Turn with me now to Psalm 23.
Psalm 23 verse 6 says, Surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the
house of the Lord forever. That's good news, isn't it? I love that song we just
sang. God will take care of you in Christ. If you're in Christ,
and that's the key, you know, that cannot just be said to the
world. But in Christ, God will take care of you. In Christ,
surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my
life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. That is what makes life okay. That right there, knowing that,
believing that, hoping in that is what makes this life okay. Life on this earth is so wishy-washy. Yes, wishy-washy. I can't help but A while back,
Brother Willie from Malawi said to me, he said, I understand
you very well, except for your slang terms. That's what I have
trouble with. And I can't help but hear everything
through his ears now. But wishy-washy, what does that
mean? That means fickle. It means frail. It means unstable. The days of our life on this
earth are up and then they're down. They're strong and then they're
weak. They're happy and then they're
sad. We're on cloud nine one minute
and we're down in the dust the next. But this right here is
what keeps a believer going. In the back of his or her mind,
in the bottom of his or her soul, he or she knows, surely goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And if that's not enough, I will
dwell in the house of the Lord forever. That is a mind-blowing
statement to me. I will dwell in the house of
the Lord forever. That makes everything okay. That
really makes everything okay. David is the one who said that
David is the one who was moved by God to say that. And David
was a man who had trouble all the days of his life. Aren't
you so glad the Lord recorded so much concerning these men
who he used to write the scripture? He exposed so much about their
lives and and. From all of these scriptures
and all of this writing, we know and we can read that David is
one who had trouble. He knew trouble. He was well
acquainted with trouble all the days of his life. You know, we
go through some trouble and we think, what's wrong? What's wrong
with me? Why me? Why am I being singled
out on trouble? Well, this is all of God's people.
David was a man after God's own heart and his life was full of
trouble. He kept sheep when he was a young
boy. That's what he did. He kept sheep.
That sounds quiet and peaceful, doesn't it? That sounds like
green pastures and still waters. What does he do? Well, he just
keeps sheep. You know, he sits on that hill while the sheep
graze and he writes songs and plays his harp and things like
that. Peaceful, quiet. Well, it is until a lion and
a bear come along. We just saw a leopard in the wild in Africa. And, you know, I didn't know
anything about leopards. You know, the scripture says,
can a leopard change his spots? That one, the one we saw, couldn't.
But after seeing this cat, I have a whole new respect for this
animal. A very, very dangerous animal. They said it's the most
dangerous cat of all of those animals. Very
vicious. And, you know, I think about
a lion. That's the one thing we didn't
see. I was looking for a lion. We didn't see a lion. But, you know, seeing this huge,
I couldn't imagine going to battle with this cat in order to deliver
a sheep. You know, I would see that and
you'd have to think, well, that sheep's a goner. David fought
a lion and a bear to deliver a sheep. He's a picture of Christ. This man was confronted with
trouble. He was, David was too young to
join the army, but he ended up being the one who had to single
handedly go to battle with Goliath. Think of the reality of this.
He was too young to join the army. They said, go back home.
And the army didn't end up having to go to battle with Goliath,
but David did. He had to run for his life because
the king was trying to kill him. The king, like with all the resources
of the nation. King Saul was trying to kill
him. He had to run for his life because
his own son was trying to kill him. The son that he loved. He had to live with the guilt
of murder and the guilt of adultery. He lost children. He lost children. That man experienced the loss
of children. His city and his home was burned. His family was taken. He had
to go fight to get his family back. At one point, all of his soldiers
who were with him, they turned on him. The scripture says he
got so low in spirit and so low in heart and in depression. David was a man who knew depression. And he got so low in depression,
it says all he could do was encourage himself in the Lord his God.
That's all he had left. That's just all he had left.
