Eternity
-
Three ways to try reading the Bible:
1) Slow Down
2) Read Different Translations (biblegateway.com for example)
3) Re-write a passage as if the opposite were true.
The Enemies’ Version of Psalm 23
The Lord is NOT my shepherd; I am constantly lacking what I need from him.
He makes me forage from painful sticker bushes and drink from dangerous and polluted water.
He leaves me to face my challenges in MY OWN strength.
He tells me to go on the wrong paths because he DOESN’T CARE about me.
When I walk through a very dark valley, I will be afraid, because you are always FAR AWAY when I need you most.
You DON’T protect me with your rod and you DON’T rescue me with your staff. You DON’T comfort me in my fears.
You invite me over for dinner, but you serve me a moldy crust of bread and invite my enemies to come and get me. You invite me over to humiliate me and mistreat me.
You hunt me down with guilt, shame, rejection, and disgust.
After my miserable life without your presence is over, you’ll abandon me forever to an eternity without you.
Psalm 23:1-6 (CEV)
You, LORD, are my shepherd. I will never be in need. You let me rest in fields of green grass. You lead me to streams of peaceful water, and you refresh my life.
You are true to your name, and you lead me along the right paths.
I may walk through valleys as dark as death, but I won’t be afraid. You are with me, and your shepherd’s rod[a] makes me feel safe.
You treat me to a feast, while my enemies watch. You honor me as your guest, and you fill my cup until it overflows. Your kindness and love will always be with me each day of my life, and I will live forever in your house, LORD.
Psalm 23:6
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. (KJV)
Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. (NASB)
Certainly, goodness and mercy will stay close to me all the days of my life, and I will remain in the LORD's house for days without end. (GWT)
Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD as long as I live. (CSB)
Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life. I'm back home in the house of God for the rest of my life. (Msg)
Surely/ Truly/Certainly
Goodness
Exodus 33:18-19 (ESV)
Lovingkindness/ love/ faithful love/ unfailing love/ mercy
The reason there are so many translations is because this is a very important word in Hebrew that has a lot of complexity to it.
Hesed essentially means “help to the needy” and has no precise English equivalent. It refers to a situation where a needy partner depends on another for deliverance, and the deliverer does so freely out of all his finer spiritual and sensitive instincts (i.e. kindness, mercy, love, and loyalty).
–OT Scholar Bruce Waltke
Is this how you see the LORD? A good God who chases after us with goodness and merciful, kind love?
How has the LORD shown his faithful, caring, kind, merciful love to you?
Will chase after me/ will follow me/ will pursue me/ will be with me/ will stay close to me
“CHASE” or “PURSUE”.
Psalm 18:37 (NLT)
Old Testament scholar John Goldingay, says it this way:
The verb thus carries two encouraging implications. One is that if wild animals/enemies (vv.1-5) pursue us, good and commitment also do so. The other is that good and commitment follow us with energy. – OT Scholar John Goldingay
12:00 In Front of Me and Future (The LORD as a Guiding Shepherd)
ME
6:00 Behind Me and Past (The LORD as a Pursuing Blesser)
What does it feel like to be PURSUED with goodness and love?
All the days of my life/ all my life/ every day of my life
John 10:10-11 (NLT)
I will dwell/ I will live/ I’m back home/ I have a place/ I will remain
In the house of the Lord
Genesis 28:16-17 (NLT)
In Hebrew, House of God is Beyt –El or as we say it in English, Bethel.
How could every place you find yourself become a place where you are at home with the LORD?
Forever/ all my days/ as long as I live/ for days without end
John 14:1-6 (NCV)
Revelation 7:15-17 (NLT)
How does it affect your relationship with the LORD that he promises to pursue you with goodness and faithful love every day of this life into an eternity at home with him?
Benediction
Hebrews 13:20-21 (NLT)
May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that Great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.