“Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
Psalms 23:6 NASB1995
We have reached the last verse of the beautiful Psalm 23. Looking at various translations of this verse is interesting, as “goodness” seems to be common among the translations, but “lovingkindness” is a different word in many cases and, of course, I remember the term “mercy” from the KJV. Here are some of the different translations of verse 6, besides the NASB1995 version I used above:
KVJ: 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.
NLT (New Living Translation): Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the LORD forever.
NASB20 (New American Standard Bible, 2020 translation): Certainly goodness and faithfulness will follow me all the days of my life, And my dwelling will be in the house of the LORD forever.
So even the NASB1995 and NASB2020 versions differ on the second word, going from lovingkindness to faithfulness. And the NLT uses unfailing love for the second word. Our church uses the NASB1995 Bible translation version, so I usually use that for my texts for these devotionals. But I do like the word “mercy” best, because it seems to be the one that resonates most with believers. From God we have received grace (an unmerited gift of salvation that we cannot give to others) and mercy (forgiveness and kindness, which we can both receive or give).
So let’s focus on the first word, goodness, and exam that phrase in-depth. What is goodness? In this context in the Old Testament, the Hebrew word is Tobh, defined as good (yup, going around in circles) and in the New Testament, goodness is one of the fruits of the spirit and comes from the Greek word Agathosune, which is defined as “uprightness of heart and life”. Looking at more definitions, according to Easton’s Bible Dictionary, goodness is defined this way: in man [goodness] is not a mere passive quality, but the deliberate preference of right to wrong, the firm and persistent resistance of all moral evil, and the choosing and following of all moral good. So goodness is truly virtue and holiness in action. We cannot emulate goodness on our own but must rely on the Holy Spirit to guide us into a sanctified state. Here is what the New Testament epistle writer James says about goodness:
“Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”
James 1:17 NASB1995
Now that the word games are behind us, we can sit back and love this final verse that is so full of promise and hope as we rest in a beautiful and safe green pasture. During my research, I found a sermon that described “goodness” and “mercy” as being the two faithful sheep dogs who follow you and keep you in line as you follow the Shepherd (I love that imagery). Although we still face death, we are really in our eternal lives NOW and we are invited to dwell in the house of the Lord forever! David Guzik’s commentary from Enduring Word reinforces these thoughts (although goodness and mercy are angels in some of his references):
a. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: The host’s care brought the goodness and mercy of God to David, and he lived in the faithful expectation of it continuing all the days of his life.
i. “Mercy is the covenant-word rendered ‘steadfast love’ elsewhere…. Together with goodness it suggests the steady kindness and support that one can count on in the family or between firm friends.” (Derek Kidner)
ii. “We are well escorted, with a Shepherd in front and these twin angels behind!” (Gustav Meyer)
iii. “These twin guardian angels will always be with me at my back and my beck. Just as when great princes go abroad they must not go unattended, so it is with the believer.” (Charles Spurgeon)
b. And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever: The psalm ends with the calmest assurance that he would enjoy the presence of the LORD forever – both in his days on this earth and beyond.
i. “In the Old Testament world, to eat and drink at someone’s table created a bond of mutual loyalty, and could be the culminated token of a covenant…. So to be God’s guest is to be more than an acquaintance, invited for a day. It is to live with Him.” (Derek Kidner)
ii. “While I am here I will be a child at home with my God; the whole world shall be his house to me; and when I ascend into the upper chamber I shall not change my company, nor even change the house; I shall only go to dwell in the upper story of the house of the Lord for ever.” (Charles Spurgeon)
In my next series of devotionals, I am going to tackle the epistle of James (ironically quoted in this devotional). I did an in-depth study of this book a few years ago and really fell in love with it. James is often described as the Proverbs of the New Testament. Hopefully you have enjoyed exploring Psalm 23 and will come back for insights from James, the half-brother of Jesus.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Commentary by David Guzik at Enduring Word is used with written permission.