Every man that was with him turned on him and wanted to stone him. But this same man is the one
who said in verse six, surely. Goodness and mercy shall follow
me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house
of the Lord forever. He said, although it be not so
with the rest of my house, the Lord hath made an everlasting
covenant concerning me. And it's a covenant of goodness,
it's a covenant of mercy, it's a covenant of grace. Isn't that
such good news? Isn't that so reassuring. It's a covenant of grace. It's
a promise of grace. And tonight, I just want us to
be reminded of that. If we have the same hope that
David had, which is Christ. If our hope is in the Lord, our
God, the Lord Jesus Christ, our God. then I want to remind us
of the goodness and the mercy that has been promised to us
in Christ our Lord and our Savior. Brother Luke spoke Sunday night
on God's providence concerning us. All of his dealings with us being
his providence concerning us and thank God all of that providence
is goodness and mercy for his people. As he pointed out, from
creation to salvation to every single thing that happens to
us, all the days of our life on this earth, surely it's goodness
and mercy. It's all goodness and mercy.
The longer that I go in preaching The less desire I have to deliver
a perfect outline to you, or to show you some new thing
from the scripture, or some new angle on something from the scripture, or to put on a good performance
up here for you, and be all animated, and get real loud and then real
quiet, I mean, I know sometimes I do
that, but the less desire I have to create
a moving experience for you, all I really want to do is give
you a word of help, a word of comfort, a word of encouragement
that will get you from one day to the next all the days of your
life. Honestly, I mean that. The Word that will get us day
to day is Christ. That's the Word. Christ, the
Lord Jesus Christ. I want to give a word of truth.
I want to give a word of warning to every soul that's outside
of Christ, who has no need for Christ. If you don't have a need
for Christ, be scared. Fear God. Judgment's coming. He that believeth not on the
Son and has no need for the Son of God, the wrath of God abides
on that person. But in Christ, in the Lord Jesus
Christ, He is God's goodness to us. He is God's mercy to us. He will be with us, leading us. He leadeth me. Guiding us, protecting us, keeping
us. all of our days, fear not, I
am with thee, be not dismayed, I am thy God, I will still give
thee aid." Those that God did not elect
before the foundation of the world will have no interest in
this. They'll have no interest in this.
Those that God did not particularly redeem, those that Christ did
not die for on purpose specifically, those that He didn't set His
love on and pay the price for specifically, they will have
no interest in this. This will not interest them at
all. Those that the Spirit of God
has not quickened to life and called to Christ will have no
interest in this. They'll have no need for Christ,
no need for his goodness, no need for his mercy. But every soul who does need
it, every soul who God has revealed to him or her, you're a sinner
before God. Every soul who needs mercy. I'm
going to tell you what I need all the days of my life. Let
me tell you what I need today, what I'm going to need tomorrow.
I need mercy. I cannot fix me, I cannot fix
what I've done, I cannot fix what I am. I just need mercy. I need goodness and I need mercy.
And every soul who needs it will have it. Every soul who needs
it will have it. This message and this word of
comfort is for God's sheep who need Christ, just need Christ. Verse six, he said, surely, goodness, surely, surely, count on it, no matter
what is going on in your life. I know I told you this before
and I'm telling it again and I'll say it all the days of my
life, but I know that you all are going through things. I may
not know what it is, but I know everybody's going through something.
I hear about things. And everybody's going through something.
But no matter what it is you're going through, you can count on this word right
here, this promise, surely, surely, goodness, mercy, You know, I
thank God for the up moments. I really do. Those cloud nine
moments in life, the strong moments, the happy moments. But when the
down comes, and the dust comes, and the weakness comes, and the
sadness comes, child of God whose hope is in Christ, surely, surely,
remember this, surely goodness and mercy shall follow you all
the days of your life, and you will dwell in the house of the
Lord forever." That just touches me. That just blesses my heart.
Look past the things of this world. Just look past them. Look past the trials of this
life. Look to what has been secured
for us, reserved for us, everything that's waiting for us. in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And that will get you from this
day to the next day. All we got to do is get from
today to tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to have sufficient
is the day of evil tomorrow. There's going to be plenty of
things tomorrow. Let's just try to get from today. Make it to
tomorrow. All the rest of our days. Look
with me at these words of encouragement concerning our Lord's goodness
and mercy. Look right here at Psalm 25 verse
five. It says, lead me in thy truth and teach
me for thou art the God of my salvation. On thee do I wait
all the day. Remember, O Lord, thy tender
mercies and thy loving kindnesses, for they have been ever of old. Remember not the sins of my youth,
nor my transgressions. According to thy mercy, remember
thou me. For thy goodness sake, O Lord. That is goodness. That is merciful
goodness. A blotting out of all my sin,
all my transgressions, according to your mercy. That's goodness.
