Psalm 23:6 NKJV
6
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.
Goodness and Mercy All My Days
My Notes
David’s confidence in Psalm 23:6 is rooted in experience. The care of the divine Host brought him goodness and mercy, and he lived with the faithful expectation that these blessings would follow him—not just occasionally, but all the days of his life.
These two companions—goodness and mercy—are like royal attendants, always present, always near. Just as earthly kings and princes are never without their guard, so the believer walks with these twin guardians through every season: the bright days and the dark ones, the feasting and the fasting, the warmth of summer and the chill of winter.
The phrase “I will dwell in the house of the Lord” is a recurring theme in the Psalms, expressing the psalmist’s deepest longing. Consider:
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“One thing have I desired of the Lord… that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.” — Psalm 27:4
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“Lord, I have loved the habitation of Your house.” — Psalm 26:8
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“Blessed is the man… that he may dwell in Your courts.” — Psalm 65:4
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“Blessed are those who dwell in Your house.” — Psalm 84:4
To dwell in God’s house is to live in His presence. While here on earth, we are children at home with our Father. The whole world becomes His sanctuary. And when we ascend to glory, we do not change company—we simply move to the upper room of the same house, dwelling with Him forever.
David’s assurance was not abstract—it was built on a lifetime of divine favor. He recalled how God had:
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Fed him in green pastures
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Led him beside still waters
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Restored his soul
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Guided him in paths of righteousness
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Strengthened him in danger
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Preserved him through the valley of death
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Blessed him in the presence of enemies
These mercies, experienced in many ways and at many times, persuaded David of God’s enduring love. He knew that what God had begun, He would continue. For whom God loves, He loves to the end.
And this love is not sporadic—it is constant. “All the days of my life,” David says. As sure as the sunrise, as fresh as morning manna (Lamentations 3:22–23), God’s goodness and mercy are renewed daily.
Summary
Psalm 23:6 expresses the unwavering assurance that God’s goodness and mercy will persist throughout one’s life. These divine attributes are likened to guardian angels accompanying the believer constantly, providing both spiritual and material sustenance. David confirms a profound desire to dwell in God’s presence forever, signifying not just a hope for eternal life but a commitment to live in a manner pleasing to God throughout earthly existence. This passage reflects deep gratitude for past blessings and a hopeful anticipation for future mercies, encapsulating a believer’s relationship with the Lord as one of security, love, and faithfulness.
Note: the Hebrew word for Mercy in this verse is: Strong’s Number H2617 matches the Hebrew חֶסֶד (ḥeseḏ),
which occurs 251 times in 241 verses in the WLC Hebrew.
It is also written sometimes as
חֶסֶד cheçed, kheh’-sed; from H2616; kindness; by implication (towards God) piety; rarely (by opposition) reproof, or (subjectively) beauty:—favour, good deed(-liness, -ness), kindly, (loving-) kindness, merciful (kindness), mercy, pity, reproach, wicked thing. Sometimes it is pronounced hesed, it appears
……..Bill
Commentaries
Charles Spurgeon
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” This is a fact as indisputable as it is encouraging, and therefore a heavenly verily, or “surely,” is set as a seal upon it. This sentence may be read, “only goodness and mercy,” for there shall be unmingled mercy in our history. These twin guardian angels will always be with me at my back and my beck. Just as when great princes go abroad, they must not go unattended, so it is with the believer. Goodness and mercy follow him always—“all the days of his life“—the black days as well as the bright days, the days of fasting as well as the days of feasting, the dreary days of winter as well as the bright days of summer. Goodness supplies our needs, and mercy blots out our sins.
“And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” “A servant abideth not in the house for ever, but the son abideth ever.” While I am here I will be a child at home with my God; the whole world shall be his house to me; and when I ascend into the upper chamber, I shall not change my company, nor even change the house; I shall only go to dwell in the upper storey of the house of the Lord for ever.
May God grant us grace to dwell in the serene atmosphere of this most blessed Psalm!
