God is With You
Introduction
I wonder whether you have ever had this experience: you are talking to a friend about your faith and they are looking back at you with a blank stare. They have no idea what you are talking about. When you talk about a relationship with Jesus, to them it is like you are speaking about an ‘imaginary friend’. It makes no sense to them at all.
The apostle Paul makes the point that you can only understand spiritual truths with the help of the Holy Spirit. The person ‘without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned’ (1 Corinthians 2:14). When God is with us by his Holy Spirit he gives us understanding, ‘that we may understand what God has freely given us’ (v.12).
‘God with us’ (Immanuel) is one of the titles the New Testament uses for Jesus (Matthew 1:23). He is always with you. That the God who created the universe should be with you is not something to be taken lightly. It is an extraordinary and wonderful promise. To experience God with you by his Spirit is life changing.
Psalm 91:9–15
9 If you say, “The LORD is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways...
14 “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honour him.
Commentary
With you in trouble
In the difficult times, ‘in trouble’ (v.15), you may sometimes feel that God has left you. In these times listen to God’s promises over and above your feelings and emotions.
This psalm is all about God’s protection and encourages you not to be afraid:
‘If you make the Most High your dwelling –
even the LORD, who is my refuge –
then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your tent’ (vv.9-10).
This might appear to be the recipe for a trouble-free life. However, the psalmist goes on:
‘“Because you love me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue you;
I will protect you, for you acknowledge my name.
You will call upon me, and I will answer you;
I will be with you in trouble”’ (vv.14–15).
It is clear from this that those who love the Lord will not avoid trouble. God does not promise a trouble-free life. Rather, he promises that he will rescue you, protect you and answer your prayers. More than that he promises, ‘I will be with you’ in trouble. This is what makes all the difference. Even in the darkest times, he is with you. You are never alone.
Prayer
Thank you, Lord, that you are with me in times of trouble. Thank you for your rescue, deliverance, protection and answers to my prayers.
Lord, today I call upon you again…
1 Corinthians 2:9–16
9 However, as it is written:
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—
10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for,
“Who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?”
But we have the mind of Christ.
Commentary
With you by his Spirit
Through the Holy Spirit, God is with you in the most extraordinary way – he is actually in you. It would be impossible for God to be with you any more fully than he is through his Spirit.
In this passage Paul explains some of the extraordinary benefits of God being with you in this way: ‘Spirit can be known only by spirit – God’s Spirit and our spirits in open communion. Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God’s Spirit is doing, and can’t be judged by unspiritual critics. Isaiah’s question, “Is there anyone around who knows God’s Spirit, anyone who knows what he is doing?” has been answered: Christ knows, and we have Christ’s Spirit’ (vv.15–16, MSG).
Like the psalmist, the apostle Paul expounds on all the wonderful things that ‘God has prepared for those who love him’ (v.9, see also Psalm 91:14, ‘Because you love me…’).
Paul compares God’s wisdom to the ‘fashionable wisdom of high-priced experts that will be out-of-date in a year or so’ (1 Corinthians 2:6, MSG). God’s secret wisdom has been revealed to us (vv.6–10) – the wonder of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. The rulers of the world did not understand it. If they had, they would not have crucified Jesus: ‘The Lord of glory’ (v.8).
God’s secret wisdom is amazing. ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him’ (v.9).
In his book, True Spirituality, Vaughan Roberts notes that there is a four-fold process in which the Holy Spirit reveals God’s wisdom to us.
The Holy Spirit knows
He knows what no human being could otherwise know – the mind and thoughts of God. ‘The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows the thoughts of another human being except that person’s own spirit within? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God’ (vv.10b–11).The Holy Spirit reveals
The Holy Spirit does not keep his knowledge of the wisdom of God to himself, but he reveals it to those in whom he dwells. ‘We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us’ (v.12). You have received the Spirit who is from God. He is with you. He enables you to understand the secret wisdom of God, though of course we could never fathom the depths of God. As Paul says later in this letter, in this life ‘we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror’, not yet ‘face to face’ (13:12).The Holy Spirit inspires
Paul was inspired by the Spirit to pass on the wisdom of the gospel to others. ‘This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words’ (2:13). The Spirit similarly teaches you what to say so that you too can express ‘spiritual truths in spiritual words’, generally through the Spirit-inspired words of the apostles recorded in the New Testament. You can share words in line with Scripture that point people to Jesus.The Holy Spirit illuminates
Without the Holy Spirit, you simply cannot understand spiritual truths: ‘The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned’ (v.14). When God is with you by his Spirit you can actually understand the mind of the Lord. Indeed, you ‘have the mind of Christ’ (v.16).
