Thou Art With Me

There’s a phrase in Psalm 23 that can turn the whole world right-side up again: “You are with me.” David didn’t write those words from a place of safety or comfort. He was running for his life, feeling the sting of betrayal, with every reason to think God had left him behind. But in the darkest valley, David makes a quiet turn. He stops talking about God and starts talking to Him. That’s not just a grammatical shift. It’s the heart waking up to the truth that changes everything.

David doesn’t say, “You used to be with me,” or, “Maybe you’ll be with me one day.” He says, “You are with me.” Right here, right now. The language is personal and close, the way you’d talk to someone who sees all your mess and stays anyway.

If you’re walking through a valley of loss, regret, fear, or just sheer loneliness, this truth is for you. God isn’t asking you to be strong enough to find Him. He’s already there, beside you, and even more, He lives in you. The love He gives isn’t based on how well you perform or how perfectly you pray. He’s not the Shepherd who breaks your legs when you wander; He’s the one who searches, finds, carries, and celebrates you coming home.

Maybe it’s time to let go of the prayer, “God, please be with me,” and learn to rest in, “God, You are with me.” It’s not a small difference. One comes from anxiety, the other from confidence. One keeps looking for God somewhere else; the other trusts He’s already here.

This episode is about how David’s shift from talking about God to talking to God changed his story and how it can change ours, too. We’ll talk about what it means to believe God’s presence isn’t just an idea but a present reality, no matter what you’re facing.

You are not alone. The Good Shepherd isn’t far off, shaking His head or keeping His distance. He’s with you, in the dark, in the questions, in every ache. And His presence is enough.

Join me for a conversation about the kind of peace and courage that only come when you know God is with you and that He isn’t going anywhere.

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Chapters

• 0:00 The Lord Is My Shepherd
• 8:46 You Are With Me
• 14:23 The Good Shepherd Versus Hirelings
• 18:56 Never Alone in Life's Challenges
• 22:51 Christ In You: Beyond Companionship
• 27:22 Nothing Can Separate Us

Transcript

Austin Gardner: 0:00

Take your Bibles, if you would, and turn with me to Psalm, chapter 23. Psalm, chapter 23. In Psalm 23, david is in trouble, his son is attacking him, his best friend has turned on him and he gets strength by thinking truth. He gets strength by thinking truth Instead of thinking I'm in trouble. He says I'll focus on the Lord is my shepherd. That's what I'm going to focus on. The Lord is my shepherd. He always takes care of me. I shall not want he makes me lie down in green pastures. All my life he's been taking care of me and he even gave me peaceful waters where I can drink. And when I've been extremely discouraged and wanted to die, he was right there, restoring me and encouraging me. And when I didn't know where to walk and I didn't know what to do, he guided me in paths of righteousness, because he loves me for his name's sake. He did all that. But I'm scared. I am in this valley of the shadow of death. And so for all these verses so far, david's been saying I'm thinking about you, and it's third person I'm thinking about you. And then in in verse 4, he says in verse 4, he says Yea, I am the one walking in the valley of the shadow of death, but I will fear no evil, for thou art with me Because you're with me. I almost hear him going. It's true. It's true. I said he's my shepherd. I said he was there. You are with me, you really are with me in the middle of all this stuff. You, you are, you are with me, you are with me.

Austin Gardner: 2:02

Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. Ask God to help us sink in, because I want it to become your meditation during the week. I want it to become a part of what you consider during your life. Father, I love you. I thank you so much for the privilege of opening your word. I thank you, holy Spirit, because you wrote down the words and then you make them come alive to us as we meditate on them and think about them. God, your people here, I know you're with them, I know you're going to bless them, I know you're taking care of them, but I don't think they always know that. I don't think they always see that. I think they can feel very alone, they can feel like they have been abandoned, and today I want you to remind them, holy Spirit, again, I know you're with them, I know you're taking care of them, and I know that's who you are. God, help them to wake up and sense and see who you are and what you're doing, and I'll give you praise for what you do in Jesus name, amen.

Austin Gardner: 2:54

Now I read a song this week, a secular song, a worldly song. It said I walk a lonely road, the only one I've ever known. I don't know where it goes, but it's home to me. I walk alone. I walk this empty street on the boulevard of broken dreams, where the city sleeps, and I'm the only one. I walk alone. My shadow's the only one that walks beside me. My shallow heart's the only thing that's beaten Sometimes. I wish someone out there would find me. Man, what a sad testimony, what a sad commentary. I'm alone, but you might think that you might think that nobody sees you.

