Day 36 | The Pursuit of Our Shepherd - John
Not only does your Shepherd provide for you and protect you, but He also pursues you as He is the lover of your soul. His pursuit of you is intimate, endless, and all-consuming. His mind is consumed in thought over you. He longs to be with you and bring His goodness and love into your life in visceral and palpable ways so that you can “taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Ps. 34:8)
The simple thought that your shepherd is pursuing you should bring peace, comfort, and confidence into your life. Whatever valley (v. 4), enemy (v. 5), or blessing (vv. 1-2) you are experiencing you need to realize that the goodness and love of your Shepherd is following you. That sounds nice, but what does all that even mean?
When we dig into the Hebrew that this text was originally written in, we quickly see that our Shepherd does not function like ‘Big Brother’ stalking after us, nor is He pursuing us like we are being hunted down. Rather the terms David uses paints a beautiful picture of a sheep fully encompassed by His Shepherd’s presence, protection, and provision.
The goodness that David refers to God’s benevolent character expressed through tangible blessings and protective care because the blessings that David, and us, receive and experience are an extension of the goodness of God himself. The term for love that David uses is “one of the richest words in the Old Testament.” This word is used 278 times through the Old Testament, and more than 150 of those occurrences is attached to the idea of covenant love. So, while it “has been variously translated ‘covenant loyalty,’ ‘loving kindness’ and ‘steadfast love.’ … David, was assured in his mind that blessing and steadfast love would be his because of the greatness of his Shepherd.” (Davis, J. J. (1979). The Perfect Shepherd: Studies in the Twenty-Third Psalm (pp. 128–129). Baker Book House.)
The way David describes how God’s goodness and love pursue us is interesting because it means “to pursue or chase someone,” like one army pursuing another, and “to accompany” or “to go with.” This is interesting because David just talked enemies in verse 5 but now is celebrating the fact that His enemies aren’t the only ones pursuing him because so is His Shepherd’s goodness and love. Moreover, God’s goodness and covenantal loving kindness never left him because it has been accompanying him this entire time. Therefore, David is showing us that God’s goodness and love is multidirectional and multifaceted. His goodness and love follow us to guard us from our Enemies attacks and ambushes but also goes before us to grant us straight paths (Ps. 23:3; Prov. 3:5-6; Isaiah 45:2) to peaceful pastures (Ps. 23:2).
This is what your Shepherd does for you. His goodness and love can surround your whole life and go before you to ensure your path is safe and secure as you travel down the right paths that He wants you to go down because they will lead to life abundant!
Not only does God’s goodness and love surround you and protect you, but His goodness and love should flow out of you and be left behind in your wake. Phillip Keller, a former shepherd, is very familiar with what sheep leave behind because sheep poop a lot. And strangely enough, that is part of how the land gets restored. What they leave behind enriches the soil, spreads nutrients, and helps renew places that have been exhausted. Even the messy parts of the sheep’s life can become useful in the hands of the shepherd. That is good news because it means that Jesus can use the things we would rather hide to become part of how He brings restoration.
As his sheep ate grass and plants in the lowlands and then relive themselves in the high country, Keller’s sheep would leave being nutrient rich blessings that would benefit the soil and him as their Shepherd. “In other words, goodness and mercy had followed my flocks. They left behind them something worthwhile, productive, beautiful, and beneficial to themselves, others, and me. Where they had walked there followed fertility and weed-free land. Where they had lived there remained beauty and abundance.
The question now comes to me pointedly: Is this true of my life? Do I leave a blessing and benediction behind me?” (Keller, P. (2019). A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23: Discovering God’s Love for You. Zondervan.)
REFLECT
Where in your life do you most need to remember that God’s goodness and love are pursuing you, surrounding you, and going before you?
When you think about what you leave behind in your home, workplace, school, church, or community, would you say people experience more peace, encouragement, and life because you were there?
What is one “messy” part of your life that you would rather hide, but Jesus may want to redeem and use to bring restoration to others?
PRAYER
Jesus, my Good Shepherd, thank You that Your goodness and love pursue me, surround me, and go before me. Help me trust that I am never alone, even in valleys, battles, blessings, or messy places. Let Your goodness and love sink deeply into my heart so they can flow out of my life. Redeem what is broken, use what feels messy, and help me leave behind blessing, encouragement, peace, and hope wherever You send me. Amen.
TAKE ACTION TODAY
Today, pay attention to what you leave behind. In one place God sends you today—your home, workplace, neighborhood, school, group, or church—intentionally leave behind something life-giving: an encouraging word, a prayer, an act of service, a humble apology, a generous gift, or a moment where you build a relationship, share a burden, or share Jesus.