Prayer
Lord, thank you for this amazing truth that you are with me by your Spirit. Today, may I have the mind of Christ in all my decisions and conversations. I pray for spiritual words to express spiritual truths.
1 Chronicles 22:7–16
7 David said to Solomon: “My son, I had it in my heart to build a house for the Name of the LORD my God. 8 But this word of the LORD came to me: ‘You have shed much blood and have fought many wars. You are not to build a house for my Name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight. 9 But you will have a son who will be a man of peace and rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side. His name will be Solomon, and I will grant Israel peace and quiet during his reign. 10 He is the one who will build a house for my Name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’
11 “Now, my son, the LORD be with you, and may you have success and build the house of the LORD your God, as he said you would.
13 ... Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged. 15 You have many workers: stonecutters, masons and carpenters, as well as those skilled in every kind of work 16 in gold and silver, bronze and iron – craftsmen beyond number. Now begin the work, and the LORD be with you.’
Commentary
With you in success
Have you ever felt disappointed or envious when others succeed in a ministry that you wanted to do? David’s example (22:6–19) challenges us to pray for others to succeed and to encourage, bless and help them when they do.
David had really wanted to build the temple himself. Now David prepares for his son, Solomon, to succeed him. He gets everything ready for him. He has a great succession plan setting Solomon up for success.
Leadership is about serving the people you lead so that they will go further and do better than you. When you are faithful to bless others in doing well, God will be faithful to honour and bless you.
It was David and Solomon who together made possible the building of the temple. David himself could not carry out the work as he had ‘shed much blood’ (v.8). Solomon is the one who will actually build the temple.
David says, ‘Now, my son, the LORD be with you, and may you have success and build the house of the LORD your God, as he said you would. May the LORD give you discretion and understanding… Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged… Now begin the work, and the LORD be with you’ (vv.11–16).
The Lord wasn’t only with Solomon: ‘David ordered all the leaders of Israel to help his son Solomon. He said to them, “Is not the LORD your God with you?”’ (vv.17–18a). God was with them also. He granted them ‘rest on every side’ (v.18b). He told them, ‘Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the LORD your God’ (v.19).
They had success and rest ‘since the LORD, the God of Israel, [had] come to dwell in Jerusalem for ever’ (23:25).
This is a cause for great rejoicing, thanksgiving and praise. The Levites were to ‘stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD. They were to do the same in the evening’ (v.30).
Long-term success comes from God being with you. Life may not be easy, but Jesus promised that if you stay close to him you will bear much fruit, and that fruit will last (John 15:1–17).
Prayer
Lord, thank you that you promise me long-term success and rest. May I thank and praise you from first thing in the morning until last thing at night for your presence with me.
Pippa adds
Psalm 91:9–16
I love Psalm 91. It makes me feel safe. It is a great psalm to pray for family and friends travelling long distances or facing difficulties. Over the years, I have written in the margin, alongside this psalm, quite a few things. They were things I was worried about at the time. God has been faithful. He has watched over all of them.
Thought for the Day
God does not promise a trouble-free life. Rather, he promises that he will rescue you, protect you and answer your prayers.
App
Download The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel app for iOS or Android devices and read along each day.
Subscribe now to receive The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel in your inbox each morning. You’ll get one email each day.
Podcast
Subscribe and listen to The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel delivered to your favourite podcast app every day.
Website
Start reading today’s devotion right here on The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel website.
Read now
Book
The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel Commentary is available as a book.
- Buy from the Alpha Shop
- Buy from CLC Bookshops
References
Vaughan Roberts, True Spirituality (IVP, 2011).
The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel (commentary formerly known as Bible in One Year) ©Alpha International 2009. All Rights Reserved.
Compilation of daily Bible readings © Hodder & Stoughton Limited 1988. Published by Hodder & Stoughton Limited as the Bible in One Year.
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.
Scripture quotations marked (AMP) taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)
Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.