I Will Be With Thee Successful prayers. –Hannah prayed for a child, and the Lord gave her Samuel (1 Sam. 1).

Elijah prayed that it might not rain, and it rained not for three years and six months (James 5:17). Then he prayed again that it might rain, and the heaven gave forth her rain (James 5:18). Hezekiah prayed that he might live, and he lived 15 more years (2 Kings 20:1-11).

Unsuccessful prayers. David prayed that his child be spared, but he was not (2 Sam. 12:15-18). Jesus prayed that His cup be taken from Him, but it was not (Matt. 26:39). Paul prayed that his thorn in the flesh be taken from him, but the Lord said no (2 Cor. 12:8-9).

Terrible things happen to wonderful people: Abel. Job. Uriah the son of Shemaiah was assassinated (Jer. 26:20-24), but Jeremiah was not.

When bad things happen to me, could I say that I deserved anything else? What blessings did I deserve? None at all. Have I received more blessings than I deserve? Undoubtedly. And the reason for this is that God is abundant in lovingkindness.

When we think of all those passages that assure us that God will be with us, what do these passages mean? When we say or sing, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want,” does this mean that none of my loved ones will die, or does it mean that I will never be sick, or never have some hard times.

Or when we say that the Lord is our refuge, and our rock – “I cried unto thee, O Jehovah; I said, Thou art my refuge” (142:5) – does this mean that nothing bad will ever happen to me? How are we to take a psalm like the 3rd Psalm? “Thou, O Jehovah, art a shield about me” (3:3).

Or Psalm 4: “For thou, Jehovah, alone makest me dwell in safety.” First, we may look back and see the blessings God gave us when we were in difficulties, and we may think of Him as a Rock upon which we climbed up to get out of the flood waters, or as a shield from danger.

But as we contemplate a future with many uncertainties how may we keep our confidence and faith when we do not know what the outcome of any trial may be?

Consider our hope. Ps. 73:25: “Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.” Ps. 16:2: “O my soul, thou hast said unto Jehovah, Thou art my Lord: I have no good beyond thee.” Ps. 16:5: “Jehovah is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.”

Ps. 16:6: “The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.” Ps. 39:7: “And now, Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in thee.” Ps. 119:57: “Jehovah is my portion.”

Ps. 146:5: “Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in Jehovah his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is; who keepeth truth for ever; who executeth justice for the oppressed; who giveth food to the hungry.”

Lam. 3:24: “Jehovah is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him.” Eph. 1:18: Having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling.” Eph. 2:12: “Having no hope and without God in the world.”

1 Tim. 1:1: Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Saviour, and Christ Jesus our hope.” Tit. 1:2: “in hope of eternal life.” Tit. 2:13: “Looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.”

Tit. 3:7: “That, being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Eph. 4:4: “One hope.” Our hope is one: eternal life.

What we cannot count on: We cannot count on the sun shining always. We cannot count on always having good health. We cannot count on always having everything we want.

We cannot count on always having everything go the way we want it to. We cannot count on living for ever. We cannot count on our spouse’s living for ever. We cannot count on our children living for ever.

We cannot count on living in the lap of luxury. We cannot count on the church’s having no problems. With Job we can say, sometimes “the thing which I fear cometh upon me, and that which I am afraid of cometh unto me” (Job 3:25).

What you can count on. You know how it is when you wait and wait for a thing, and then it is not as great as you had hoped? Or you waited and waited and then found out that you were not getting what you thought you were? That you are going to have to do something else to get that?

Your salvation and eternal life is God’s gift to you, and you can count on it. It is the only thing you can count on. When everything else fails, God’s promise will not fail. In all the great assurances we have looked at in the scriptures, this is what they mean.

Deut. 31:6: “Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be affrighted at them: for Jehovah thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”

God means that He will enable you to do your purpose on earth and will then unfailingly reward you with eternal life. The thing that sustains is the knowledge that no matter what happens in this world, heaven is waiting (1 Pet. 1:3-4).

“For our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:17).