Title: Forever in the House of the Lord
1. Introduction: The full joy of the soul
- In verse 1, the poet gives a general confession that God is his shepherd, in verses 2-5 he explains why he lives with Jehovah God as his shepherd, and in verse 6, the saints who have received special love and grace from God shows the determination and determination of how to live before God. The first half of verse 6 sings about confidence in the future, and the second half sings about determination for future life.
2. Body: Confidence and determination for the future
1) “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.”
① Confidence in the future: Humans can never know about their future events. But one thing the poet could know for sure was that the goodness and mercy of God would surely follow him.
The original meaning of the word ‘follow’ means ‘to pursue’. The poet did not know what would happen in his future, but he had no fear because he was sure that no matter what tribulation and trials came, the goodness and kindness of God would pursue him to the end and make him see the virtue of his goodness and mercy.
② goodness
- ‘Good’ is the Hebrew word ‘tob’, which is used when “God saw that it was good” in Genesis 1. It means that all things were accomplished according to God's original plan without any regrets.
Therefore, it is good when the house of our life is built according to God's plan for us and when it is used according to that plan.
- God's goodness and mercy were the subject of eternal praise of the people of Israel. However, those who were able to praise God's goodness and mercy were those who accepted God's purpose in their lives and lived their lives. When we live according to God's plan, that is good, when we live that way, it is the most beautiful life, and when we are there, we can live the most outstanding life.
- The poet encountered many tribulations in life, but when he gave up on himself, accepted God's plan, and obeyed God, he was able to sing of God's mercy and goodness.
Even in the midst of life's tribulation, if we know two things clearly, we can live a victorious life in the tribulation. One is the fact that God is good, and the other is the fact that a good God always guides us through His Word.
③ Kindness
- The Hebrew word for mercy is chesed, and the Greek word for mercy is agape. This is unconditional love, and it is a love that comes from compassion for the object. We live in betrayal and disobedience to God, but God is always there and calls us.
The poet has not always walked a flat road, nor has he always lived a life receiving God's praise. He suffered and lived in the darkness of his soul for a long time, but in that time he realized the agape of God who still loves a useless sinner like himself, and there he deeply repented.
- We don't know what will happen in the future, we just live according to God's providence. However, the secret to living victoriously with confidence in the future is to believe that God's goodness and mercy will follow in our lives, and to live by accepting God's plan as our own.
2) Determination for the future: “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever”
- The house of Jehovah refers to the temple, and the temple at that time was a portable temple. In the time of Moses, when the people of Israel progressed and stopped, the temple of God was encamped in the center, and the twelve tribes encamped around the temple. But God is not confined to the temple, and He is not absent anywhere.
Nevertheless, God made a meeting place where he could meet frequently with his people, and promised to always give special meetings there, which was the temple, the church, and the sanctuary. So, when there was a national emergency, the Israelites always went up to the temple to ask for God's help.
This was the faith of the people of Israel. In this way, faith in the invisible God was expressed as faith in the house of the visible God.
- The church turns this dark world into light by showing the truth entrusted by the Lord to those who live without knowing why they were created in this world, where they came from, where they are going, and who God is who created them. It is an institution that makes life possible. So the church is the Lord's hand and the Lord's feet serving this dark world.
- The saints who met God always had the Lord's Church that allowed them to meet the Lord, and the Word of God given to them in that Church, and there were the dedication of countless people who prayed with tears so that he could live as a man of God.
And in order for each of us to be revealed as a light in this world, we need a church like this that gives us the capacity to live that life.
- How happy we are to have a church that we can serve! It is to give comfort to the suffering, to give material to the needy, and to live by leaning on each other. All churches in the world are one family in one Father.
Those who deeply love the invisible God always love the visible church. The most unfortunate people in this world are those who do not love God, and the next most unfortunate are those who do not have a loving church.
“He who does not love the Church as his mother does not deserve to call God Father.” - John Calvin - 2004-01-25