Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
(from Psalm 73:23)
Nevertheless:
This verse begins where it should: with the gospel. Read what precedes verse 23. The writer was being terrible, a brute towards God. Ignorant and foolish. What would we expect on this man from a righteous and just God? God's wrath? At the very least, God just leaving him to your own devices? No. In spite of all that, (Nevertheless), God remains with him and 100% for him. Why? Because Christ absorbed God's wrath for us, we get God.
I:
Me!. Not you, the world, my city, my church, my family, my friends, "Christians", or Billy Graham. God is here right now, 1am Saturday morning. What's more is that he was there this week as I struggled through a dark, difficult, lonely week. Check your calendar- whatever events have have happened or will happen, whether you like it or not, God exercises his omnipresence and is now with you. As you read this, he reads with you- and smiles.
am:
Isn't the crux of it? Is God really with me? Isn't he off doing more important things? But it doesn't feel like he's here. I can't see him. But things are going wrong. I keep sinning- he's probably left me by now. But my world is caving in... No matter what it looks like. The writer here affirms the truth that changes any situation: "I am with you, God."
continually:
What happens when something goes wrong between a husband and a wife? "I'm going to leave now"? "I'm going to go somewhere for a few weeks"? Is your relationship on the line if you screw up? No. How you'll work things out may be unclear, but the endpoint is crystal. If you're my wife this will be understood: "I'm not going anywhere. I will always be with you no matter what. We will figure this out." What a truth: that our maker has walked the aisle with you and me. I am his and he is mine. What? And get this, we are the ones who deserve to be left. Nevertheless, he says, "I am continually with you and I'll be with you until forever."
with:
What does it mean for God to be with us? Does it just mean relating in some sort of God-creature sense? Some sort of, "I'll be observing you from heaven?". When God says he is with us, he means something far deeper than just standing beside us. He is with us in a way that 2 grieving parents who have lost a child are with each other- with a tenderness that only comes through deep common understanding.
You're lonely? His whole life was spent with people who were nothing like him. He was betrayed by someone close to him. He knows in the depth of his soul the pang of loneliness. Maybe you're doing great- you've been hanging out with your friends. He did that too! He went on a 3-year roadtrip with a bunch of buddies, enjoying all the joy and laughter that human relationships afford. Wherever you are, he's been there himself. When the writer says he is with God, realize all that this means.
you:
The best part. It's not just that you're not alone- that you're with "someone". No one can say, "Oh, I know God's with me but...". You are forgetting who you are dealing with. How mind-bending to say "I am with God"? Who are we talking about? Turn to Isaiah 6 if you're not boggled by just the thought of God being with you. When Isaiah, the most righteous, upright man in Israel takes one peek at this God, he's done. "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” His robe fills the temple. This holy, awesome being that strikes fear into all who catch distant glimpse of him... is with you. Crazy.
