THEME: 2023 YEAR OF DIVINE PROVISIONS AND UNFAILING MERCIES
TOPIC: Goodness and Mercy shall follow me
TEXT: PSALM 23:6
INTRODUCTION: It is only an ungrateful heart that will not acknowledge the goodness of God in life. David was not such a man. Having been brought up from the wilderness where he looked after sheep to the highest position and sustained by God on the throne of Israel, he penned for us his experience of the goodness of God. Not only was God good to him, but God also showed him mercy on many occasions in the place of judgment. What is it about God’s goodness and about His mercy that David wants us to know about in this psalm? We get to know this, first by looking at the definitions. Goodness of God is about His generosity to all His creation and His mercy is about the pardon He gives when creation fails to meet His standard or expectation. The goodness and mercy of God was always available to David, and for this he was grateful. As we come into the new year may God’s goodness and mercy also chase after us in Jesus’s name.
1.The goodness of God in action: Goodness is an action virtue. It is not only in words but in carrying out the good. It is God’s action in doing good to all. God made man in His image and like all His creation He made provision for them out of His generosity. God already provided all things for Adam before He put him in the Garden of Eden. In essence goodness is a nature of God. In the fall, man lost this virtue and his inclinations had always been to do evil. Jesus corrected a man who looked at Him as a man, calling Him good master. Jesus told him, “No one is good except God”. As we come to Him by faith, He gives us the Holy Spirit to rebuild this virtue in us. “And the fruit of love is Joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness gentleness, faithfulness and self-control” (Gal.5:22-23). Since we are made in the image of God, and God is good to us, we also should be good in action to all around us. 1John 3:17 declares “if anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? As God would be good to us this year, let us determine to be good to others so that God can be glorified in our lives in Jesus’s name. God was good to David. He took him under His care as his shepherd, David confessed that he would not lack, meaning sustenance is guaranteed; he would be taken to green pastures, he would be led away from troubles, a depiction of calm and nourishment in peace in this turbulent world. He would be restored and led in paths of righteousness, indicating physical and spiritual restoration each time we wander so we do not wander aimlessly in life. In life the opposite is the case. We work and then rest. With God, we rest first, to be restored to His will before He leads us into what He has in store for us. God is not only good to us in good times but in bad times when we are in the valley, He guides us by His rod and staff. His presence is there with us to console and comfort in dark times. It is not only in good times that God lavishes His love on us. He does so in bad times too, by His presence to show our enemies that He never forsakes the righteous. His anointing overflows in the life of the believer to deliver him from enemies.
The mercy of God in action: If God should mark iniquity who would stand. Mercy is God not giving us what we deserve. We deserve judgement for our iniquity and sins but instead, because of His faithful love or loving-kindness, His “hesed” chases after us. Just as God’s judgment pursue or chase after the wicked, God’s mercy chases after the righteous. He does not want the death of a sinner but want them to repent and have eternal life. David must have remembered his various sins and how God chased him in mercy to bring him back into fellowship so that God’s covenant would be fulfilled. If we belong to God, David assures us by his testimony of how God dealt with him, that His mercy pursues after us.
In summary God goes ahead of us as His sheep in goodness and chases after us with mercy so that we are encircled in the love of Christ. When we allow God to be our shepherd this year, we will be surrounded by the goodness and mercy of God. Nothing can then separate us from the love of Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom.8:39). It is not only for the present or this year alone but all the days of our lives, whatever the future holds. I therefore declare this year 2023 “Our Year of Divine provision and unfailing mercies” God bless you all.