In this insightful episode of Grace in Focus, we delve into the intriguing question of why believers ask for God’s presence despite the assurance of His omnipresence. With speakers Bob Wilkin and Dr. , a deep discussion unravels the layers of faith and acknowledgment as they explore both Old and New Testament teachings. Discover how biblical figures like David and Asaph interpreted divine presence, and learn the importance of perspective in the life of a believer. This discussion offers clarity on how to consciously recognize God’s ceaseless companionship in our lives.
If God has promised never to leave us or forsake us, why do we ask God to be with us?
SPEAKER 01 :
Don’t we believe His promise? There’s a great discussion about this straight ahead, so stay tuned. Thank you for joining us, friend, for Grace in Focus. This is the radio broadcast and podcast ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society. We’re located in North Texas, and our website is located at faithalone.org. Our annual national conference is coming up and we want you to be there with us. It’s May 19th through the 22nd and it’s at a beautiful Christian camp, Camp Copas in North Texas. Plan to be with us. Find out more about registration details at faithalone.org. Now with today’s question and answer discussion, here are Bob Wilkin and Dr.
SPEAKER 03 :
David, I think we have another question from Charles, and it’s an interesting one. What is he asking? And it’s in your neck of the woods, by the way. It’s pretty much an Old Testament question, right?
SPEAKER 02 :
There are things that are related in the Old Testament to what he’s saying, but also to the New Testament. Because you were an Old Testament major at Dallas Seminary. You have to have a screw loose to be a Hebrew major.
SPEAKER 03 :
I know, right? Didn’t you even take, what, Ugaritic or Ugaritic? Is that how it’s pronounced?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, being a Texan, I pronounce it Ugaritic. But my professor, Eugene Merrill, said it’s Ugaritic. Ugaritic.
SPEAKER 03 :
And you were like the only master’s student in there.
SPEAKER 02 :
All the rest were PhD students. It was one of the very few courses that were open to master’s degree people. And I just said, I want to see if I can do doctoral level work.
SPEAKER 01 :
It was just…
SPEAKER 02 :
It was kind of a weird thing that I did, but I’m very glad I did it because I had Dr. Merrill for a professor, one of the most gracious people I’ve ever met. And he’s a friend of yours. I got to renew my friendship with him a few years ago, and we’ve been friends ever since, and I treasure every moment with him.
SPEAKER 03 :
That’s great. That’s great. So what’s Charles’ question here?
SPEAKER 02 :
Charles’ question is essentially, why do we ask the Lord to be with us when he already is?
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay, so as believers, we know that the Holy Spirit resides in us.
SPEAKER 02 :
Therefore, he is with us already.
SPEAKER 03 :
Always. Always. Right?
SPEAKER 02 :
24-7.
SPEAKER 03 :
Jesus said, Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 03 :
And by the way, Sharon’s aunt and uncle were the Lowe’s, L-O-W-E, and that was their life verse. Lo, I am with you always.
SPEAKER 02 :
Lo.
SPEAKER 03 :
If my name was low, that would be my low. Well, it especially applies to the lows. Yeah, exactly. But Jesus is always with us because his spirit is in us. But then the question is, what does it mean in the Old Testament? Aren’t there lots of examples in the Old Testament where the psalmist or other people will ask God to be with them and they don’t mean in them, they mean something else.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, it can be a wide variety of things. It could be like David, you know, in some of the Psalms, you know, he’s asking the Lord, deliver me from death. There’s people surrounding me with bows and arrows and spears. Deliver me. Be with me is the implication. And we know that because he was a man after God’s own heart, that God was already with him. Right. But he was asking for him to be there. Right.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, and you talked about acknowledgement and thanksgiving. How do those tie in with with me?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, one of the worship words, there’s a lot of them, especially in the Psalms, but it’s used other places. But there are words concerning worship, and one of them is normally translated thanksgiving. And the word really, it comes from the Hebrew verb to know. And so the question is, what’s Thanksgiving got to do with knowing? And the idea here is acknowledgement. And I think that is a major worship word, acknowledging, number one, God’s work that he’s already done in our lives, but also acknowledging that he is with us. So when I ask, Lord, be with me, I can still consciously know that he’s with me. I’m just, through my little desire, my question, Lord, can you be with me? I’m doing that, acknowledging that he is.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, okay, here’s another example of the same thing. When we say, Lord, hear me, the psalmist says that a lot. Hear me, hear my prayers, hear my supplications. Well, he knows God’s omniscient. He knows God knows everything. But by hear me, he doesn’t literally mean hear me. He means be attentive to my prayer.
SPEAKER 02 :
Exactly.
SPEAKER 03 :
And when he says be with me, he doesn’t literally mean with me. He means be with me in this trial where the people are with the spears and they’re trying to kill me. Right.
SPEAKER 02 :
Enter in here with me. Well, it’s almost the implication there also is act on my behalf. Right. You know, be with me. In other words, these people surrounding me. Can you get rid of them? Yeah. That were therefore you would preserve my life. Right. Doing that. I think there’s a lot of implications going on there. But I don’t see a thing wrong with saying, even though I already know doctrinally and in my mind and in my heart that the Lord is with me, Lord be with me in this thing. In other words, I may need special knowledge or a special insight as to how to deal with a certain issue.
SPEAKER 03 :
You know that, have you ever seen the, they have a little plaque thing that shows some footprints in the sand. Have you ever seen that one?
SPEAKER 02 :
Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
And they show two sets of tracks, and then there’s one set of tracks. Right. And the person says, that sees the one set of tracks, why did the Lord leave this person? And the answer is, the Lord didn’t leave him, he picked him up. He did. Exactly. And he carried him. Right. And so when we’re going through hard times, the Lord often intervenes. But our request for him to intervene is an important part of the process.
