“I will be with you.” Depending on who’s speaking, it’s difficult to find a phrase more laden with comfort. When spoken by a parent, it’s powerful enough to embolden a thousand “firsts”. When whispered by your closest friend in the middle of a waiting room, it’s pure borrowed courage. It’s the quiet presence of a faithful brother or sister who can’t fix the situation but is committed to sitting with you in your pain. It’s the unquestioning resolve of your spouse to fight your sin with you instead of walking away. It may be the most native need of the human soul: the promise of presence. Beginning with the Garden of Eden, God has instilled in His children an innate desperation to hear these words from Him…
…And He’s been speaking them over us ever since.
The following passages form a collective glimpse of this promise, echoing across the pages of Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation. Oh friend, read and relish His words with an ear inclined to hear His heartbeat:
Genesis 26:3
Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father.
Genesis 28:15
Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.
Exodus 3:12, 14
He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” …And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Numbers 14:9
Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.
Deuteronomy 20:2-4
“Hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them, for the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.”
Deuteronomy 23:16a
He shall dwell with you, in your midst, in the place that he shall choose within one of your towns, wherever it suits him.
Deuteronomy 31:6, 8
Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.
Joshua 1:5
No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.
Judges 6:16
And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”
1 Kings 11:38
And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.
1 Chronicles 17:8
”…and I have been with you wherever you have gone and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a name, like the name of the great ones of the earth.”
2 Chronicles 20:17
You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.”
Psalm 23:4
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Isaiah 41:10
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 43:1-2
But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”
Ezekiel 36:27
And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
John 1:14
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 14:16-17
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
John 14:23
Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”
2 Corinthians 13:11
Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:9
What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
1 John 4:16
“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”
Revelation 21:3
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.”
God has always dwelt with His people. Stretching from Genesis to Malachi, God dwelt with His children, in clouds by day and pillars by night, in burning bushes and on mountaintops, in a moving tent, and in the Temple’s holy of holies. But it seems the greatest and most profound iteration of “I will be with you" was showcased over 2,000 years ago in a humble manger scene. What could have communicated His nearness more powerfully than God being born in the likeness of men (Philippians 2:7)?
Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Listen carefully, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will call his name Immanuel (God with us).
In the most demonstrable way possible, God pledged “I will be with you” to us in Christ. And ever since Christ returned to the Father’s side, He has dwelt with us in Spirit. Jesus Christ’s redemptive work guarantees we will dwell with God forever. He is with us, and He will always be.
“Immanuel, God with us.”
It is hell’s terror.
Satan trembles at the sound of it…
Let him come to you suddenly,
And do you but whisper that word,
“God with us,”
Back he falls, confounded and confused…
“God with us” is the laborer’s strength.
How could he preach the gospel,
How could he bend his knees in prayer,
How could the missionary go into foreign lands,
How could the martyr stand at the stake,
How could the confessor own his Master,
How could men labor
If that one word were taken away?…
“God with us” is eternity’s sonnet,
Heaven’s hallelujah,
The shout of the glorified,
The song of the redeemed,
The chorus of the angels,
The everlasting oratorio of the great orchestra of the sky.
– Charles Spurgeon