Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” ~ Psalm 23:6. The reality that God loves us unconditionally is often described in the Bible by one word: “MERCY”. This word is found 366 times in the Bible, so for every day of the year. God knows that we need His mercy every day. 280 of these references to the mercy of God are found in the Old Testament.
We associate God’s mercies with King David — “the mercies of David” in the same way that we associate “the faith of Abraham” with God’s promise to him of the land He would give to his descendants. Each of us is associated with one of the attributes of God, and in David’s case it is His mercies.
My favourite is the last verse of the 23rd Psalm where David wrote: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” Scholars tell us that “follow” can also be translated “pursue.” It can also be translated as “accompany”. Which fits you best? David believed that the unconditional love of God pursued him all the days of his life. How good is this! That God not only loves us unconditionally but pursues us with it all the days of our life. We are not pursued by oppression or depression or condemnation, but by Goodness and Mercy!
Does that mean He loves us even while He is correcting us? Absolutely! The author of the book of Hebrews tells us that if He did not chasten us, we would be like illegitimate children and not His sons and daughters (Hebrews 12:5-11). His correction simply confirms His loving care for us.
So, when we are experiencing problems, instead of thinking that He no longer loves us, we know that the opposite is true: that He is pursuing us with goodness and mercy! “For you, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive; and plentiful in mercy to all those who call upon you.” ~ Psalm 86:5. God is not only leading you but also ‘has your back’ — so keep trusting Him as you keep moving forward — remembering that we live in time, but God is the Eternal.