It Starts Small

As we close this series we close on the second aspect of the Love of God in verse 6. First we learned about a love that pursues and now a love that welcomes.

“and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” (Psalm 23:6)

These words can be understood in two ways. If you are using the ESV Bible you will see a footnote that says, “for length of days.” I will dwell in the house of the Lord “for length of days.”

David says in Psalm 27:

I have asked one thing from the Lord;
it is what I desire:
to dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
gazing on the beauty of the Lord
and seeking him in his temple.

Psalm 27:4

Because of God’s goodness, and because of God’s mercy, because the Lord leads me, restores me, guards me and sustains me, I will walk with Him, worship Him, love Him, and serve Him, all the days of my life.

But I think that David is looking beyond His days in this world. He already said, ‘Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and when David looks beyond the days of his life in this world he sees what comes after: The joy of eternity in the immediate presence of the Lord. And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

What will that be like? The first thing to say is that it will be very different from life in this world. When you dwell in the house of the Lord, faith will be turned to sight. Old battles will be over, old wounds will be healed. And God will wipe away all tears from your eyes.

You will see Christ in His glory. His kingdom will come. Death will be defeated. Evil will be overthrown. Heaven will come to earth and God will dwell with His people in a world of love where He will make everything new.

Dwelling in the house of the Lord will be incomparably better than the greatest joys any of us have known in this life. Your experience in heaven will be very different from your life in this world, but your relationship with Jesus will be the same.

When John was given a glimpse of what it will be like when all of God’s redeemed people are gathered in His presence, he says:

For the Lamb who is at the center of the throne
will shepherd them;
he will guide them to springs of the waters of life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Revelation 7:17

The relationship you have with Jesus in this world will continue forever. If He is your shepherd now, He will be your Shepherd then.

Notice who the Shepherd is: The Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd. Why will any of us be in heaven? There is only one reason: The Good Shepherd came to seek and to save the lost.

Here is what that means: The Good Shepherd became one with the sheep. He took our flesh. He came into our world. He shared our life. He became the Lamb: The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

John 1:29

He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth.
Like a lamb led to the slaughter
and like a sheep silent before her shearers,
he did not open his mouth.

Isaiah 53:7

But God raised Him up and exalted Him to the highest place. The Lamb of God is the Lion of Judah.

 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.

John 10:28

For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water… (Rev 7:17). Here is why eternal life will never be dull. The Good Shepherd will always be leading you into something new. Heaven will be a world of fresh discoveries and new delights.

And it will be Jesus Himself who leads you into them. Heaven will not be a world in which you meet Jesus and then go off to pursue your own thing. The Lamb will be your Shepherd! He will guide you to springs of living water (Rev 7:17). Jesus said to the Father:

“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they will see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the world’s foundation.

John 17:24

And when we are in the Father’s house, Jesus prayer will be answered. We will be with Him where He is We will see His glory: He will be our Shepherd, and He will guide us to streams of living water.

Thomas Boston speaks:

“the glorified shall walk eternally, seeing more and more of God…They may bring their vessels to this ocean every moment, and fill them with new waters.”

Human Nature in its Fourfold State, p. 302

And this joy will go on increasing! The joys you experience in life remain with you. They stay in your memory and you can continue to derive happiness from them. As years pass you have a growing pool of blessed memories from which you can draw, and every new joy in your life makes that reservoir deeper.

Think about what that will be like in eternity: One joy will be added to another as the Good Shepherd leads you into springs of living water.

Jonathan Edwards points out that the joys of heaven will accumulate.

“So, think about what that will be like when you have been in heaven for a million, million ages…To put what he says, simply, the more you know of God the more you will see of His beauty, and the more you see His beauty, the more you will love Him. And the more you love God the more happiness you will have in Him.”

Adapted from Jonathan Edwards, Works Vol. 2 p.618.

Friends, we are talking about unending and an increasing joy!

When we began this series, I set out two aims: To encourage and to entice you into a deeper meaning in the Words David was inspired to write.

My Encouragement:

The greatest blessing you can know in life is to be wholly owned by the Son of God. When the Lord is your Shepherd, you are able to say, He leads, me, He restores me, He guards me and He sustains me. Whatever happens in your work, your family, with your health or with your money, whatever happens in our country, if the Lord is your Shepherd, you will always be able to say, “Goodness and mercy all my life shall surely follow me; And in God’s house for evermore my dwelling-place shall be.” Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Enticed to Ponder:

What is your position if the Lord is not your shepherd?
What is your position if you choose to be your own shepherd?
Your own god?
What if you choose to be the captain of your own ship, the master of your own soul?

Then your reality will be something like this:

I am my own shepherd, and I will always want. Sin makes us restless.

It keeps us from lying down in green pastures.
It leads us beside troubled waters.
It ruins our soul.

Sin leads us to paths of unrighteousness which we pursue for our own sake. When we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will have great fear, for sin will be with us. Its guilt and its shame will haunt us.

Sin prepares a table before us in the presence of our friends. It promises much, but it always disappoints. And our cup is always empty.

Surely judgment and condemnation will follow us all the days of our life, and we shall dwell in the house of the lost forever.

Who wants to say that?
And if that’s your reality why should you stay there?

The Good Shepherd has come to seek and to save the lost. He gave Himself to you, and He calls you to follow Him. The greatest blessing you can know in life is to be wholly owned by the Son of God. When you can say, “The Lord is my Shepherd,” you will be able to say, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. “