You’ve had the experience.
You’re reading verses you’ve covered many times,
and one pops out like a 3-D topographical map.
It happened in verse eight of Psalm 13 last week. “… for God is present
in the company of the righteous.”
First, let’s point out we have no righteousness of our own. As
believers, Jesus has imparted His righteousness to us because of His work on the cross. If God is present
with us, it’s not because of what we’ve done but because of what He has done.
When I read this verse, I remembered a turn of phrase my mother used. “Are
Sally and Tim keeping company with each other?” she would ask. Keeping company
is decidedly an old-fashioned thing to say. Maybe she got it from my
grandmother who still used Elizabethan English for some words like holp instead
of help.
Today people hang out together. I think I like keeping company better. How wonderful to think of God keeping company with us.
When I read this verse, a song from a few years back also came to mind―”You
Raise Me Up.” Two of my favorite renditions are from Selah and Josh Groban. I
love the lines about inviting someone to come and just be with us for a time.
Sometimes it helps me during difficulties to have an empty chair near me as a
reminder when I’m praying that God is present―He’s keeping company
with me.Today people hang out together. I think I like keeping company better. How wonderful to think of God keeping company with us.
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| photo courtesy Brent Smith |
Most
of all, I believe God being present in the company of the righteous is a promise
in the same way as words we find in Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three
gather in my name, there am I with them.” We don’t have to wonder about this.
It’s written in red in my Bible, so God himself has made this declaration. I
pray for a greater realization of this promise in my own life.
I'm so thankful for kept promises, keeping company, and His presence.
