At the end of Psalm 23, Psalmist David is really raving about the benefits of living under the care of a “Good Shepherd.”
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. Psalm 23:6
Goodness and mercy, follow me?
What?
The Old Testament was originally written mostly in Hebrew. In it’s eventual translation to English (via Greek and Latin) something got lost. Peeking at the Hebrew version (along with an on-line Hebrew lexicon for translation!) we see that the word “follow” in this case was “radish,” meaning to pursue or to chase!
Can you see it?
God’s goodness and loving kindness, actively pursuing you!
Bless your child with these words, saying their name and…
God’s loving kindness is chasing after you.
Don’t you wish that for your kids? I sure do!
Click on a box if you would like to…
Satisfy your curiosity about why you should bless your child.
View other suggested blessings.
p.s. In the Games Workshop this month as our Cool Disciples have studied Psalm 23, they’ve played a relay race game called “Follow me to the Lord’s House.” Here are team members getting ready to race to the Lord’s House, dressed as a sheep with “goodness and mercy jingle bells” around their ankles! Fun!
Photo credits:
Good Shepherd by waldryano.
Scene of a chase by Lance Shields.
Both photos licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY 2.0).
Bottom photo copyright Robert Langdon from our program at Green Wood. Used with permission.
Family Faith Companion 
Thanks for the link to the Hebrew lexicon. Will come in handy.