In Psalm 73:23, the psalmist says to the Lord, “I am always with you.”
What does he mean by that? Consider this: you can have two people in a house, obviously in close proximity to each other, and yet they may not necessarily be “with” each other.
Some of the Pharisees had the whole Old Testament memorized. They knew God’s word. But as Jesus made clear, many of them really were not with God.
Many Christians today can know a lot about God and his ways. They can attend church, be in Bible studies, and enjoy constant interaction with other believers. But it’s possible that while they are, in effect, around God, they may not be “with” him.
Judas Iscariot was around Jesus for about three years. And yet in a sense he really wasn’t with Jesus. Jesus could have said to him, “I am with you, Judas, but you are not with me.”
So prayer, Bible reading, worship, fellowship, sharing our resources — habits that we associate with a healthy Christian life — can put us in close proximity to God, and yet we still may not be “with God.”
Notice from the following verses what God truly wants from us:
Proverbs 23:26 — “My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes delight in my ways.”
Isaiah 29:13 — The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.”
So the people even worshiped God, and yet God said, “their hearts are far from me” that is, “they are not ‘with’ me.”
So how do we make sure that we can honestly say to God with the psalmist, “I am always with you”?
Here are some questions to consider:
Jesus said, your heart is where your treasure is. So if more than anything else you treasure God's guidance in your daily life, then that is where your heart is. It is with God. And while that is the case, you are with God.
