November 14, 2023 • 10 mins
Prepare to embark on a spiritual journey as we unpack the profound meaning of Psalm 23’s final verse. Discover the fascinating way 'goodness' was understood in Hebrew morality, shaped by God's law rather than personal satisfaction, and how "follow me" signifies God's unwavering pursuit of us in all life's circumstances. This exploration is sure to offer you a comforting and enlightening perspective on one of the most recited chapters in scripture.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to our ancient future story, navigating
Scripture through the Eyes ofFamily, where I share with you
biblical stories like a familymember would share a story
around a dinner table.
As children of God, we are apart of God's family and His
family story has a lot ofhistory.
Each week, we will take onestory and talk about it the
cultural, historical,geographical and sociological
(00:31):
impacts.
We will be looking at thesestories through the perspective
of our ancestors, through thelens of ancient times, in hopes
of learning more about ourfamily.
This is our ancient futurestory.
Welcome back to our ancientfuture story.
(01:01):
I'm Vic and I am so excited toshare with you the conclusion of
our series of the most recitedchapter of Scripture, psalms 23.
And before we get into that, Iwant to take a minute and invite
you to join my Patreon.
If you are liking what you arelearning and would like to get
additional content likediscussion, questions and guides
, check out our Patreon atpatreoncom.
This supports the show andhelps me keep it going.
(01:25):
Also, you can follow the showon all our socials or check our
website at our ancient futurestory dot com.
Thank you for all of yoursupport.
Alright, so let's get into theshow, just like last time, today
we will dive into verse 6,breaking it down and seeing the
amazing history and culturebehind this famous psalm, psalms
23.6,.
Surely goodness and mercy willfollow me all the days of my
(01:48):
life and I will dwell in thehouse of the Lord forever.
So sit back, grab your cup ofcoffee or something to drink and
get ready to dive into Psalms23.6.
If you grew up in church, youhave probably heard this psalm
(02:10):
many, many times.
You probably memorized it.
But even if you didn't grow upin church, you have probably
heard this psalm a few times.
But there are a few things Ithink are interesting as we dive
into the context that shapedthis story.
So first, as always, we talkabout location.
Where was David when he waswriting this?
Well, as we know from previousweeks, David was in the Wadi
(02:31):
Kelt, running from his sonAbsalom.
So we kind of get this ideabehind this psalm as well.
So let's start with thebeginning of the verse.
Surely goodness and mercy willfollow me.
Quite a confident statement forDavid to conclude the psalm on.
So far in this passage we haveseen his dependency on the Good
Shepherd, his struggle in theWadi Kelt, yet still invited to
(02:54):
the table to now end with theconfidence that goodness and
mercy will follow him.
David is confident thatgoodness, or ta'v in Hebrew,
will follow him.
Ta'v means good things,pleasant things, useful things
or morally good things.
I think for the most part weall understand the goodness part
of this verse.
We all have a decent idea ofwhat good things are.
(03:18):
But morally good is the part ofthis definition that struck me,
because what we think of asmoral goodness or ethical
goodness as we would see ittoday, is a very Greek
understanding, which made me askthe question what was
considered morally good inDavid's day?
As I said, moral goodness as weunderstand it today is very
(03:39):
Greek-centric.
The Greeks understood thatmorality came from the
individual.
What feels good to you is rightfor you.
Whatever brings you happinessis morally good for you.
In other words, if it's goodfor you and doesn't hurt anyone
else, then it is morally good.
Money, fame, sex, honor,followers, whatever it is, as
long as you're not actively orintentionally hurting someone
(04:01):
else, it is good.
But that is not the Hebrewicunderstanding of morality.
Jewish understanding ofmorality is more social than
individual.
What you do affects thecommunity, either positively or
negatively.
In ancient Israel there was noseparation between church and
state.
Therefore rabbis had the legalauthority to punish moral
(04:22):
actions.
So what are these moral actions?
Morality in Hebrew context wasdetermined by the law of God,
not by the Greek context of theindividual happiness.
So we must ask what is thestandard for moral living
according to the law of God?
