An Opportunity to Serve

Opportunity to Serve

Yesterday I had a unique opportunity to serve.

The wonderful Christian lady that babysat me when I was born ~ passed away.  Yesterday we held her Celebration of Life at the Methodist church. 

This dear lady wrote out the details of her memorial service for us to follow. 

Her pastor officiated and a couple others served as she directed. 

Then right before her pastor offered words of hope and comfort ~ she requested that I sing, “Surely Goodness and Mercy”. 

What a wonderful old hymn taken of course from Psalm 23:6 KJV

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;

And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”

These two things ~ goodness and mercy ~ following me all the days of my life are known as the “hounds of heaven”. 

Goodness are things that are good, kind, beautiful, pleasant, agreeable ~ we call them blessings.  David is confident that God’s blessings are going to pursue him every day of his life.  Another word for this is GRACE: God’s undeserved, unlimited kindness.

Mercy is when God doesn’t give us what we do deserve.   I like to think of this as God’s protective love covering my life.  In the Hebrew language, “mercy” is also translated “loving-kindness”.  God’s loving-kindness that reaches down and touches our lives. 

It is hard for me to think of God’s loving-kindness without thinking about God’s forgiveness. 

As followers of Jesus Christ, you and I can confidently walk forward into an unknown, uncertain future knowing ~ “surely the LORD is my Shepherd”.

A little girl once misquoted Psalm 1 and said, “The LORD is my Shepherd, that’s all I want”. 

When I was a kid, there was a TV commercial for Wendy’s Hamburgers.  This elderly lady went around yelling, “Where’s the beef?” 

Perhaps today, you are tempted to look around and yell, “Where’s the goodness and mercy ~ Where’s the loving-kindness?” 

Think about this ~ God promised to provide goodness and mercy everyday of our lives ~ for all of our lives. 

The problem is ~ we often fail to recognize it.

We are so trained to think that we must chase after what we want ~ it is an odd thought for us to think about God chasing after us.  We simply are not trained to see God’s hand at work in our lives ~ so we miss it. 

God’s Word ~ Psalm 23 KJV:

¹ The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

² He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

³ He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

⁴ 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.

⁵ Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

                                                                           

PRAYER: (lyrics to “Surely Goodness and Mercy”)

A pilgrim was I, and a wandering,
In the cold night of sin I did roam,
When Jesus the kind Shepherd found me,
And now I am on my way home.

Chorus:
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days, all the days of my life;
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days, all the days of my life.

And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever,
And I shall feast at the table spread for me;
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days, all the days of my life.

Verse 2:
He restoreth my soul when I'm weary,
He giveth me strength day by day;
He leads me beside the still waters,
He guards me each step of the way.

Verse 3:
When I walk through the dark lonesome valley,
My savior will walk with me there;
And safely His great hand will lead me
To the mansions He's gone to prepare.