What is the goal you always chase after?

We all have something. Maybe it is getting healthier, becoming more productive, or having a better relationship with God. Maybe you are trying to find some internal peace, more direction, or happiness. There is usually something in the back of our minds that we are trying to move toward, something that we keep thinking, “I want to make sure that this is something I'm doing in my life.”

But what are God's goals?

Psalm 23 gives us an interesting answer as we come to the end of the Psalm:

“Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

That first word is worth slowing down for: surely.

It's Not “Maybe”

In English, we might say definitely, absolutely, assuredly, or no joke, 100%. That's the idea. David isn't saying, “I hope God's goodness and love follow me.” He isn't saying, “Things seem to be going pretty well, so I guess God will probably continue to be good.” There is a confidence here.

And there is actually more happening in the Hebrew than we see in the English word “surely.” The word can also carry the idea of only. So we can hear both ideas in the sentence: surely God's goodness and love will follow me, and only God's goodness and love will follow me.

That raises a pretty big question: can we really say that everything God brings to us is his goodness and love? Because it doesn't always feel that way.

We Don't Always Experience Life That Way

We've spent this whole series talking about green pastures, quiet waters, right paths, and then the darkest valley. The valley is real. The enemies are real. The pain and loss we experience in this life are real.

So when I say, “Everything God brings to me is His goodness and love,” I'm not saying everything that happens to us is good. There are things in this world that are genuinely broken. There are things that break God's heart.

What I am saying is that God remains good in the middle of all of it.

Sometimes we can look back and recognize that more clearly than we can in the moment. There are things that God does that I don't understand while they're happening. Sometimes a door opens and I recognize God's goodness immediately. Sometimes a door closes and I don't understand at all why God would do that.

But if God is my shepherd, I have to trust that He knows where He is leading me.

We've already talked about how the shepherd leads us on paths of righteousness, not because we are the best sheep, but for His name's sake. We've talked about how He prepares a table in the presence of our enemies because our enemies are not powerful enough to prevent Him from caring for His people.

Now David says that God's goodness and love are following him all the days of his life. This is a statement about who God is.

Learning to Notice God's Goodness

One of the challenges for me is that sometimes I don't notice God's loving kindness because I'm focused on something else.

The other things are real. Whatever is difficult in your life right now is real. But there can be more happening than what I can see.

Sometimes I can't feel God's loving kindness because I am overwhelmed by the bad stuff. And one of the things I need to do is ask God, “Show me. Open my eyes so I can notice what you're doing.” That's actually a pretty biblical prayer.

Moses asked God, “Can I see you?” And God responds by showing Moses what he is like. He is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. God wants his people to know his character.

So maybe part of what God is doing in us through Psalm 23 is teaching us to become people who notice.

Notice what God has provided. Notice the ways he has protected you. Notice the people he has placed around you. Notice the doors he has opened, and perhaps even the doors he has closed. Notice the ways he has been faithful even when you didn't recognize it at the time.

What Are You Chasing?

We spend a lot of our lives chasing things that we think will finally get us where we want to go.

Psalm 23 invites us to look at our lives differently. Instead of constantly asking, “What do I need to go find?” perhaps we can also begin asking, “What is God already giving me?”

Maybe your response today is gratitude. Maybe you need to thank God for something you haven't thanked him for in a long time.

Or maybe your response is more honest than that: “God, I have a hard time believing that you really are good because of what I've done or because of what has happened to me. Help me believe that this is true.”

Either way, Psalm 23 gives us something solid to hold onto.

Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life.

We may not always understand what God is doing. We may not always recognize his goodness in the moment. But we can trust that God's goodness and loving kindness are chasing after us. Perhaps the beginning of that trust is simply asking him to open our eyes so that we can see what he is already doing.

Scripture: Psalm 23:6; Exodus 34:6–7

Reflection: Where is it difficult for you to see God's goodness right now? Take some time to ask God to open your eyes to the ways his loving kindness is already present in your life.