Editorial June 20, 1925 Issue

"My presence shall go with thee"

Duncan Sinclair

One of the most interesting and remarkable things to be noted about the seers of the Old Testament is their consciousness of the presence of God. It is undoubtedly true that the national concept of God was a limited one; but it is equally certain that some of the Hebrew prophets had at times an extraordinarily vivid realization of the presence and power of God, and were able accordingly to do wondrous things,—wondrous in the eyes of those whose consciousness was less spiritual. And what peace must have accompanied that realization! One thinks of the occasion, for example, when Moses in difficulty prayed to God for His presence, and when, as it is written in the thirty-third chapter of Exodus, God assured him, "My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest."

The Psalms contain many a reference to the presence, yea, to the omnipresence of God. How graphically is this omnipresence depicted in the words of the psalm: "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? 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,"—meaning, surely, that God is everywhere. And the following are David's words in his psalm of thanksgiving, recorded in I Chronicles: "Glory and honour are in his presence; strength and gladness are in his place." The comfort which the Old Testament has brought to so many of the children of men has been the direct result of the truth contained therein, that God is not a God afar off but the Holy One, whose presence is in their very midst.

As in the Old, so in the New Testament, God is acknowledged as being among His people. Christ Jesus lived and acted as always in the presence of the Father. He completely identified himself with God, stating that he could do nothing of himself, and that it was God who did the works; thereby testifying to the ever-presence of God. It was similar with the disciples, those who had been his students. They thought and acted as men who were convinced that God's presence with them was demonstrably true, healing the sick and sinning through their understanding.

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