Well, according to Leviticus itis this Be holy because I, the
(04:44):
Lord, your God, am holy.
This is the standard of God.
So with this lens we see thatDavid is saying holiness will
follow him.
So now I want to take a minuteand talk about the mercy part of
this verse.
Some translations use mercy,like mine does.
Surely goodness and mercy willfollow me, while others use
(05:04):
kindness.
I noticed at the end of my studythat Psalms 23 has a footnote
that says steadfast love here.
So surely goodness and kindness, surely goodness and steadfast
love will follow me.
But in Hebrew the word here ishesed, and hesed, as I have
mentioned before on this podcast, is the unwavering devotion
(05:27):
from a superior to an inferior,especially when undeserved.
It's stubborn love, it'sunconditional love.
It's that steadfast love thatthe footnote talked about.
It chases you down, loves youno matter what, even when love
is undeserved, and I would say,especially when love is
undeserved, and David is usingit here as a reminder that the
(05:50):
hesed of Yahweh will follow him.
The word follow here is radaf,and this word gives the sense of
pursuit, to chase, to activelyrun after.
So who put all of this together?
David is saying I am confidentthat holiness and hesed will
pursue me.
The next sentence says all thedays of my life.
(06:11):
David is not saying holinessand hesed will pursue him only
when he is good or only while heis behaving.
No, he is saying all the daysof my life.
He's confident that holinessand hesed of Yahweh will
actively pursue him all day,every day, for as long as he
lives.
What good news is this?
(06:32):
God actively pursues us all thedays of our lives.
On our good days, holiness andhesed pursues us.
On our bad days, holiness andhesed pursues us All day, every
day, in good things and badthings.
Yahweh offers us holiness andhesed.
The last part of this verse andof this Psalm is and I will
(06:54):
dwell in the house of the Lordforever.
To dwell, or yasab in Hebrew,means to sit down and stay.
So it's this idea of makingyourself at home.
David says he will dwell in thehouse of the Lord.
So the temple is not built yet,because it was his son, solomon
, who built the temple, aka thehouse of the Lord that we know
(07:15):
of today.
So what is David talking abouthere?
I think he is talking about thepresence of the Lord.
The house of the Lord for Davidwould be his intimate
relationship with Yahweh.
I will make myself at home inthe presence of the Lord.
We saw this imagery with Mosesin the tent of meeting.
He dwelt in the presence ofYahweh.
David here, after five versesabout the intimate relationship
(07:38):
between the sheep and hisshepherd, he is concluding his
psalm with the confidence thathe will dwell in the presence of
God.
He will make himself at home inthis intimate relationship with
his shepherd.
But I want us to see somethingreally cool here.
God is doing all of the work,his holiness is pursuing me, his
hesed is pursuing me, but me Ijust get to dwell in the
(08:01):
relationship with my shepherd.
So if we put this all together,david is saying I am confident
that holiness and hesed willpursue me all day, every day of
my entire life, and I will dwellin his presence forever.
So how does this psalm and thisverse point to Jesus, just like
the last six episodes.
(08:22):
Jesus is our shepherd.
It's his holiness and hisunwavering hesed that pursues us
all the days of our lives, andif we allow ourselves to be
found, we get to make ourselvesat home in his presence.
We get to dwell in thesweetness of our relationship
with him forever.
So before we go, I want to closeour time together by reading
(08:43):
scripture in Psalms 23.
I hope that as you listen to itbeing read, that you embrace
all that we have learned andthat this passage will be
illuminated for you.
Let's read the Lord is myshepherd.
I shall not want he makes melie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
Even though I walk through thevalley of the shadow of death, I
(09:07):
will fear no evil For your rodand your staff.
They comfort me.
You repair a table before me inthe presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil.
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy willfollow me all the days of my
life and I will dwell in thehouse of the Lord forever.
(09:29):
Thank you for listening totoday's episode of our HM Future
Story.
I hope that you really enjoyedit.
This episode was written andproduced by me.
