The Lord Was with Him

The Bible says that “the Lord was with” Abraham, Joseph, David, and Hezekiah. We’re also told that Enoch and Noah “walked with God.” These are two sides of the same coin, two perspectives on the same experience of God’s special presence with His people.

This was a gracious experience. Humanity had severed itself from God by sin, but God in mercy came down to humanity again to reconcile, to reestablish, to reconnect, and to re-commune. These were all sinners separated from God by sin, and distant from God by nature. Yet God drew near to them, drew them to Himself, and filled them with His own presence. By God’s gift of faith in the coming Messiah, these Old Testament believers experienced forgiveness of their sins and God’s love shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Spirit given to them. The Lord who had been against them was now with them.

This was a spiritual experience. If you looked at Enoch or David, you would not have seen another physical figure with them. God was not with them physically; He was with them spiritually. By His indwelling Holy Spirit, God connected and communed with these men. The “withness” was a spiritual “withness.”

This was a personal experience. It wasn’t “the Force” that was with them, but a person. It was not some impersonal power but someone with a character, a personality, a will, an ability to communicate, and so on. As such, there was a sharing of personal thoughts, feelings, plans, hopes, and more. There was conversation between the Lord and those with whom He was present. We don’t know how much the Old Testament believers understood of God being three persons, but they certainly knew a personal God.

This was a transforming experience. God cannot be with someone without it making a difference in their lives. Enoch and Noah stood out from everyone else in their generation. Heathen kings and offcials such as Abimelech and Potiphar noticed a difference in those with whom God was present (Gen. 21:22; 26:28; 39:3). God’s presence produced inner qualities of holiness, peace, contentment, and courage. In the Old Testament it was also associated with outward prosperity and success (Gen. 39:2–3; 1 Sam. 18:14; 2 Kings 18:7).

This was an enjoyable experience. This was not some unwanted and terrifying invasion of these men’s lives. No, this was the God who was their best friend, coming to walk with them through life’s journey. What a wonderful experience, especially when these men were so often otherwise alone in their spiritual pilgrimage.

This was a varied experience. Though God never leaves any believer in whom He has come to live, there are times when He withdraws the sense of His presence, the feeling of His nearness. For example, we’re told that God left Hezekiah to test him (2 Chron. 32:31). That cannot mean God was with him one day and gone the next. Rather, it means that at this time Hezekiah did not have the conscious sense of God’s presence. God was there, but He was silent and still. Yes, the Spirit could be grieved under the old covenant, and such painful times taught these men how much they needed God’s active presence in their lives.

It was an everywhere experience. It was not confined to the temple or tabernacle, but God was with His people in building projects, in prison, on the throne, and on the farm. Wherever they went, whatever time of the day, they could enjoy God’s companionship. They could talk to Him, sing to Him, worship Him, enjoy Him wherever, whenever, whatever.

If Old Testament believers experienced this divine “withness”—this divine presence—how much more should we New Testament believers, who see Christ more clearly, who have the fullness of the Spirit’s indwelling, and who have so many other helps in our lives, families, and churches experience it?