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Enduring Word
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: The host’s care brought the goodness and mercy of God to David, and he lived in the faithful expectation of it continuing all the days of his life. (Guzik)
i. “Mercy is the covenant-word rendered ‘steadfast love’ elsewhere…. Together with goodness it suggests the steady kindness and support that one can count on in the family or between firm friends.” (Kidner)
ii. “We are well escorted, with a Shepherd in front and these twin angels behind!” (Meyer)
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever: The psalm ends with the calmest assurance that he would enjoy the presence of the LORD forever – both in his days on this earth and beyond. (Guzik)
i. “In the Old Testament world, to eat and drink at someone’s table created a bond of mutual loyalty, and could be the culminated token of a covenant…. So to be God’s guest is to be more than an acquaintance, invited for a day. It is to live with Him.” (Kidner)
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Albert Barnes
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me – God will bestow them upon me. This is the “result” of what is stated in the previous verses. The effect of God’s merciful dealings with him had been to lead his mind to the assurance that God would always be his shepherd and friend; that He would never leave him to want.
All the days of my life – Through all its changes; in every variety of situation; until I reach its close. Life indeed would end, and he does not venture to conjecture when that would be; but as long as life should continue, he felt confidently assured that everything needful for him would be bestowed upon him. The language is the utterance of a heart overflowing with joy and gratitude in the recollection of the past, and full of glad anticipation (as derived from the experience of the past) in regard to the future. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever – Margin, as in Hebrew: “to length of days.” The expression, I think, does not refer to eternity or to heaven, but it is parallel with the former expression “All the days of my life;” that is, he would dwell in the house of the Lord as long as he lived – with the idea added here, which was not in the former member of the sentence, that his life would be long, or that he hoped and anticipated that he would live long on the earth. The phrase used here, “I will dwell in the house of the Lord,” is one that is several times employed in the Psalms as indicative of the wish of the psalmist. Thus, in Psalms 27:4, “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.” Psalms 26:8, “lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honor dwelleth.” Psalms 65:4, “blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts.” Psalms 84:4, “blessed are they that dwell in thy house.” (Compare also Psalms 87:1, Psalms 87:3,10). The “language” here is obviously taken from the employment of those who had their habitation near the tabernacle, and afterward the temple, whose business it was to attend constantly on the service of God, and to minister in his courts. We are not to suppose of David that he anticipated such a residence in or near the tabernacle or the house of God; but the meaning is, that he anticipated and desired a life as if he dwelt there, and as if he was constantly engaged in holy occupations. His life would be spent as if in the constant service of God; his joy and peace in religion would be as if he were always within the immediate dwelling-place of the Most High. This expresses the desire of a true child of God. He wishes to live as if he were always engaged in solemn acts of worship and occupied in holy things; he desires peace and joy in religion as if he were constantly in the place where God makes his abode, and allowed to partake of his smiles and friendship. In a very important sense it is his privilege so to live even on earth; it will certainly be his privilege so to live in heaven: and, full of grateful exultation and joy, every child of God may adopt this language as his own, and say confidently, “Goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life here, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever,” for heaven, where God dwells, will be his eternal home.
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John Gill
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me,…. Either the free grace, love, favor, and mercy of God in Christ, which endures continually, and is always the same from everlasting to everlasting; or the effects of it; and these either temporal good things, which flow from the goodness and mercy of God, and not the merits of men; and which are in great mercy and loving kindness bestowed on his people, and which follow them: they do not anxiously seek after them; but seeking the kingdom of God and his righteousness, these are added to them, they trusting in the Lord, and he caring for them: or spiritual good things, which arise from the mere grace and mercy of God; such as the blessings of the covenant, the sure mercies of David, the discoveries and instances of the love of God, and the provisions of his house, which follow them, being undeserving of them; and even when they have backslidden from the Lord, and in times of distress, when his grace is sufficient for them; and of all this the psalmist had a comfortable assurance, depending upon the promise of God, arguing from the blessings he had already bestowed, and from the constant care he takes of his people, having in view his unchangeableness and faithfulness, the firmness of his covenant, and the irreversibleness of the blessings of it: the words may be rendered “only goodness and mercy,” nothing but mere mercy and kindness; for though afflictions do attend the children of God, yet these are in mercy and love; there is no fury in the Lord against them; there is nothing comes in wrath to them, throughout the whole course of their lives; wherefore it is added,
all the days of my life; the mercies of God are new every morning, they continue all the day long; temporal goodness abides as long as life lasts, and ends with it; and spiritual blessings are for ever, they are the gifts of God, which are without repentance;
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever; which may denote his constant attendance on the public worship of God, of which he had been deprived in time past, being driven out from it, but now he enjoyed it, and believed he ever should; or it may design his being a member of the church of God, and a pillar in the house and temple of the Lord, that should never go out; see Revelation 3:12; or it may regard the assurance he had of dwelling in the house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens, Christ’s Father’s house, in which are many mansions, sure dwellings, and quiet resting places for his people, and that to all eternity. The Targum interprets it of the house of the sanctuary; and Kimchi expounds the whole verse in a petitionary way, “may goodness and mercy,” &c.
