lame and passive a translation of the Hebrew (radaph) which means to pursue or chase. The word can even mean persecute, to show how intentional the action is! David says that God's goodness and mercy will actively pursue him into the future!
God will chase me with goodness and mercy! He will pursue me with goodness and love! He will even persecute me with goodness and mercy!
And he will chase me with goodness and mercy ALL the days of my life. Days that are good and days that are bad. Days that are certain and days that are uncertain. Days that are close to hand and days that are far away. Every day I will be grace-chased by God's goodness and mercy!
Utter Confidence
As the future stretches before David, as he thinks about tomorrow, and next year, and the next decade, he says with complete confidence, "Surely Goodness and Mercy will follow me, all the days of my life."
So, let me ask you, what is it that you fear about the future?
Employment? Your children's future? Finances? Health? Family issues? Falling away? Sin? Temptation? Apostasy?
Let us ask God for the confidence - the faith - of king David. Let us ask him for the simple childlike trust that says "whatever the future holds, I know that I will experience God's goodness and mercy every single day of this earthly journey."
When I was a lad, I lived in a missionary home where our income was very uncertain and we were always poor. Only since I have grown up have I realised how precarious things sometimes were. My parents wisely hid most of these things from me except dad would sometimes say "the wolf is at the door" and the evidence was that we'd go to school with sugar sandwiches (bread, butter and sugar) - which, by the way, we thought was a treat, not a deprivation!
I never worried as a lad. I trusted mom and dad implicitly, "Of course they will look after me." As I have grown older, I confess I do have my worries. The Lord is looking for that kind of child-like trust in us today.
May the Lord give us child-like uncomplicated trust in his abounding goodness and mercy. And what a wonderful witness that will be to our present anxious world.
A SONG FOR THE DAY
Our song for the day is a simple "golden oldie" which reminds us of Who is in charge of the future and Who we should and can trust.
I do not know what lies ahead,
the way I cannot see;
yet One stands near to be my guide,
He’ll show the way to me:
I know who holds the future,
and He’ll guide me with His hand;
with God things don’t just happen,
everything by Him is planned.
So as I face tomorrow,
with its problems large and small,
I’ll trust the God of miracles,
give to Him my all.
I do not know how many days
of life are mine to spend;
but One who knows and cares for me
will keep me to the end:
I do not know the course ahead,
what joys and griefs are there;
but One is near who fully knows,
I’ll trust His loving care:
You can hear it here:
A PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Dear Father in heaven,
We thank you that we have been adopted into your family, through faith in your beloved Son.
We thank you for the many blessings, both material and spiritual, that are new every morning. We are truly and wonderfully blessed by you.
We thank you that goodness and mercy will follow us every single day of our lives.
Forgive us for giving into fear and becoming anxious. Forgive us for not trusting in your Fatherly care.
Give us child-like trust in you, so that whatever the present or future holds, we will trust in you, not in idols, not in money, not in family, not in education, not in any of the idols we so often turn to, but in you and you alone.
We ask this, not only for our good, but for our witness in a fearful world, and above all for your great glory.
We pray these things in Jesus' Name
Amen.
Pastor's Blog
This post is taken from our Pastor Roy Summers’ blog, where he discusses and comments on a wide range of current subjects and issues both in the world and in the church.