During his youth he was hated, persecuted, and at times even hunted by Saul, the king of Israel. Then later in his life, Davd was targeted again by his own son, Absalom and the entire nation of Israel. Yet even in the midst of turmoil and betrayal, David always found refuge in God.
PSALM 23:6 "Surely goodness and loving kindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."
The very first word in this scripture is "Surely", which in hebrew means "Indeed, certain, without a doubt." David is so sure of his security, that he is trying to convey to us his confidence of knowing that God will indeed take care of him.
In last weeks Your Opinion Matters Poll, I polled the readers the following question, "What is one that makes you feel secure?" The top 3 responses were:
1. 81% of those voting said they feel secure having God's peace.
2. 63% voted and said that having someone love them makes them feel secure.
3. 9% responded and said they find security in having money.
No doubt, we all chase after security in some form. But what chases after us?
Did you know that the cheetah is the fastest animal on land and can run up to 70 miles per hour? It is twice as fast as a greyhound or a horse. But what really interests me is the fact that the cheetah will fix its attention on its preys neck when it chases it. He doesn't move his eyes off of the target, nothing will distract a cheetah's focus once it commits to the pursuit.
This is exactly what David is saying in Psalms...just like a cheetah commits and chases after its prey, without a doubt, God's goodness pursues us! This doesn't mean that every thing that happens to us is "good". God is not the source of calamity, hardship and suffering. The truth is that bad things happen to good people, and bad things will happen to God's people. Nowhere in scripture does it say that believers will be exempt from struggles of life.
But the good news is that when we do struggle or fall onto bad times, God's goodness will pursue us! No matter how bad our situation is, God will always bring something good out of it.
God did it for David and He will do it for you too!
Just wanted to let you know I read your posts every day. You are a blessing to me. Thanks for teaching me something everyday that you write.
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