Hello! Thank you for joining us! We’re discussing phrases you hear Christians say, uncovering the truth underneath these phrases. You can find a lot of comfort if you resist thinking of these phrases as cliché or just seeing them as Christian-ese. We’re looking at another big one today, one that maybe sounds a little old school. Today let’s talk about the phrase, “God be with you.” What does it mean when someone says this to you.
We’re used to hearing Christians say this when you leave their presence, right? “God be with you!” a Christian mom might call down to her daughter as she gets into her car to go off to college. What does that mean? What benefit do you get if God is with you in his presence?
We find our answer in the psalms. The psalms were ancient prayer-songs people would learn, and they were recorded and included in the Old Testament of the Bible. Listen to these verses from the psalms:
If the Lord had not been on our side—
let Israel say—
if the Lord had not been on our side
when people attacked us,
they would have swallowed us alive
when their anger flared against us;
the flood would have engulfed us,
the torrent would have swept over us,
the raging waters
would have swept us away. (Psalm 124:1-5)
So the writer of this psalm proves the point in the negative. What is the benefit of God’s presence? Well, the danger of God not being present is pretty scary! If God weren’t on our side, we would be defeated by all our enemies. We would be sitting ducks, as it were. But thank God that he is with us, protecting us from dangers we often don’t know about. You don’t know the germs in the air that you’re not breathing in and are not getting you sick. You don’t know about all the car crashes you didn’t suffer. Thank God that he’s been watching over you, he’s been with you. Thank God that he takes a personal interest in your well-being so as to protect you from evils around you.
But there’s so much more to God’s presence. The greatest evil and the greatest enemy we’ve ever faced is ourselves. All the bad things we’ve done and said and thought. In a very real way we are our own worst enemies, because of the punishment we deserve for the sins we commit.
But listen to how the Bible says God took on this enemy. We learn:
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).
The Word, that is: Jesus Christ, came down from heaven to dwell among us. That’s why he’s called Immanuel: God with us. Jesus, the eternal Son of God, came to live a human life, to defeat your enemy: your own guilt. He has come from the Father to show you the truth of God’s grace: God’s unconditional love and forgiveness for you.
Jesus was with us. He walked among us, as one of us, so that he could save us. And what about now? Jesus says: Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:20.)
God is with you. He watches over you, he protects you. He loves you. In Jesus Christ, he forgives you and saves you. You are not a sitting duck. God’s on your side. And he will never leave you nor forsake you.
Thank you so much for joining us for a moment. Please get in touch with us and let us know your questions or what you find comforting about God’s presence! We’d love to hear from you. Until then, God be with you!
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