I WILL BE WITH YOU – PART 2

2 – YHVH’s Promise of Intimacy Brings us Comfort:

Whither shall I go from Thy Ruach? Or whither shall I flee from Thy Presence? If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall Thy Hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from Thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to Thee. -- Psalm 139:7-12. David realized that no matter where he was and no matter what he was doing, YHVH was there with him, bringing him the comfort that he needed. A couple of weeks ago John was in the delivery room with his wife when their new baby was born. Leading up to the time of delivery he had a job to do. The way I understand it, his job was to try to bring comfort to his wife as she was experiencing the height of discomfort. Now, I am now sure how good of a job he did, I do not know how much comfort he gave her. But I do know that YHVH being with us brings us comfort in difficult situations.

Adonai also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. -- Psalms 9:9. Adonai is thy Keeper: Adonai is thy Shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. Adonai shall preserve thee from all evil: He shall preserve thy soul. Adonai shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. -- Psalms 121:5-8. YHVH's Promise to be with us is a comfort in our times of heartbreak. Adonai is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. -- Psalm 34:18. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. -- Psalm 23:4. YHVH's Promise to be with us is a comfort in times of failure. Though he falls, he shall not be utterly cast down: for Adonai upholdeth him with His Hand. -- Psalms 37:24.

3 – YHVH’s Promise of Intimacy Demands our Obedience:

On his 16th birthday the son approached his father and said: Dad, I am sixteen now. When I get my license, can I drive the family car? His dad looked at him and said: Son, driving the car takes maturity and first, you must prove you are responsible enough. One way you must do that is to bring up your grades. They are not acceptable. Second, you must read the Bible everyday and finally, I want you to get that hair cut; it looks outrageous. The son began the task of fulfilling his father's requirements knowing that the last might be impossible. When his grades came out, he came to his dad with a big smile. Look dad, all A's and B's on my report card! Now, can I drive the family car? Very good son, you are one-third of the way there, but have you been reading the Bible? Yes, dad, every day, the son said. Very good son, you are two-thirds of the way there. Now when are you going to get that hair cut? Thinking he could outsmart his dad, the son said, well, I do not see why I should get my hair cut to drive the car. Yeshua had long hair, did He not? The father looked at his boy and said, that is right son and Yeshua walked everywhere He went. YHVH expects obedience from His children. I am not saying He is not with us when we are disobedient, but I do believe the Bible teaches us that when we are obedient YHVH's Promise to be with us becomes an ever-increasing reality in our lives. In other words, YHVH is always with us, but when we are obedient to Him, we are much more able to recognize His presence than at times when we are disobedient. Looking back at Joshua it is clear that there are at least two primary areas where YHVH expects obedience and they both are connected with His Word.

A -- Firstly: We are to Obey His Word:

Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the Law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. -- Joshua 1:7. Joshua and the people of Israel's victory depended on their adherence to the Word of YHVH and this is just as true today. We have so much more of YHVH's Word than they had. They had only the five books of Moses and probably the book of Job. This is the entire Bible they had and YHVH said if they would be obedient to it, they would have no need to fear anyone, for YHVH would be with them. You and I have the whole Bible and YHVH calls upon us to search this Word, let it be the man who counsels us, the food of our souls and the sword with which we face our enemies. YHVH promises that if we will be strong and courageous and walk in obedience to His Word, we will never have to dread the conflict; we will not need to fear; we will be able to say with Paul, But thanks be to YHVH, which giveth us the victory through our Adonai Yeshua Moshiach. -- 1 Corinthians 15:57. If you do not have victory through Yeshua Moshiach, I can tell you why. It is because you are neglecting reading and obeying your Bible. Read your Bible as you ought to and obey it and you will be able to live a life of victory.

B. Secondly: YHVH Expects us to Meditate on His Word: This book of the Law, shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. -- Joshua 1:8. It is by meditation that we really make this Word our own. To read attentively is like eating the Word. Meditation allows us to digest the truth. Mere intellectual acquaintance with the letter of Scripture does us little good. It is only as we weigh carefully what YHVH has revealed to us that we obtain from it the spiritual power that enables us to rise above our difficulties and triumph by grace over all our foes.

C -- Thirdly: YHVH makes both Joshua and us a promise in this regard:

In verse 7 He tells us that success comes to those who follow His Word. In verse 9 He says both success and prosperity will come to those who are obedient. I know that YHVH was promising Joshua success and prosperity in the matter of obtaining physical land and riches. But the greater application to both Joshua and to us is that if we obey YHVH's Word, He will grant us spiritual success and prosperity like we have never even dreamed of. We will begin to understand in a deeper way than we ever have before, that YHVH is with us in a real and personal way. YHVH's Promise to be with you is very real, He is just waiting for you to receive this Promise from Him.