Psalms 23:6 - What's following you?

- Psalms 23:6 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.

I’ve been studying and meditating on this verse for the last two weeks now, as part of what Ken Wetzell charged me with while I was in Biloxi. It’s amazing how you can learn so much more from scripture when you embrace the idea that it’s the living word of God, which will speak different things into your life from time to time.

At first, it made me realize that if I devoted my life to God, He would cast goodness and love on me. Then, as I thought on it more, I realized this isn’t just something that happens when you decide to devote yourself, but something that’s always been there.

When I was about ten years old, a few friends and I were building a treehouse in the woods behind my home in Maryland. One of my friends had left the hammer (a dual hatchet/hammer we were using because none of us knew we should have been using a claw hammer) at the top of the ladder and come down for more nails. Well, the box of nails was at the foot of the ladder and I bent down to get some for him. Little did I know that he had shaken the ladder and the hammer was no longer sitting on top of it, but spiraling towards the ground, some 30’ below, as fast as gravity would allow.

The next thing I knew, something hit me in the top of the head and smashed the skin open down to the bone. I jerked upright and saw the hatchet/hammer, now stuck in the ground hammerhead first, right in front of me and realized the handle had hit me right in the head. I reached up and touched my noggin, only to have a fair amount of blood cover my hand instantly.

Needless to say, I freaked out and ran home thinking the world had just ended. I soon calmed down and got fixed up, none really the worse for wear after the bleeding stopped. But, my stepfather, a good man who loves math, did “the math” and figured out if the ladder had been 8” taller, the hatchet would have spun 180* more and cut my head in half. Amazing how only 8” can change our perspective, life and the lives of those we touch.

Right then and there, God’s goodness and love was surely following me. Even if I didn’t realize it at the time.

If it weren’t for that short span, I’d have died. All the things I’ve done from this day to that would have gone undone. Angie’s life would be completely different and my son would not exist. Thank you, Father, for following me that day.

Fast forward to Southern California in 1999 and a friend who I didn’t much care for went to Phoenix to visit his ex-wife and son. He returned and told me about this awesome woman he’d met and how she would be perfect for me, but he was going to date her instead and it was my loss. This was standard behavior for him and since I wasn’t a Christ follower then, you can see why I didn’t much care for him. But little did I realize that his friendship was also God’s goodness and love following me. The woman he mentioned was Angie, the love of my life and mother of my son. If the “friend” was a good friend, I’d have never talked to Angie and simply congratulated him. Instead, I convinced him to give me her contact info and before long, he was out of the picture entirely and I was living in Phoenix with the most beautiful woman on earth. God’s goodness and love was surely following me. Even if I didn’t realize it at the time.

I plan to continue revisiting this verse periodically over the next several months, just to see where it leads me, where He leads me, as I delve deeper into one verse than I ever have before. Meanwhile, I invite you to stop and look for the pattern of where God has followed you with goodness and love all the days of your life, as we dwell in the house of the Lord forever.