Posts Tagged "Surely goodness and mercy"

“Your beauty and love chase after me…”

Posted by Pat Stewart on Jul 7, 2013 in My Blog, Think About This | 4 comments

There are many translations of the Bible, many versions where wording is used to speak the Word of God in such a way that it resonates with different people, reaching different souls.  Some prefer to keep with the King James Version while others like the New International Version or American Standard.  There’s also the Good News Translation, the Revised Standard Version and then, there is the Message Bible. I grew up reading and learning from the King James Version and one of my favorite scriptures is in Psalm 23, verse 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 .”   What a blessed promise that is!  To me that one promise from God stands me so firmly in His camp and I always find myself singing His praise and Hallelujahs around His campfire. Not until the other day (Thank you, Julie Estes) had I read the translation for that same scripture from the Message Translation.  “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.”  In plain language, more contemporary format, perhaps, the words extend that same promise from God but in a way that seems literal, everyday language to which anyone can surely relate. I like the thought of God’s beauty and love chasing me…running after me around the corners I turn, along the various paths I pursue, and God is THERE!  He wants to be there for each of us and He promises to do so.  Did you play the game TAG when you were young?  One person is IT and runs after others hoping to TAG someone else to be IT.  In Psalm 23, verse 6, God is always IT.  God is the one running frantically to catch up with us, to capture us and make us His.  He has prepared a place, a dwelling place, for us to live with Him throughout Eternity.  Chase on, Dear Lord, and know that I am so very...