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 for ever. Psalm 23:6

Like the shepherd’s dogs that would follow after the flock, keeping them from wandering away and protecting them from pursuers, David professed that as a sheep in God’s flock, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life” (Psalm 23:6). With the Lord God in the lead and His twin angels of goodness and mercy bringing up the rear, the flock is surely and continually accompanied by the Shepherd and His agents.

It has been pointed out that there is no danger of either goodness or mercy becoming exhausted, because God’s Word tells us of the “riches of His goodness” in (Romans 2:4), and that He is also “rich in mercy” (Ephesians 2:4). God’s riches would have to fail—an utter impossibility!—for goodness and mercy to give up their chase.

Why, you ask, choose goodness and mercy? Because “goodness” meets all our need, and “mercy” meets all our faults. —Andrew Miller