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Welcome to the Daily Blade. The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

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All right. Finally, we're going to make it to the very end of Psalm 23, which has taken us two full weeks, but I hope and pray it's been worth it for you. It has been worth it for me to walk through once again. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his namesake. And even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will 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 anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

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Well, what is David talking about that? He shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Well, old Testament. People would think that he's talking about the temple, but that can't be possible. There's not even a temple anymore. That the Lord's temple was torn down in 70 AD. And that temple is not even the temple that David was in, because it had been torn down in 70 AD, and that temple is not even the temple that David was in, because it had been torn down and ransacked before.

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So what does it mean? That you shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. This means that you and I will be in the very presence of the Almighty God forever and ever. We call that heaven. In actuality, at some points we'll get into this. Heaven is actually a holding pattern until the consummation of all things, where God creates a new heaven and a new earth, and then we will live face-to-face with him. But for time's sake, we will just call this heaven that you and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord, with God in heaven forever. Now, how does that happen? How in the world can you do that? Well, here's how you can do that Because goodness and mercy has been following you all the days of your life. Is the person that gets to dwell in the house of the Lord? Is the person that goes to heaven the person who has earned it? Absolutely not.

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Look at the writer of the 23rd Psalm. David has disqualified himself from being in the presence of God over and over and over. We've talked about it several times. But David slept with a woman who was not his wife. David impregnated this woman and then David had that woman's husband killed on the front lines of battle. And yet this man can say with great confidence surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. How shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. How? Because goodness and mercy are not just two adjectives to describe some kind of peaceful, easy feeling he has, but goodness and mercy were personified in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

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And listen, if you were a follower of Jesus, great praise God for that. But I want to give you an idea. Do you realize that Jesus has been following you all the days of your life, that Jesus has tracked you down? You didn't choose him, he chose you, that he pre-loved you, he pre-knew you, he has elected you, he has chosen you and he has adopted you.

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And Jesus is the essence of what goodness is. Jesus lived a perfect life, he fulfilled every promise and prophecy of Scripture in the Old Testament and then, instead of standing above you in judgment and saying you owe me, instead of that because of his mercy. Mercy is when we don't get what we deserve, and what you and I deserve is you and I deserve to be punished for our sin and instead, by grace, jesus says I will make that payment for you. And this one, who is good and merciful, goes to the cross. And as they nail him to that cross with his hands and his feet, the first thing that he does on this cross is good and merciful. He pushes up on his nail pierced feet and he says Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And the last thing that he says on this cross is tetelestai. It literally is translated paid in full. First century archaeologists have found bank records and when a bank loan was paid in full, they would stamp the word tetelestai on it. That means this debt has been paid.

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When Jesus Christ pushed up on his nail pierced feet and says tetelestai, for anyone who would believe, you would receive the full payment of your sin. Not only would that be a reality, but you would be adopted into the family of God and you would receive the righteousness of Christ credited or imputed to you. Is there a thing that God could do that is more good or more merciful than that. This last verse is prophetic about Jesus and salvation. Surely goodness and mercy, who Jesus is the personification of goodness and mercy, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me. And when you follow Jesus, you put your faith in Jesus Christ. Then this next statement is true of you he follows you all the days of your life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever, not by anything that I have done, but by the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. May that be true of you.

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Amen. Thank you for listening to today's episode Before you go. If you want to help equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review. Stay sharp.