Thou Art With Me

September 19, 2014

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)

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 lyric 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 favorite, go-to passages 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 just to be still and know God, without an expectation that troubling circumstances will change? 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 “God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others” (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?

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 were enough. There have been times when I have said ‘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. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.