Vic Harmon Music is embarkingon an adventure by Evan McDonald
.
Please support the show bysubscribing and rating us, and
if you want more info or want todive deeper, check out our
website at ourancientfuturestorycom.
(09:51):
See you next time, bye.
Welcome to our ancient future story, navigating
Scripture through the Eyes ofFamily, where I share with you
biblical stories like a familymember would share a story
around a dinner table.
As children of God, we are apart of God's family and His
family story has a lot ofhistory.
Each week, we will take onestory and talk about it the
cultural, historical,geographical and sociological
(00:31):
impacts.
We will be looking at thesestories through the perspective
of our ancestors, through thelens of ancient times, in hopes
of learning more about ourfamily.
This is our ancient futurestory.
Welcome back to our ancientfuture story.
(01:01):
I'm Vic and I am so excited toshare with you the conclusion of
our series of the most recitedchapter of Scripture, psalms 23.
And before we get into that, Iwant to take a minute and invite
you to join my Patreon.
If you are liking what you arelearning and would like to get
additional content likediscussion, questions and guides
, check out our Patreon atpatreoncom.
This supports the show andhelps me keep it going.
(01:25):
Also, you can follow the showon all our socials or check our
website at our ancient futurestory dot com.
Thank you for all of yoursupport.
Alright, so let's get into theshow, just like last time, today
we will dive into verse 6,breaking it down and seeing the
amazing history and culturebehind this famous psalm, psalms
23.6,.
Surely goodness and mercy willfollow me all the days of my
(01:48):
life and I will dwell in thehouse of the Lord forever.
So sit back, grab your cup ofcoffee or something to drink and
get ready to dive into Psalms23.6.
If you grew up in church, youhave probably heard this psalm
(02:10):
many, many times.
You probably memorized it.
But even if you didn't grow upin church, you have probably
heard this psalm a few times.
But there are a few things Ithink are interesting as we dive
into the context that shapedthis story.
So first, as always, we talkabout location.
Where was David when he waswriting this?
Well, as we know from previousweeks, David was in the Wadi
(02:31):
Kelt, running from his sonAbsalom.
So we kind of get this ideabehind this psalm as well.
So let's start with thebeginning of the verse.
Surely goodness and mercy willfollow me.
Quite a confident statement forDavid to conclude the psalm on.
So far in this passage we haveseen his dependency on the Good
Shepherd, his struggle in theWadi Kelt, yet still invited to
(02:54):
the table to now end with theconfidence that goodness and
mercy will follow him.
David is confident thatgoodness, or ta'v in Hebrew,
will follow him.
Ta'v means good things,pleasant things, useful things
or morally good things.
I think for the most part weall understand the goodness part
of this verse.
We all have a decent idea ofwhat good things are.
(03:18):
But morally good is the part ofthis definition that struck me,
because what we think of asmoral goodness or ethical
goodness as we would see ittoday, is a very Greek
understanding, which made me askthe question what was
considered morally good inDavid's day?
As I said, moral goodness as weunderstand it today is very
(03:39):
Greek-centric.
The Greeks understood thatmorality came from the
individual.
What feels good to you is rightfor you.
Whatever brings you happinessis morally good for you.
In other words, if it's goodfor you and doesn't hurt anyone
else, then it is morally good.
Money, fame, sex, honor,followers, whatever it is, as
long as you're not actively orintentionally hurting someone
(04:01):
else, it is good.
But that is not the Hebrewicunderstanding of morality.
Jewish understanding ofmorality is more social than
individual.
What you do affects thecommunity, either positively or
negatively.
In ancient Israel there was noseparation between church and
state.
Therefore rabbis had the legalauthority to punish moral
(04:22):
actions.
So what are these moral actions?
Morality in Hebrew context wasdetermined by the law of God,
not by the Greek context of theindividual happiness.
So we must ask what is thestandard for moral living
according to the law of God?
Well, according to Leviticus itis this Be holy because I, the
(04:44):
Lord, your God, am holy.
This is the standard of God.
So with this lens we see thatDavid is saying holiness will
follow him.
