Psalm 22:6

And thy mercy will follow me all the days of my life. And that I may dwell in the house of the Lord unto length of days. (Psalm 22:6 DR)

As the Psalmist concludes this Psalm about the lovingkindness of the Good Shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ, he now inverts the perspective of the figure in a subtle way. In the previous passages he has been describing how the shepherd cares for the sheep, seven favors that are provided:

• rich pasture (“a place of pasture”)

• pure water (“waters of refreshments”)

• bring back the strays (“converted my soul”)

• brought through passages (“led me on paths of justice”)

• protected from enemies (“midst of the shadow of death”)

• supported when tired and weary (“thy rod and thy staff, they have comforted me”)

• cured when sick (“prepared a table”)

In each of these actions the shepherd has the initiative, and in theological terms this is known as prevenient grace, or grace that goes before or precedes a subsequent effect. The word “prevenient” comes from the Latin prævenientem, with the prefix præ- meaning “before” and the word venire meaning “to come.” In English this seems to have been originally a theological word developed from the Latin to give expression to this theological concept. (Online Etymological Dictionary, prevenient.)

This prevenient grace is, according to St. Thomas, grace which is prior to its effect. This grace “prevents” us, which—in archaic English—is derived from prevenient, and thus means “goes before” or “comes before,” rather than the more colloquial sense of “keeping from happening.” In the sed contra St. Thomas makes reference to this passage in Psalm 22 to develop the distinction between prevenient and subsequent grace:

On the contrary, God's grace is the outcome of His mercy. Now both are said in Psalm 58:11: “His mercy shall prevent me,” and again, Psalm 22:6: “Thy mercy will follow me.” Therefore grace is fittingly divided into prevenient and subsequent. (ST, I.II., Q. 111., A. 3.)

He goes on to further flesh out this distinction, which arises from the analysis of the grace in respect to its operation:

As grace is divided into operating and cooperating, with regard to its diverse effects, so also is it divided into prevenient and subsequent, howsoever we consider grace. Now there are five effects of grace in us: of these, the first is, to heal the soul; the second, to desire good; the third, to carry into effect the good proposed; the fourth, to persevere in good; the fifth, to reach glory.

And hence grace, inasmuch as it causes the first effect in us, is called prevenient with respect to the second, and inasmuch as it causes the second, it is called subsequent with respect to the first effect. And as one effect is posterior to this effect, and prior to that, so may grace be called prevenient and subsequent on account of the same effect viewed relatively to divers others.

And this is what Augustine says (De Natura et Gratia XXXI): “It is prevenient, inasmuch as it heals, and subsequent, inasmuch as, being healed, we are strengthened; it is prevenient, inasmuch as we are called, and subsequent, inasmuch as we are glorified.” (ST, I.II., Q. 111., A. 3.)

Thus, while prevenient grace and subsequent grace are in essence the same grace, they have different effects dependent on the object of that grace. The grace that is poured into the soul prior to conversion enables faith—what St. Augustine calls “being healed,” whereas the grace of sanctification brings about the increase in virtue and leads to eternal life, what he terms being “glorified.”

This conceptual distinction in grace is necessary to avoid the theological errors of Pelagianism that obviate the need for grace in conversion, as well as those of systems such as Calvinism which deny the cooperation of the will. The Council of Trent precisely explains the way in which grace accomplishes justification:

The Synod furthermore declares, that in adults, the beginning of the said Justification is to be derived from the prevenient grace of God, through Jesus Christ, that is to say, from His vocation, whereby, without any merits existing on their parts, they are called; that so they, who by sins were alienated from God, may be disposed through His quickening and assisting grace, to convert themselves to their own justification, by freely assenting to and co-operating with that said grace: in such sort that, while God touches the heart of man by the illumination of the Holy Ghost, neither is man himself utterly without doing anything while he receives that inspiration, forasmuch as he is also able to reject it; yet is he not able, by his own free will, without the grace of God, to move himself unto justice in His sight. Whence, when it is said in the sacred writings: “Turn ye to me, and I will turn to you,” we are admonished of our liberty; and when we answer; “Convert us, O Lord, to thee, and we shall be converted,” we confess that we are prevented by the grace of God. (Council of Trent, Session VI, Chapter V.)

Returning to the Psalm, the Psalmist has largely been describing prevenient grace as acting upon the soul under the figure of the shepherd caring for the sheep. All these things that he provides are figures of God’s grace which heal the soul, enabling faith and prompting conversion.

