I’d like to read one last passage of Scripture - Psalm 23:

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.

Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

The last time I visited with _____ - before I prayed with her for the last time - I read Psalm 23 to her.  Psalm 23 is probably the most familiar psalm.  Pretty much everyone can identify with what David writes here.  Its a psalm that speaks of God’s mercy.  And we all need God’s mercy.  True?

Its hard to imagine the kind of relationship with God that David describes in this psalm.  God - the Almighty God of creation - who speaks all things into being simply by the power of His word - God who is without sin - who is holy - completely separate from His creation - hard to imagine God being our shepherd.  That’s intimate.

God makes us to lie down in green pastures.  Leads us beside quiet waters.  Restores our souls.  Even when we walk through the worst this world has to offer God doesn’t abandon us.  “Well, that looks pretty bad.  Kind of a shadow of death type of experience.   Good luck.”

God is with us.  Protects us.  Guides us.  In every way that we need a loving God - God demonstrates His love towards us.  That’s mercy.

The last part of Psalm 23 is especially important to us this morning.  “Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life..”

Goodness is happiness, joy, prosperity - the best of the best - an inner sense of wellbeing - of realizing God’s blessing - that just overflows - fills every part of who we are and has to spill out.  The cup is full.

Lovingkindness speaks directly of God’s mercy.

David writes in Psalm 103:

For as high as the heavens are above the earth - as high as is possible -  so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him - who will give their lives to Him - As far as the east is from the west - which is as far as it gets - so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Because of our sin - our rebellion against God - God has every right to blow us away.  Poof - instant hell fire and brimstone.  Or, poof no more  of anything.  But, he doesn’t.  Instead Jesus came and died on the cross - took our place - our penalty - gave His life for ours - so that we can have our sins forgiven - so that we can enter into this amazing relationship with God - who is our Shepherd.

Paul writes in Ephesians 2 - verses 4 and 5:  “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).”

When I would visit _____ we would talk about a whole lot of things.  Her quilt.  Her reading.  What she was reading in the Bible.  About what it was like growing up on a farm.  She told me all kinds of stories.

In the last couple years those stories got harder to tell.  Towards the end of her time here she wasn’t able to say a whole lot.  But, when I would ask her about her relationship with Jesus - I’d ask, “Are you trusting Jesus?”  She’d always say, “Yes.  Of course.  Who else can we trust?”

Even as recent as last week - when saying anything was difficult - I asked, “Are you trusting Jesus?”  She nodded and tried to form the words.  “Yes.  Of course.”

_____ knew the goodness of God - even in difficult circumstances - she knew He was blessing her - caring for her.  _____ knew God’s lovingkindness - knew His mercy - His salvation in Jesus - the removal of her sins - because she was trusting in Jesus as her Savior.

David writes, “and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” 

Dwelling means taking up permanent residence - becoming family.  We experience God’s goodness and lovingkindness during these days of our lives - and - we get to live with God forever.

He Apostle John was given a glimpse of that dwelling.  He writes in Revelation that there’s going to be a new heaven and new earth that’s better than any place here on this earth.  More beautiful - more awesome - a place of great joy - peace.

There’s a river that runs through that dwelling - the river of life - refreshing - renewing water - the purist crystal clear water - coming right from the throne of God.  We’ll be able to see God - right there on His throne and drink from that river.  God’s presence - God’s glory - will shine so there’s no night - no darkness - no sin.

All the crud of this world will have been wiped away.  The baggage of sin that pulls us down each day of our lives - that entangles us - that works against us - sin will be no more.  Our relationships will be free of the struggles we have now.

There’ll be no more death.  When we get to heaven we’re going to get new bodies.  Bodies that aren’t subject to disease - that don’t wear out and break down.

God Himself will wipe away our tears.  Wipe them away for good.  No more mourning - no crying - no pain - all the physical stuff that drags us down - all the those things will have died with this world.

Are you looking forward to being there?  Amen?  That’s where _____ is.

We - who are followers of Jesus Christ - who - through Jesus - have given our lives to God - like _____ - we can say, “Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”