Psalm 23:6- ” Surely your goodness and mercy (unfailing love) will pursue me all the days of my life”.

Have you ever been followed? No matter where you went, the other party was shadowing your every move. What about the term ‘being pursued’? What does it bring to mind? Pursued often has a negative connotation. Normally when you hear that someone is being pursued, the image of relentless tracking or stalking comes to mind. Today’s meditation focuses on pursue from the line “Surely your goodness and mercy shall pursue me all the days of my life”, taken from the well known Psalm 23.

Psalm 23 was written by David, a man after God’s own’s heart. David was gifted with multiple roles: shepherd, musician, worshipper, giant killer, warrior, friend, husband, stronghold keeper, leader of those in trouble, debt and discontented, father and king. Each role taught David how to operate in different spheres. In particular, he learnt the skill which was a double edged sword, that is, the art of how to pursue and how to avoid being caught off-guard while being pursued. In other words, he became a pursuit expert. Let’s explore a few instances of this.

First, when David comes on the public scene in 1 Samuel 16, he was God’s chosen but did not know it. He had to be pursued. Samuel’s words were ” Send for him at once…we will not sit down to eat until he arrives”. This public pursuit led to David’s call and anointing with a mighty endowment of the Spirit of the Lord. However, this public demonstration was a reflection of what God was doing in David long before this moment. 1 Samuel 13: 14 tells us that God had sought a man after his own heart and chose him to be king. This was even before David was anointed.! Can God say that of us? What it tells us is that while God was pursuing David, David was privately pursuing God’s heart prompted by God’s Spirit. Before God pursues us publicly, he relentlessly pursues us privately to make us people of his own heart! Are we open to being publicly and privately pursued by God? Are we pursuing God in the privacy of our space or do we only focus on public pursuit? God is pursuing us today. Are we going to answer the call?

Second, David was pursued to serve in the king’s court. Prior to this, David was serving his father as a shepherd. As a shepherd, he was pursuing sheep and predators, tacking all the challenges that came his way. However, in addition, to his profession, David excelled as a talented harp player, was brave and strong, had good judgement, was a fine looking young man…and the Lord was with him (1 Samuel 16:18). These assets prepared him to be pursued for the most unlikely assignment…working at the palace. On arrival at the palace, he excelled there too by: providing spirit remedy music for Saul, becoming the best friend of Jonathan the prince and became one of Saul’s armor bearers. Wow!! What about us ? What are we doing with the talents that God has given us? Are we excelling in our assets? Are we prepared to be pursued to serve as God’s representatives in unexpected places?

Third, David was not only pursued but pursued giants like Goliath for defying the armies of the living God. He did this with only A SLINGSHOT, A STONE AND THE KNOWLEDGE THAT THE LORD WILL SAVE HIM. Everything in David’s life prepared him for this moment. While everyone was running from the 9 feet giant problem and even actively discouraged him, David knew that he was thoroughly equipped for the fight as God’s goodness and mercy constantly tracked his every move and gave him courage. Notice these words and memorize them “…I come to you in the name of the Lord Almighty…Today the Lord will conquer you…everyone will know that the Lord does not need weapons to rescue his people. It is his battle, not ours”. Alleluia! What words! The Lord does not need weapons to rescue us! What about us? Are we facing giants today? Do we realise that the battle is not ours, it is the Lord’s? Are we willing to pursue the giants that God has assigned for us to conquer with what appears to be limited resources? Are we being pursued by the twin powers goodness and mercy in our every move? Get ready everyone as God does not need weapons to rescue us.

Fourth, David was pursued by Saul in his younger years and his son in his latter years. Unlike the other three previous instances, this pursuing was the most painful. People David loved were trying to kill him. This was hard core tracking so David had to constantly be on the run. During both periods of pursuit he had to learn how: to survive in tough places, to lead the discontented and to create strongholds to avoid capture. This type of tracking was relentless and took a mental toll on him. David had to get encouragement from others like Jonathan (1 Samuel 23:16-17) as well as strengthen himself in the Lord his God (1 Samuel 30:6). In the early days, David even had to learn to get and provide support and training for mighty men (2 Samuel 23) that were so skilled that they broke through the enemy lines just to draw water from the well in Bethlehem, in response to David’s longing. These hard experiences of pursuit provided the many lyrics of the songs of praise that David wrote in honour to God, one of which is found in 2 Samuel 22. Our turn! How do we respond when we are being pursued in tough places which force us to run? Do we quit or give up? Do we know how to strengthen ourselves in the Lord? Do we support and teach those who are being similarly pursued to cope? Let’s take courage.

Finally, as we have discovered, pursuit was very important to David’s development, his relationship with God and others. Here he learned that God’s goodness and mercy would pursue him all the days of his life. He discovered that whether or not he was pursuing or being pursued, God would never leave him nor forsake him. David had to gain strength from the Lord and provide strength for others. What about us? Are we ready to pursue and be pursued for the kingdom of God?

Lord, we come to you today, seeking to be people after your own heart. As we learn the art of being pursued and pursuit, help us to lean on you, knowing your goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives. Help us to help those who need strengthening in their times of pursuit. In Jesus’ name. Amen.