“For the Lord in his mercy will lead them; he will lead them beside cool waters.” Isaiah 49:10 NLT

Our New Year promise came in six sections, so I plan to take a section each week over the next six weeks.

First of all, ‘For the Lord in his mercy.’ Where would any of us be without the mercy of God? We need His mercy at the beginning of our Christian walk. We need His mercy to recognise that we are a sinner who needs to be saved. We need Him amidst all the pitfalls along the way, when we are learning what He wants us to be and what is required of us. We need Him in our old age to give us strength to continue to walk beside Him.

The longer we are on the Christian road, the more aware of His mercy we become. As we realise our dependency on His mercy, the humbler we feel inside. If He had not had mercy upon us, then none of us could hold our heads high and walk on His paths of righteousness.

‘For the Lord in his mercy will lead them,’ He will show us where we are to walk. No one knows what tomorrow will hold. Perhaps it is just as well we cannot see what is around the corner, but He knows, and His mercy will lead us right through the dangers and difficulties and bring us to the next part of our journey.

‘He will lead them beside cool waters.’ There will come a day when our difficulties will be past, and He will lead us into delightful places filled with calmness and peace. The waters are not cold, but cool. They are deliciously refreshing for the child overwhelmed by the heat. They are not far off, unreachable by the topography of the landscape. He will lead us beside them until we can touch them and feel their coolness. The plural gives us the impression that they are not stagnant but living waters. They are not rushing at a tremendous pace, but they are gently moving, causing the soul to be refreshed.

In His mercy, He will lead us right beside those cool, calm, peaceful waters where we may bathe our souls in the goodness of God. Life will be quiet there. All sense of agitation and strain will pass, for the cooling waters will still our soul with His presence.

Let the cooling waters find their way into the depth of your being until you can recognise the hand of God has led you this year right here to this place, where you can enjoy the quiet.

‘His tracks take me to an oasis of peace near the quiet brook of bliss. That’s where he restores and revives my life.’ Psalm 23:2,3 TPT