SPEAKER 01 :
It’s coming. It’ll be here before you know it. What am I talking about? The Grace Evangelical Society’s National Conference 2025, May 19th through 22nd at Camp Copas, an absolutely beautiful campground in North Texas, right on the lake with lots of recreation, great food, a great place to stay, wonderful fellowship, and wonderful Free Grace Bible teaching. Information and online registration now at faithalone.org. First-timers waive registration fees. faithalone.org.
SPEAKER 02 :
I think also what’s going on, and I get this from the Psalms also, is when we go through those hard times, we lose perspective. We forget what we normally believe. If we’re going through really difficult times, it does on the emotional side of things that the Lord is not with us. So that may cause somebody to say, Lord, be with me. But in that case, it’s a loss of perspective. You need a reality check. Yeah. I mean, I love Psalm 73 and Asaph, the writer of that psalm. His problem, I won’t go into all that, his whole sermon, and we don’t have time for my sermon. I’m a little wordy sometimes. Essentially, what Asaph’s problem was is he lost perspective as to who God was and how he worked. And once he found it, he says, now I know what’s going on. And what I love toward the end of the psalm in Psalm 73, he says, you know, that the nearness of God is my good. Wow. And there’s nothing else on heaven I want nor on the earth. You know, toward the end of that psalm, talk about Bible verses that ought to be memorized. Yes. You know, far from you. There’s nothing else on the earth that I long for. It’s for your presence. And he does that in, you know, on the on the earth and in heaven. You know, I mean, everywhere, no matter where Asaph was, the nearness of God was his good.
SPEAKER 03 :
And you’re saying Asaph was talking in Psalm 73 about perspective, having the right view of life?
SPEAKER 02 :
And what’s going on in his life. What he saw, just to summarize it, what he was seeing in the culture that he lived in did not jive with the teachings of the Old Testament. And he was going, now what in the world is happening here? Is God not able to do it? In other words, he lost his perspective. And then I get the idea that he went into the temple or into the tabernacle because he was essentially David’s choir director. Yeah. And he got his perspective because, you know, in the middle of the psalm he goes, now I know they’re in, these evil people that seem to be successful and the Lord’s allowing them. Now I know. Okay, that’s so good.
SPEAKER 03 :
Wouldn’t you say… I mean, this is my thinking anyway, that the key to the Christian life, and this would have been true to the key to the believing life during the Law of Moses, during the time of Asaph and King David. The key is mindset. I mean, Romans 12.2, don’t be conformed to this world. Okay, how do I not be conformed to this world? By being transformed by the renewing of your mind. God changes my mind, my, using your word, perspective. Same thing in 2 Corinthians 3.18, we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror God. The glory of the Lord are being transformed by the work of the Spirit, right? And by the way, that passage, 2 Corinthians 3.18, alludes to an Old Testament text where we’re told that when Moses would go into the tabernacle and meet with the Lord, his face would shine. Mm-hmm. And so he took to wearing a veil because he didn’t want people to seeing the decreasing brightness of his countenance. And he’s saying, no, no, we don’t have a veil over our face when we come before the Lord. But when we come before the Lord, it’s through the medium of his word. And so as his word impacts our thinking, right? Well, then that changes our behavior. And by the way, that’s why free grace theology is so important. If you have a flawed view of assurance of salvation, it corrupts your mind. If you somehow think, okay, I’ll stay saved if I’m faithful. Well, then you’re working your way toward heaven, and that’s not a God-pleasing attitude.
SPEAKER 02 :
You think that might affect your perspective on things? Just a skosh. No, in Texas, it’s scooch.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, scooch. I thought scooch is what you do when you move along on your butt.
SPEAKER 02 :
You’re scooching along. Well, that’s that California coming out of you.
SPEAKER 03 :
See, I grew up in—I was born—did you know I was born in Los Angeles? I was born at the Good Samaritan Hospital, of all places, in Los Angeles.
SPEAKER 02 :
Los Angeles.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, it’s the city of the angels, yeah. But in any regard, I think that Charles’ question is a good one. Why do we ask God to be with us when he’s already with us? Because it’s a matter of perspective.
SPEAKER 02 :
It’s a matter of perspective, and it’s also kind of a—if I ask him to be with me, I’m essentially acknowledging and reminding myself that he is with me. Right. It sounds like a weird way to do it, but we have how many biblical examples of God’s people asking for his presence with them? Right.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right, and what they’re asking is for him to intervene.
SPEAKER 02 :
Right, in many, many cases, you’re right.
SPEAKER 03 :
And so it’s appropriate for us to ask God to be with us as long as we’re not thinking somehow that I lost my salvation, I lost everlasting life, come back. That would be wrong. That would be displeasing to God.
SPEAKER 02 :
I want chapter and verse on that. Exactly.
SPEAKER 03 :
But if what we mean is God be with me in this circumstance, in this trial, in this difficulty, we’ve got plenty of biblical evidence for that. Well, good question, Charles. And let’s keep studying the scriptures. Let’s keep meditating on it as we keep grace in focus.
SPEAKER 01 :
Be sure to check out our daily blogs at faithalone.org. They are short and full of great teaching, just like what you’ve heard today. Find them at faithalone.org resources blog. We would like to thank all of our financial partners who help us keep this show going. All gifts are tax deductible and very much appreciated. If you’d like to find out how you can be a financial partner, visit us at faithalone.org. On our next episode, when did the church begin? Was it in Acts 2 or Matthew 16? That’s next time. And until then, let’s keep grace in focus.
SPEAKER 02 :
The preceding has been a listener supported ministry from the Grace Evangelical Society.
