- Be With
Psalm 91:15b
I will be with him in trouble;
God promises to “be with.” Being with is a basic promise throughout the Bible. It is the promise of the presence of God. God is present to bless; God is present to protect; God is present to help and deliver in time of trouble. St. Matthew begins the Gospel with “Immanuel, God with us,” and ends the Gospel with, “Lo, I am with you always to the end of the age.”
We may not like what we think God is doing or not doing to us. God does not promise us a rose garden without thorns; God does not promise us a life without pain and suffering, trial and tribulation; God does not promise us answers to our “Why?” questions; God does not give the solutions to the mysteries of human existence and the presence of evil. But He does promise to “be with” us in trouble; He does promise the blessing of His presence; He does promise to be there among the serpents even if He does not remove them from us; He does promise us comfort in the midst of pain and suffering. It is helpful to distinguish between what God does promise and what He does not promise, between true expectations and false expectations, between satisfaction and disappointment, between my will and God’s will. This distinction takes wisdom from above, and human understanding cannot discover it. Thankfully, God gives it (as He gave to Job): James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom let him ask God…and it will be given him.”
God may or may not satisfy our reason, our feelings, our desires, or our will, but He will be with us, and that, in the grand scheme, is all we need, God’s loving and abiding presence. “Come by my bedside and hold my hand.’’
God says, “I will be with you.” I respond, “You are with me.”