What Are You Leaving In Your Wake?

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever (Psalm 23:6 NKJV).

It is more difficult to have a familiar passage of scripture speak to you because we so often come with preconceived ideas of what we think it says and a familiarity that we all know can breed contempt.  “Oh yeah, I know that verse,” we immediately think when we hear Psalm 23.  And then we read it with the filter of past understanding.

Perhaps that’s why I was pleasantly surprised to immediately be struck by two nuisances I had never noticed before.  The use of the word surely stuck out this time. It is a very strong word, which means assuredly, confidently, without fail, and without doubt.  David’s confidence in God’s ability is unwavering.  But it was the second part of that sentence that really caused me to ponder the passage with a new interest. 

Not really sure why, but I had always read “goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life” as an indication that because of the close relationship we enjoy with the Lord, His mercy and goodness would always be part of our lives.  And while that may well be true, that’s not exactly what this verse says.  It does not say, “goodness and mercy will lead me or be with me all the days of my life;” it says, they will “follow” me.  There is an implication in the differentiation that seems to stress the fact that, as believers who have unwavering confidence in God, our lives will be dispensing goodness and mercy in the wake of where we go, just like a car that springs an oil leak.  And if we should tarry for a while in one spot, we will end up leaving a puddle of goodness and mercy.

The key is in the parallel to the car.  If your car is leaking oil, you better keep putting the oil in, or the engine will seize.  As we continue to fill our hearts with the oil of the Holy Spirit, we will enjoy the overflowing cup David spoke about in verse 5 of this familiar Psalm.  And for all you mechanics, yes, we would be better off to get the car fixed, but in our parallel illustration, we cannot fix the leak until we take that final trip to the Divine Mechanic, so we have to just keep putting oil in the vehicle. 

This truth, like all of God’s Word, is a two-edged sword.  On the one hand, it is exciting to think of my life in this way.  On the other, it is convicting to look behind me and not see enough of the evidence of this truth.    Today, I will ask God with unwavering confidence to pierce my heart with this area of Scripture so that it will begin to leak for Him, leaving that trail of goodness and mercy.