The final word of Psalm 23 is “Forever”, just one word but it is not isolated from the rest of what has just been said, his confidence is that he “will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.” This confidence instills Hope, Assurance, Peace, and rejoicing! Forever from the Hebrew focuses on a length like a space of time with an associated term, a marginal reading says “to the end of my days”, literally “For length of days”, from which we derive the idea that he was purposefully pursuing to live in the shepherds presence daily, perhaps even to dwell in, or at least frequent the temple where His presence dwelt! But I see here a prophetic overtone reaching into His eternal presence. In the New Testament the Apostle writes in 1 Corinthians 15:19 “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” KJV. He again writes in 2 Corinthians 5:1 “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” Again he writes in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 concerning our being gathered together unto Him “And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” Jesus expressed His desire for this in His prayer in John 17:24 saying “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am.”And in John 14:2-3 He promised His disciples “…if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself; that where I am there you may be also.” This, based on the unchangeableness of God’s promise, forms the basis of “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul…” Hebrews 6:19
The blessed hope
By Rose Hill
I rejoice in the hope God gives,
That forever my spirit with Him lives!
For this blessed hope I’m so glad,
No reason ever to be sad.
Unless otherwise noted Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version copyright …1982 by Thomas Nelson Co. used by permission.