Goodness and Mercy Shall Follow

Photo by Ggia 2010

Psalm 23, the Shepherd’s Psalm, was familiar to me from hearing it in Sunday school, church and grade school long before I was saved. Even then it brought to mind peace-filled, pastoral scenes of bucolic, green valleys dotted with snowy sheep, lapping water from azure ponds, and the iconic image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd (John 10:11,14), with the helpless lamb slung across His shoulders or carried gently in His arms.

But after I became saved and began to study the Bible, I began to interpret this beautiful Psalm from a different perspective. Once I was born again (John 3:3-8) by placing my faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6), the Lord now truly is my Shepherd. He is my Sustainer and Provider Who will meet all my needs (Matthew 6:8), so that now I lack, or want for, nothing (Psalm 23.1).

Green pastures, which sheep need to graze, feed, and live, are a metaphor describing all we need for our physical, mental and spiritual well-being. But it was only recently that it struck me: God does not just give us access to these; He makes us lie down there (v. 2).

Sometimes we are so busy rushing around, putting out fires, and taking on all the world has to offer that we forget to be still and know that He is God, that He will be exalted in all the earth (Psalm 46:10), and that He alone deserves to be first in our lives (Colossians 1:18).

If we ignore, fail to acknowledge, or run away from Him, sometimes He allows illness, burnout or other trials into our life so we can once again lie down in His arms and rest (1 Peter 5:7), content in His love (1 John 4:8), grace (Ephesians 2:8-9) and mercy (Deuteronomy 7:9). 

He did this with Elijah after his great spiritual victory (1 Kings 19:4-8), and even with Jesus Himself (although He had remained in constant fellowship with the Father) as He fasted in the desert for forty days (Mark 1:13) after the Trinity had been revealed in His baptism (Matthew 3:13-17).

Once we are nourished in His presence, God may lead us beside the still waters (Psalm 23.2). At first this sounds like a time of refreshment, but notice that the Psalm describes being “beside,” rather than “in” or “drinking from,” the waters. It is also curious that the waters are “still,” because Jesus is referred to as the Living Water (John 4:10-11; 7:38) or as a Fountain of living waters (Revelation 7:17), both of which imply movement, sparkling abundance, and energy. Healing at the pool of Bethesda required the angel of God to trouble the waters, for just lying beside the quiet basin had no benefit (John 5:2-7).   

In the Psalm, God leads the weary pilgrim beside the still waters (Psalm 23:2), which is conventionally interpreted as a quiet place where sheep can drink. But it may also be the stagnant pond of our realization that we have come to the end of ourselves and whatever limited resources, tainted supply, and unfulfilling diversions the world has to offer (Psalm 62:5; 72:18; Ephesians 2:8-9).

Only then can He restore our soul and lead us in the paths of righteousness (Psalm 23:3; Romans 3:22), not because there is anything we can do to merit our own holiness, but only because we have trusted in His Name (Psalm 9:10; 20:7; Isaiah 50:10; Romans 10:13).

Like the Good Shepherd Who never abandons His sheep, Jesus Christ will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). He is with His children always (Matthew 28:20), in all places, and in all trials (Psalm 139:8). Even as we approach physical death, He will not leave us there, but will lead us through the valley of the shadow of death. We need not fear any evil (Psalm 23:4), for nothing, no one, no power can separate us from God’s love (John 10:27-29; Romans 8:39).

This Psalm promises us comfort, from the unlikely source of the Shepherd’s rod and staff (Psalm 23:4). Both are instruments of chastening and correction, to keep us on the right path when we go astray. As children, none of us liked our parents’ rod of discipline, and as adults, we may not appreciate God’s protective staff encircling us, restraining us from places where we think we want to go (Hebrews 12:6-11).

But like the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32), may we come to realize that only God loves us perfectly and completely, that His path and way are right, and that His chastening is proof that we are children of our loving Father, and not bastards (Hebrews 12:6-11). Only by His loving discipline can we be restored to His righteousness when we fail to listen to His still, small voice (1 Kings 19:12).

Like the Father rejoicing over the Prodigal Son, God then celebrates our restoration with a great feast of joy (Zephaniah 3:17), even in the presence of those who disapprove or would do us harm, like the self-righteous son in the parable of two sons. Nothing, no one, no power can prevent the Father from blessing us by anointing us with the oil of His Holy Spirit and filling our cup till it runs over (Psalm 23:5), now with freely flowing Living Water and not with the muddy dregs from a stagnant swamp.

The Psalm ends with great hope: 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 (v. 6). Until just this week I had a mental image of goodness and mercy running after me to tend to my every need, as in the joke of the child whose mother regularly read him Psalm 23 and who thought that the ladies who followed him to school every day were Shirley Goodnest and Marcy!  

Certainly that is true – the believer can daily trust in God’s unfailing goodness and mercy. But in addition, goodness and mercy should follow in the path of every believer. He enables us to show goodness and mercy to others as a result of our following after the Lord, Who shows us how to live and to love.

Jesus, the Good, Great (Hebrews 13:20), and Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4), said that His sheep hear His voice and follow Him (John 10:27), and He will give us eternal life (John 10:28), as we shall see next week. May we follow Christ, Who laid down His life for the sheep (John 10:15), and lead others to follow Him! 

© 2017 Laurie Collett

Triplets of Idolatry: Like Father, Like Son, Only Worse

King Solomon and his wives in idol worship

King David was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22), but his downfall began with idleness, lust, and selfishness, and culminated in adultery, deception and murder (2 Samuel 11). Despite these egregious sins, however, he continued to seek after the one true God in prayer, fasting, and worship.