So now I want to take a minuteand talk about the mercy part of
this verse.
Some translations use mercy,like mine does.
Surely goodness and mercy willfollow me, while others use
(05:04):
kindness.
I noticed at the end of my studythat Psalms 23 has a footnote
that says steadfast love here.
So surely goodness and kindness, surely goodness and steadfast
love will follow me.
But in Hebrew the word here ishesed, and hesed, as I have
mentioned before on this podcast, is the unwavering devotion
(05:27):
from a superior to an inferior,especially when undeserved.
It's stubborn love, it'sunconditional love.
It's that steadfast love thatthe footnote talked about.
It chases you down, loves youno matter what, even when love
is undeserved, and I would say,especially when love is
undeserved, and David is usingit here as a reminder that the
(05:50):
hesed of Yahweh will follow him.
The word follow here is radaf,and this word gives the sense of
pursuit, to chase, to activelyrun after.
So who put all of this together?
David is saying I am confidentthat holiness and hesed will
pursue me.
The next sentence says all thedays of my life.
(06:11):
David is not saying holinessand hesed will pursue him only
when he is good or only while heis behaving.
No, he is saying all the daysof my life.
He's confident that holinessand hesed of Yahweh will
actively pursue him all day,every day, for as long as he
lives.
What good news is this?
(06:32):
God actively pursues us all thedays of our lives.
On our good days, holiness andhesed pursues us.
On our bad days, holiness andhesed pursues us All day, every
day, in good things and badthings.
Yahweh offers us holiness andhesed.
The last part of this verse andof this Psalm is and I will
(06:54):
dwell in the house of the Lordforever.
To dwell, or yasab in Hebrew,means to sit down and stay.
So it's this idea of makingyourself at home.
David says he will dwell in thehouse of the Lord.
So the temple is not built yet,because it was his son, solomon
, who built the temple, aka thehouse of the Lord that we know
(07:15):
of today.
So what is David talking abouthere?
I think he is talking about thepresence of the Lord.
The house of the Lord for Davidwould be his intimate
relationship with Yahweh.
I will make myself at home inthe presence of the Lord.
We saw this imagery with Mosesin the tent of meeting.
He dwelt in the presence ofYahweh.
David here, after five versesabout the intimate relationship
(07:38):
between the sheep and hisshepherd, he is concluding his
psalm with the confidence thathe will dwell in the presence of
God.
He will make himself at home inthis intimate relationship with
his shepherd.
But I want us to see somethingreally cool here.
God is doing all of the work,his holiness is pursuing me, his
hesed is pursuing me, but me Ijust get to dwell in the
(08:01):
relationship with my shepherd.
So if we put this all together,david is saying I am confident
that holiness and hesed willpursue me all day, every day of
my entire life, and I will dwellin his presence forever.
So how does this psalm and thisverse point to Jesus, just like
the last six episodes.
(08:22):
Jesus is our shepherd.
It's his holiness and hisunwavering hesed that pursues us
all the days of our lives, andif we allow ourselves to be
found, we get to make ourselvesat home in his presence.
We get to dwell in thesweetness of our relationship
with him forever.
So before we go, I want to closeour time together by reading
(08:43):
scripture in Psalms 23.
I hope that as you listen to itbeing read, that you embrace
all that we have learned andthat this passage will be
illuminated for you.
Let's read the Lord is myshepherd.
I shall not want he makes melie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
Even though I walk through thevalley of the shadow of death, I
(09:07):
will fear no evil For your rodand your staff.
They comfort me.
You repair a table before me inthe presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil.
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy willfollow me all the days of my
life and I will dwell in thehouse of the Lord forever.
(09:29):
Thank you for listening totoday's episode of our HM Future
Story.
I hope that you really enjoyedit.
This episode was written andproduced by me.
Vic Harmon Music is embarkingon an adventure by Evan McDonald
.
Please support the show bysubscribing and rating us, and
if you want more info or want todive deeper, check out our
website at ourancientfuturestorycom.
(09:51):
See you next time, bye.
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