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

Psalm 23:6 ESV

Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life. I’m back home in the house of God for the rest of my life.

Psalm 23:6 MSG

This used to be one of the many Christianese verses for me until I read this post by Ann Voskamp that had me staring at the screen long after I was done.

I started to really comprehend what it means for goodness and mercy…beauty and love…for God Himself to pursue me.

Every day I wake up His gifts are right there waiting to go where I go and be where I am turning my life right side up in the very best of ways.

It’s not so much something I need to keep passively praying for but a gift I need to actively receive each day.

There are many prayers God has stopped me from making and this is one of them. His goodness and mercy are already a given. But like with any gift, I must open it and make use of it for it to do me any good.

Now, when I think about this verse, when I pray it over my life and the lives of others, it’s a declaration of a promise made full. It’s a thanksgiving prayer saying to God – I receive of your goodness and mercy that is in pursuit of me this day.