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Matthew Henry
How confidently he counts upon the continuance of God’s favours, v. 6. He had said (v. 1), I shall not want; but now he speaks more positively, more comprehensively: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. His hope rises, and his faith is strengthened, by being exercised.
How resolutely he determines to cleave to God and to his duty. We read the last clause as David’s covenant with God: “I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever (as long as I live), and I will praise him while I have any being.” We must dwell in his house as servants, that desired to have their ears bored to the door-post, to serve him forever. If God’s goodness to us be like the morning light, which shines more and more to the perfect day, let not ours to him be like the morning cloud and the early dew that passeth away. Those that would be satisfied with the fatness of God’s house must keep close to the duties of it.
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Miscellaneous Comments
Mark David’s resolute persuasion, and consider how he came unto it, namely, by experience of God’s favor at sundry times, and after sundry manners. For before he set down this resolution, he numbered up divers benefits received of the Lord; that he fed him in green pastures, and led him by the refreshing waters of God’s word; that he restores him and leads him in the paths of righteousness; that he strengthened him in great dangers, even of death, and preserveth him; that in despite of his enemies, he enricheth him with many benefits. By means of all the mercies of God bestowed on him, he came to be persuaded of the continuance of the favor of God towards him.
—William Perkins.
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Cross-References
Psalm 27:4 (KJV)
4 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after;
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.
Psalm 65:4 (KJV)
4 Blessed is the man whom thou choosest,
And causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts:
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house,
Even of thy holy temple.
Psalm 84:10 (KJV)
10 For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand.
I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God,
Than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
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Closing Thoughts
The LORD is my shepherd: In one sense, this was not unusual. There are other references to this analogy between the deity and his followers in ancient Middle Eastern cultures. “In all Eastern thought, and very definitely in Biblical literature, a king is a shepherd.” (Morgan)
ii. It is also a familiar idea throughout the Bible that the LORD is a shepherd to His people. The idea begins as early as the Book of Genesis, where Jacob called the LORD the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel (Genesis 49:24).
· In Psalm 28:9 David invited the LORD to shepherd the people of Israel, and to bear them up forever. Psalm 80:1 also looks to the LORD as the Shepherd of Israel, who would lead Joseph like a flock.
· Ecclesiastes 12:11 speaks of the words of the wise, which are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd.
· Isaiah 40:11 tells us that the LORD will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm. Micah 7:14 invites the LORD to Shepherd Your people with Your staff…As in days of old.
· Zechariah 13:7 speaks of the Messiah as the Shepherd who will be struck, and the sheep scattered (quoted in Matthew 26:31).
· In John 10:11 and 10:14, Jesus clearly spoke of Himself as the good shepherd, who gives His life for the sheep and who can say, “I know My sheep, and am known by My own.” Hebrews 13:20 speaks of Jesus as that great Shepherd of the sheep, 1 Peter 2:25 calls Jesus the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls, and 1 Peter 5:4 calls Jesus the Chief Shepherd.
· The idea of Jesus as the Good Shepherd was precious to early Christians. One of the more common motifs in catacomb paintings was Jesus as a shepherd, with a lamb carried across His shoulders.
Psalm 23 – The Lord the Shepherd of His People
1
The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
2
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
3
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
4
Yea, 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.
5
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
6
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.
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