You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

Psalm 23:5-6

Speaking directly to the Lord our Shepherd in these final two verses, the Psalmist refers to God’s amazing provision for His people in the face of the trials and hardships that are faced in every life in this world of ours. None of us sail through life without problems; none of us gets a free ride. Yet even in the face of our enemies, the Lord provides all we need. In the midst of hard times, we sometimes forget that, but when we look beyond our circumstances, there He is; He never lets us down.

I really appreciate the last verse; it sums up our relationships with our Shepherd in a wonderful way. Just the notion of being followed around by goodness and mercy sets the imagination free to experience the wonder of His presence. Even so, most of the time when I look around me, I do not see goodness and mercy− but think for a moment. Who embodies both goodness and mercy?

Exactly! It’s Jesus, our Good Shepherd who is always with us, in times both good and bad, in times when we feel worthy of His presence, and when we do not.

We are never alone in this life, nor will we ever be alone through eternity, for we dwell in His house forever.

I don’t know about anyone else, but all of the sudden, today isn’t looking all that bad.