By Rev. Daniel Yaw 
 
Introduction
This is my meditation and sharing on the last verse of Psalm 23 in verse 6.  "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. "
 
This is like David the psalmist concluding this experience with the Shepherd King of his life – Jehovah God.  Seeing him in the present situation as his shepherd in whom he experiences no lack, whether, through the joy of being led in green pastures or through knowing His presence in the darkest valley, he knew his God intimately and with great confidence.
 
What then can he make out of all these?  In our meditation the past months on this psalm – what does God, your good shepherd mean for you?
 
From Behind:  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me.
When we are compelled to look at our lives of what has happened in the past, what do we see or recall?  I am sure sometimes we wish we could forget.  Some failures of the past become the burden of today.  And oftentimes, the burden of today will also be the burden of tomorrow. 
 
On the flip side of the coin, despite all the experiences we went through, where is God amid all these experiences?
 
We see the assurance of God's promises that make our faith firmer and stronger as it did for David.  Two elements constantly became his companions – goodness and mercy.  Goodness is about the favor of God that is unshaken and unconditional.  He is good indeed all the time.  It goes beyond my "goodness" or my "sinfulness".  I lived under the constant thought of God's goodness.  There are many things avoided in my life because He is good.  There may be tough experiences but my God knows how much I can endure and how He had, without our knowledge prevented something worse that we cannot bear.  That is God's goodness.  His mercy is the other element that we constantly need and rely on.  I am sure we have many regrets in our lives.  It is his mercy that overshadows those regrets.  Indeed, we need both these elements in our journey of life and thanks be to God, our great shepherd promises us that goodness and mercy shall SURELY follow us.
 
It is both a promise and assurance for our lifetime - ALL OUR LIVES, not just a few days, or weeks, or months, or even years.  It is about every day till we are promoted to glory.  Have you ever had the thought that in your old age, the most fearful thing will happen, like dementia?  I am sure many would have this crossed the path of their minds.  The assurance of God is that he will be behind us even in our "forgetting" years.  God still remembers His beloved with his goodness and mercy following us.
 
OF BEFORE:  And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
I am sure you are all familiar with the verse in 2 Corinthians 4:16, "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day."  This is the experience of our life on earth and we pray constantly that this will be true in our lives.  The fact is that our outer self, our earthly body gets weaker and is wasting away with each passing year.  We live on the fact that our inner self, the self that is rested in the arms of God, the faith in the Good Shepherd is being renewed each day.
 
However, the greater hope is that with His goodness and mercy following us, He will finally lead us to the place where we will see Him face to face – in His house forever.  The experience of God's presence with us today is only a foretaste of a great experience when we are finally with Him.
 
Conclusion
How do you view your life in God today?  Is He your good shepherd in whom you experience no lack?  I trust that in this series of meditations, God will be so real to you and will walk with you through life's journey, experiencing constantly his goodness and his mercy.  God bless you this month and have a blessed Christmas as well.  Make the news of Christmas known to all !