Who is Pursuing You?
Recently, I have had a couple of nightmares where a person was pursuing me. My fear was so great a couple nights ago that I was abruptly awoken by my husband turning on the light and frantically asking me, "What's the matter? Are you alright?" I apparently was making crying noises in my sleep, although in my dream I was attempting to cry out for help, but couldn't scream. After we settled the issue of what was happening, I curled up next to my husband so I could get my heart to slowdown and mind to quit racing. He wasn't angry that I woke him up, he was glad to have stopped my fearful dream and held me tight until I was ready to go back to sleep.
In a recent Bible study, by Jennifer Rothschild, called Psalm 23 The Shepherd with Me, she talked about the word "follow" in Psalm 23:6. This verse reads, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever." According to Rothschild on page 184, "The Hebrew word for follow is radaph which means to pursue, chase, and attend closely upon." She said the verse doesn't mean, "Surely goodness and mercy will lag behind me and never quite catch up all the days of my life." But rather, "God pursues us and chases us down with goodness and mercy every single day of our lives!"
I know I would much rather be pursued by goodness in my dreams than evil, in my daily life as well! Wouldn't you? So then, this morning, I read in my NIV Bible Isaiah 35:10, "Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flew away." The notes at the bottom of page 1065 said that this verse essentially meant, "They [Israelites] will be pursued, not by wild animals but by gladness and joy." What a great picture of how good God is to us! He literally chases after us or pursues us with goodness, mercy, gladness, and joy.
Billy Graham in his book, The Holy Spirit, noted that before the Pentecost Jesus told His followers to "ask" (Luke 11:13) for the Holy Spirit, but after the Pentecost Peter emphasizing the followers were to "receive" (Acts 2:38) the gift of the Holy Spirit. Billy Graham wrote, "This is the good news: we are no longer waiting for the Holy Spirit--He is waiting for us. We are no longer living in a time of promise, but in the days of fulfillment" (page 14). Again, I see that as the Holy Spirit is now pursing us, once we declare Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the forgiveness of our sins, our only Lord and King; we then receive the gift of the Holy Spirit in us and goodness, mercy, gladness, and joy will forever pursue us. Now that is the hope worth having and resting in.
In a recent Bible study, by Jennifer Rothschild, called Psalm 23 The Shepherd with Me, she talked about the word "follow" in Psalm 23:6. This verse reads, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever." According to Rothschild on page 184, "The Hebrew word for follow is radaph which means to pursue, chase, and attend closely upon." She said the verse doesn't mean, "Surely goodness and mercy will lag behind me and never quite catch up all the days of my life." But rather, "God pursues us and chases us down with goodness and mercy every single day of our lives!"
I know I would much rather be pursued by goodness in my dreams than evil, in my daily life as well! Wouldn't you? So then, this morning, I read in my NIV Bible Isaiah 35:10, "Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flew away." The notes at the bottom of page 1065 said that this verse essentially meant, "They [Israelites] will be pursued, not by wild animals but by gladness and joy." What a great picture of how good God is to us! He literally chases after us or pursues us with goodness, mercy, gladness, and joy.
Billy Graham in his book, The Holy Spirit, noted that before the Pentecost Jesus told His followers to "ask" (Luke 11:13) for the Holy Spirit, but after the Pentecost Peter emphasizing the followers were to "receive" (Acts 2:38) the gift of the Holy Spirit. Billy Graham wrote, "This is the good news: we are no longer waiting for the Holy Spirit--He is waiting for us. We are no longer living in a time of promise, but in the days of fulfillment" (page 14). Again, I see that as the Holy Spirit is now pursing us, once we declare Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the forgiveness of our sins, our only Lord and King; we then receive the gift of the Holy Spirit in us and goodness, mercy, gladness, and joy will forever pursue us. Now that is the hope worth having and resting in.
Psalm 23 (A psalm of David) (ESV)
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
Green pastures in California, with a dark storm on the horizon.
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
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