However, in this final passage the image is seemingly reversed, for now that same mercy is said to “follow.” This mercy (of which grace is the result) thus both precedes and follows, because it arises from the same source, which is God’s loving kindness. God provides the means to heal our souls so as to enable our conversion, as well as the subsequent grace to strengthen and to sanctify. The Psalmist makes clear that this mercy will follow “all the days of my life,” which St. Paul echoes in his epistle to the Philippians:

Being confident of this very thing, that he, who hath begun a good work in you, will perfect it unto the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6 DR)

This interplay of prevenient grace and subsequent grace can seem abstract but it plays out concretely in the spiritual life, even if we cannot give theological expression to it. For example, ee are given the grace to resist temptation, but we must also avoid it as far as we are able, trusting that God will not allow us to be tempted beyond escape:

Wherefore he that thinketh himself to stand, let him take heed lest he fall. Let no temptation take hold on you, but such as is human. And God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able: but will make also with temptation issue, that you may be able to bear it. (1 Corinthians 10:12-13 DR)

We thus cannot presume upon our own strength, but neither may we despair of God’s assistance:

Though the Lord’s mercy always goes before us, he says here that “it will follow me.” It follows particularly to protect, but it precedes to bestow grace. If it merely followed, no one would would observe its gifts, and if it merely preceded, none could keep what is bestowed. The ambushes laid by the devil…are quite formidable, and without the presence of the Lord’s mercy our human frailty is most easily deceived. It is precisely when a person believes that he has outflanked a vice that he is more easily lulled by rash ignorance. So it is vitally necessary that the Lord’s grace should precede us and his mercy follow us always. (Cassiodorus, Explanation of the Psalms, 23.6., ACCS.)

In the figure of this Psalm the shepherd leads the sheep, which signifies the mercy and grace which go before. But as it concludes he also follows them, which signifies protection of what has already been given. This enables them to reach those pleasant pastures and return to the sheepfold, of which this figure of the Church is a foreshadowing of the kingdom of God, what the Psalmist describes as the “house of the Lord.” Thus, this mercy has an end in mind and therefore disposes and conforms us unto that end.

The result of prevenient grace enables us to have faith and be brought up on those waters of refreshment, both which signify the soul’s justification. We are translated from the kingdom of darkness and death to the kingdom of light and life. Our wills are vivified and enabled to respond to God’s mercy, to will what He wills, which is our sanctification. Prevenient grace enables this, and subsequent grace completes it. As our wills cooperate with this grace we increase in the justice that we have received in justification, the infusion of righteousness into the soul as the Council of Trent describes:

Having, therefore, been thus justified, and made the friends and domestics of God, advancing from virtue to virtue, they are renewed, as the Apostle says, day by day; that is, by mortifying the members of their own flesh, and by presenting them as instruments of justice unto sanctification, they, through the observance of the commandments of God and of the Church, faith co-operating with good works, increase in that justice which they have received through the grace of Christ, and are still further justified, as it is written; “He that is just, let him be justified still;” and again, “Be not afraid to be justified even to death;” and also, “Do you see that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.” And this increase of justification holy Church begs, when she prays, “Give unto us, O Lord, increase of faith, hope, and charity.” (Council of Trent, Session VI, Chapter X.)

The Psalmist thus in this short and well-beloved Psalm sets out in figurative language the mystery of salvation, reconciling without difficulty or complexity the often contrived paradoxes between God’s grace and man’s cooperation with that. As the shepherd leads the sheep and the sheep follow him, so our Lord bestows the grace that enables our justification and sanctification. The cooperation of the sheep following the shepherd in no manner calls into question the lovingkindness of the shepherd nor the necessity of his provision, any more than our cooperation with God’s grace nullifies its necessity for that cooperation:

We read in Holy Scripture, both that “God's mercy shall meet me,” and that “His mercy shall follow me.” It goes before the unwilling to make him willing; it follows the willing to make his will effectual. Why are we taught to pray for our enemies, who are plainly unwilling to lead a holy life, unless that God may work willingness in them? And why are we ourselves taught to ask that we may receive, unless that He who has created in us the wish, may Himself satisfy the wish? We pray, then, for our enemies, that the mercy of God may prevent them, as it has prevented us: we pray for ourselves that His mercy may follow us. (St. Augustine, Enchridion, Chapter 32.)

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I wanted to end this Psalm with a fun text-based animation, so I found a great font and turned it into shapes with a gradient and then added a repeater to it. I animated this layer so that it looped and then duplicated and reversed to fill out the frame. I wans’t necessarily intending to have them symbolize the mercy that goes before and after, but it worked out that way despite me.

I added in some iterations of some glow effects to almost give it a neon vibe and then added in some color correction. Super simple but I like it.

Enjoy.

View a higher quality version of this gif here: