Thou Art With Me

Meditations for Ragamuffins

November 16, 2023

Thou Art With Me 

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;

Psalm 23:4a (KJV) 

Contemporary musician, Dennis Jernigan sings the 23^rd Psalm. In his version, he uses the King James translation, and verse 4a is repeated poignantly, thou art with me, thou art with me, thou art with me. I first heard his rendition when I was going through a very difficult time in my life, and that one line of Holy Scripture from the song is embedded deep within my heart: thou art with me.

There are other passages of scripture that have captivated me just as deeply. Psalm 46 has long been one of my favorites, a go-to passage when I am called to pray for a person, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1 NRSV). Verse ten of this precious psalm calls God’s children to “Be still,and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10a NRSV). Is that enough for you? Is it enough for you to know that God is with you in your troubling circumstance, without an expectation that your circumstances will change? Is it enough to know that even though your circumstances may not change, you will be comforted by God’s presence (thy rod and thy staff they comfort me)?

The Apostle Paul affirms that God is “the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). Paul didn’t say God was going to rescue us from our crisis. He affirmed God is present in our crisis with us, and that God’s presence is comforting. Is that enough for you?

My Takeaway: I can’t explain how or why, but there have been times in my life, when all I had to cling to was, “thou art with me,” and I found God’s presence, God’s comfort was enough. I have come to the place where I can say, ‘Yes and Amen” to Paul’s testimony: “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9 KJV).

Yes, and amen, God’s grace is sufficient for me!

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2023 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.