In his private time with the Lord, he interceded for the life of his firstborn child with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 12:16); he repented from his sins (2 Samuel 12:13); and he begged God to restore the joy of his salvation (Psalm 51:10-12). Publicly, he honored God with offerings, testimony, and provision for His house to be built (1 Chronicles 29:1-8).

Like David, his son Solomon started off on the right foot, seeking God’s will, praying for wisdom, and honoring God by being a just ruler (1 Kings 3:7-14; 4.29-32). But, like David, his lust caused him to offend God in ways that were even worse than his father’s sins.

I say this realizing that God sees all sins as heinous (Romans 3:23), and that we deserve eternal punishment in hell (James 1:15) for even sins that we might perceive as “little,” perhaps telling a “little white lie” that our friend’s dress flatters her, or taking home something small, like a pen, from the workplace.

But James says that if we are guilty in breaking any part of the law, we are guilty of breaking all of it (James 2:10). Although we deserve hell, God sent His Son Jesus to pay for all of our sins (Romans 3:25), so that all who trust in His death, burial and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) will have eternal life (John 3:16).

So why do I say that Solomon’s sins were worse than his father’s? The first and great commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:36-38). Solomon, who began his God-appointed rule over Israel as the wisest man who ever lived (1 Kings 3:7-14; 4.29-32), broke that commandment through indifference, disobedience, and ultimately idolatry.

He began well, having completed the building of the Lord’s house, and the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to do. The Lord appeared to him and promised unconditionally that His Name, eyes and heart would always be in His house that Solomon had built (1 Kings 9:1-3).

A second conditional promise was that Solomon’s throne would rule over Israel forever, if Solomon would follow God as David had, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, and obey all of God’s commandments, statutes and judgments.

But if Solomon turned away from following God, disobeyed Him, and worshipped other gods, then God would cut off Israel from the land He gave them, cast out the house from His sight, and destroy Israel’s reputation. All would know that God had judged Israel for taking hold of other gods, worshipping them, and serving them (1 Kings 9:4-9).

Sadly, Solomon did not heed God’s warning. Like his father David, Solomon got into trouble through his lust for “forbidden fruit” – women he should have avoided, for they were not Israelites following the one true God. Solomon himself knew this, thanks to his God-given wisdom. In his writings in Proverbs, Solomon repeatedly warns his son against flattery, seduction and destruction by the “strange woman” (Proverbs 2:16; 5:3,20; 6:24; 7:5; 20:16; 23:27; 27:13)

Scripture warns us not to be “unequally yoked” with unbelievers, because relationships with them entail being joined to unrighteousness, darkness, and unbelief (2 Corinthians 6:14-15).

Once we are born again (John 3:3-8), the Holy Spirit enters our heart and we become God’s temple – He lives in us, acts through us, and is our God. Therefore, He demands that we come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing (2 Corinthians 6:14-17).

Similarly, the apostle Paul warns believers against fornication, because our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost; we now belong to God, and we were bought with the price of Christ’s shed blood on the cross (1 Corinthians 6:15-20; Hebrews 9:22). Therefore, we should not join our members (mentioned three times in 1 Corinthians 6:15), meaning body parts, to those of a harlot.

But King Solomon loved many “strange” (pagan, Gentile) women, namely Egyptian (Pharaoh’s daughter), Moabite, and Ammonite, as well as Edomite, Zidonian, and Hittite women. God had specifically warned the children of Israel not to seek romantic entanglements with these nations, nor to respond to their advances, for they would turn away the heart of the children of Israel from our true God to their pagan gods (1 Kings 11:1-2).

Solomon disobeyed God’s commandment in a big way, taking on seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines. Why so many? Physical desire, no doubt, as well as political ambition in forming alliances with other nations, and pride in his vast power, wealth, and fame (1 Kings 10). Satan’s favored strategy is to appeal to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16),

As God had predicted, Solomon’s wives turned away his heart after other gods, so that his heart was not perfect with God, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. He failed to follow God; he built high places for pagan worship; and he allowed his wives to offer burnt incense to their idols, most likely himself participating in this abomination  (1 Kings 11:3-8).

In His third appearance to Solomon, the Lord expressed His anger, because Solomon’s heart was turned away from Him, and he had disobeyed God’s explicit commandments. God’s judgment on Solomon was threefold: He would seize the kingdom from Solomon’s family and give it to his servant, yet for David’s sake He would wait until Solomon was dead and then take the kingdom from Solomon’s son (1 Kings 11:9-12).

If we “follow our heart,” as conventional wisdom encourages us to do, and ignore God’s Word, we may become romantically attached to an unsaved person, at our own peril. Our emotions, desires and rationalization lead us to believe that we can change them, but this is unwise (Proverbs 3:5-6). Certainly we should not stop witnessing to and praying for an unbeliever whom we love, but committing to a relationship with them until they are saved is disobedient to God’s Word.

As a loving Father, God longs to protect us from the traps of this world. If we ignore His Word, we will be unable to lead the object of our affection into a saving relationship with Him. Instead, that person will draw us away from the Lord, and His judgment will follow. Idolatry refers to any object, relationship or desire to which we give a higher priority than God (1 John 5:21).

In Solomon’s case, his physical desires, political ambitions, and ultimately other gods usurped the pre-eminence God should have had over his life (Colossians 1:18). May we remain true to Christ and not fall into Solomon’s trap!

© 2017 Laurie Collett