The Lord has promised to be with his people but what exactly does that mean?

Haggai 1:13

¹³ Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: “I am with you,” declares the Lord.

The great statement of this verse is the Lord saying, “I am with you.”  The people had failed the Lord because they had not built their lives around the hope of the coming Messiah.  The Lord had made life difficult for them and had spoken through Haggai with a call for them to think carefully about the priorities of their lives.  They paid attention to this message and realised how serious it all was.  This led them to experience conviction of sin so that they had “fear” before the Lord.  The Lord spoke once more and said, as above, “I am with you.”

What does he mean by this?  It should be obvious that he does not mean that he had been absent because he is the One who is always present.  Rather the Lord is providing assurance to them that relationally he is with them.  The Bible tells us in a couple of places that God looks to or has favour toward those who have a broken heart before him.  It is that understanding of sinfulness and the cry for mercy that means the Lord approaches his people and provides this assurance, “I am with you.”

One of the great deceptions that humans follow is that God is not loving, kind and compassionate.  It began in the Garden of Eden when the Satan said to Eve and Adam that rather than die when they ate the forbidden fruit they would be like God.  The implication was that God was holding back on them and didn’t have their best interests at heart.  It is untrue, of course, but it lingers in the human psyche as a default thought about our creator.  It stops people coming to him with confidence for forgiveness.

The Lord, full of mercy, approaches the sinner who is crying for his merciful help. It is the mercy that is ultimately found in Jesus when he died on the cross for us.  He approaches with love and embraces the one seeking mercy with a love that will not leave them.  He approaches with the righteousness of Jesus which is given as a gift. He comes to us with eternal life.  So, when he says, “I am with you.”, he is saying, I am being so good to you that I will provide you with loving eternal blessedness that you will never lose.

This provides all of us with the assurance that however great our failures may be, the Lord receives us as we come to him acknowledging our sin.  This applies to all sinners but has a particular importance here for the Christian who has gone stale.  Many can testify to once being zealous for the Lord only to recognise that the world has done its seductive work and now the zeal for the Lord is a distant memory.  The Lord’s call to all of us is to “consider your ways”, knowing that he will be with all who turn to him seeking his mercy.

Head and Heart: Sometimes the Lord can seem very distant but when we believe in Jesus, he could never be closer.

Hands: Always we can act with the confidence that the Lord is with us.

Prayer: Father, forgive me that I often forget about your grace and act as though you were a long way from me.  Please keep reminding me that you are near and help me to respond well to your love for me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

A song to listen to: How Deep the Father’s Love

David Johnston

Living Church – Creek Road