Goodness and Mercy

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Ps 23:6)

"The Lord is my shepherd" starts this psalm and it ends with this wonderful promise above. So, if we follow the Lord as our good shepherd, goodness and mercy shall follow us. In the Webster's dictionary, it defines goodness as "quality or state of being good: the virtue of character, decency, honesy, integrity, morality, probity, rectitude, righteousness, and uprightness." Mercy means: "compassion shown to an offender; divine favor; a fortunate circumstance."

But goodness is impossible for any of us as a human being. The Bible says: "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) And as it states in Isaiah 64:6, our righteousness is as filthy rags. Our righteousness is not our own, it is imputed through the blood of Jesus Christ. "For by faith are ye saved through faith, not by works lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8) Being good or religious can't change our status in God's eyes. We can't do anything to save ourselves or keep ourselves saved. We can only do good through the goodness of Jesus Christ.

Mercy means that Christ has forgiven us and it also means we can now forgive others and show compassion to them. "Righteousness and peace have kissed each other." it says in Psalm 85:10. Without the righteousness of Christ, there is no peace.

And, of course, the biggest challenge of all is I Corinthians chapter 13, the love chapter. If we all lived by this philosophy, most of the problems of the world would be gone... But because of rebellion and sin that's not going to happen any time soon. However, we can still shine as lights in the world and know that goodness and mercy will follow us just like it says in this great psalm...and it does. Believe me, it does if you just walk in his love...

Thank you Lord for your great love for us as shown on Calvary! Let us never forgot what you did for us on the Cross! Thank you for all your blessings and may we always walk in your righteousness, mercy and love! In Jesus Name, Amen!