That's goodness that will get us from one day to the next. He's blotted out all of our sin,
all of our transgressions. What goodness, look at Psalm
27 verse 13. I had fainted unless I had believed
to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait
on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine
heart. Wait, I say on the Lord. David said if I did not have
the hope of his goodness, I would never make it. I just could not
make it. I can enter into that. I know
that you can too. Look at Psalm 31 verse 19. Oh,
how great is that goodness? which thou hast laid up for them
that fear thee, which thou hast wrought for them that trust in
thee before the sons of men. Oh, how great the work that you
have wrought, the work of salvation, the work of the cross that you
have laid up for your people, that finished work, what goodness
that is. The Lord told Moses, I will make
all my goodness pass before you. I'll be merciful to whom I'll
be merciful. I'll be gracious to whom I'll
be gracious. Look at Psalm 65. This is such a good verse. Psalm 65. Verse four, it says, Blessed
is the man whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto
thee, that he may dwell in thy courts, we shall be satisfied
with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple. David said, you want to see goodness?
You want to know goodness? God's election and redemption
and calling of his people to himself, that's goodness. Verse four says, blessed is the
man whom thou choosest and causes you, you make able, you make
acceptable to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts.
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of
thy holy temple. Psalm 107 says, oh, that men
would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful
works to the children of men. By his grace, we will, won't
we? By his grace. For he satisfieth the longing
soul and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. He fills the hungry
soul with goodness. Even the things that we and our
flesh and this world means for evil, God still means it for goodness. God still means it for good for
his people. All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are called according
to his purpose. If we can just remember that, we'll make it
to Thursday. That's all we need to do right
now. Make it to Thursday. And if we can remember that tomorrow,
we'll make it to Friday. And if we can make it to Friday,
we just have one more day before Sunday. And by God's grace, that will keep
happening until Sunday comes, S-O-N. The day that the Son of God comes
to take us home. One of these days, the clouds
are gonna part, the trump is gonna sound, and goodness and mercy is gonna
appear. Look to Christ. Keep looking
to Christ. Let's keep our eyes on Christ.
Everything will be okay. Everything. Go back to Psalm
23, I'm done. Psalm 23 verse 1 says, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want, I shall not lack. Even though it feels like I lack
so much in here, my hope is in the Lord. And I know he will
provide. I shall not want, he will provide. Verse 2, he maketh me to lie
down in green pastures, He leadeth me beside the still waters. By
His grace, we are looking past the troubles and the turmoils
of this life that exist. They are here and they exist.
But by His grace, we're looking past them. And we lay down in green pastures
by looking past them. We sit beside still waters by
looking past these things. Verse 3 says, He restoreth my
soul. My body may be broken, but he
restores my soul. My mind may be stressed, but
he restores my soul. My heart may be overwhelmed with
sorrow and grief, but he restores my soul. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in paths of righteousness,
Christ. For his name's sake, he does
that for his name's sake. What's his name? Savior. Verse four says, yea, though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. We truly only have one comfort
in this life, and it's Jesus Christ. It is the word of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Verse five, thou preparest a
table before me in the presence of mine enemies, thou anointest
my head with oil, my cup runneth over. No matter what, there is
never a time that we cannot say that. No matter what. His provisions
are abundant. We are so thankful for whatever
He provides to us in this life. We are so thankful for whatever
He gives to us right now. But His provisions to us that
He has reserved for us for the life to come. Those provisions are enough to
last an eternity. How far can your mind go into
eternity? Once you get there, you haven't
even started yet. Our cup will run over for all
of eternity. What are the provisions? What
is our portion? The Lord is my portion, saith
my soul. Christ is, we will feed on him. We will be anointed with him.
Our cup will run over with him for all of eternity. So verse
six says, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the
days of my life. And I will dwell in the house
of the Lord forever. If I'm in Christ, goodness and
mercy is what I have to expect and look forward to the rest
of my days here. And if I'm in Christ, I will
dwell in the house of the Lord forever. I hope that's a word
of comfort and encouragement and help for your soul and my
soul.