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Surely...

            Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (NIV)

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. (KJV)

Psalm (23:6)

The differences between the New International Version and the King James Version provide a good focus today. The NIV says, “your goodness” while the King James says only “goodness.” The NIV says, “love” and the King James says “mercy.”

What is the difference between “your goodness” and “goodness”? I think David’s life illustrates that nicely. King Saul followed David to kill him. That wasn’t goodness following David, but God used it for good. It wasn’t goodness that was standing with David on the rooftop watching Bathsheba bathe. But God worked that out for good, too. God punished David for things he did wrong, and I doubt David thought the punishments (like the death of his son or a plague on his people) good, even if they were right and good for him. In other words, not everything around us is good just because God’s goodness follows us all the days of our lives. God uses things that aren’t good to bring about what is, but that doesn’t make the things good.

Secondly, what is the difference between “mercy” and “love”? What is mercy? According to the dictionary, it is “compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm.” In other words, mercy actually separates or emphasizes the distance between the one showing mercy and the one to whom it is shown. It is an act of power involving the showing of kindness to which the recipient is not owed or deserving. This isn’t to say that mercy isn’t a good thing. Please don’t make assumptions on my meaning more than has been said.

On the other hand, love is about bringing together, removing the distance between two people. In other words, while love will require mercy, it requires a movement beyond mercy. The passage in which God tells Moses that He won’t wipe out the Israelites, but He will no longer go with them is an example of mercy. Moses prays for God’s love for them instead, and God grants the request. He resumes His relationship with them.

In The Allure of Gentleness, Professor Willard says that hell is “the best God can do for some people.” Hell is mercy – the removal of Himself (to the extent that such is possible) from the existence of a person who rejects Him.  Love is heaven – the coming together of God and man in relationship.

Mercy does not necessarily include love, but love does necessarily include mercy, and then goes beyond mercy.  And the word used in the Old Testament that is used in this verse (and which is the reason for the two different translations) is hesed which is sometimes translated, lovingkindness. It might be said to be the uniting of mercy and love.

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