Austin Gardner: 3:44

You might think you just blend into the background. You may might think that you might think that nobody sees you. You might think you just blend into the background. You may think like that, but that's not the truth that you've got in front of you today. Thou art with me. I really want you to memorize that and think about that. Thou art with me Now thou.

Austin Gardner: 4:00

You know thou. That's an old fashioned English word. We don't use that anymore. But it's a good word becausefashioned English word we don't use that anymore. But it's a good word because it's a word we don't use much in modern English, because in modern English if I say you, we don't know if I'm talking about you or if I'm talking to her you, because it can be all these different yous. But with thou it's like intimate, personal you. It's like in Spanish. We have a word, we have a way to say we have two yous. We have a you that's real, respectful, like strangers, and we have a you you talk to your children with, a you you talk to your wife with. And this word that David uses is not the you, it's the you, it's the. I know, it's you personally.

Austin Gardner: 4:42

Then he said thou art with Me. He said art, you are with Me, you are with Me. It's not, you will be with Me, not you were with Me, not I want you to be with Me, but you are with Me. I don't know how many times I have prayed Like all the preachers I've ever heard. Oh God, be with Me. And he looks down and goes I am. I ain't the one that's moved, I am with you. I told you I was, I told you I'd never leave, I told you I'd never forsake you and the preacher goes. I know, but I need you to be with me and God goes, okay. It's kind of like me looking at y'all right now and say sit down, all you people sit down, and you'd be like okay, austin, we are sitting, buddy, go on, get with the program. But that's kind of how we treat God. God come be with us. And David realizes that you get. You see that in the Psalm he goes you are with me, you are with me. I really, I really. I mean, I'll be honest with you from the bottom of my heart. I love this Because he's in trouble.

Austin Gardner: 5:51

He's running for his life. His enemies are wanting to kill him. His son is leading all of his enemies. His son has publicly humiliated him, taking his wives on the rooftop of the palace. His best friend is out there with his son trying to destroy him. He's alone. He only has a handful of men with him.

Austin Gardner: 6:17

Y'all remember, when he walked out of the city, the old boy kicking dirt on him and spitting at him and yelling at him and saying you brought this on yourself, you bloody man. He's alone and all of a sudden he realizes you are with me. I need you to catch something here. I don't think I'm worthy of him being with me. You ever feel like that, you know. You think, well, I have messed up. David could have thought I messed up raising my kids and I messed up being a king and I messed up being a husband. I'm just one big mess up. Now you won't say that out loud. You'll say we aren't that honest. We think that inside. We think that in a deep, dark night. But David looks at it and goes, huh, huh. You are with me, even though I don't deserve it. You're with me, even though I didn't take care of raising my kids right. You're with me even though I messed up in leadership. You're with me even though everybody else has left me. You're with me. I don't have to ask you to be with me. You are with me. I'm not to the message. I'll get there in a to be with me. You are with me. I'm not to the message. I'll get there in a while. But with me. That's an Old Testament, hebrew thing. With me here is like marriage. This with me is a covenant thing. You're with me.

Austin Gardner: 7:43

You see, 51 years ago almost 52 now I married Betty and she's been with me. I mean, she really messed up. She took that vow. She said for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer. She said all those things to me, man. Now she's in the bad health days and she's been through the really poor days. And she's been through the really poor days and she's been through the grumpy days and when I wasn't as nice as guys ought to be. But she made a promise and she committed to me and she kept it. She's a good woman.

Austin Gardner: 8:13

God's a better God and the God of heaven looked down at you and said I take you and I love you and I rescue you from your sin. And I rescue you from your sin and I rescue you from your mess and I'm with you and I ain't leaving. I gave you my word. I need you to understand today that when you feel like everything's against you and no one's with you and no one cares about you, he is with you. He's with you.

Austin Gardner: 8:44

Now, before we get to the message, we're in the New Testament. You understand what that means. He ain't with us. He is with us, but he's in us. Huh, guess where he lives In me, guess who's in Christ. God is in Christ, god is in Christ and Christ is in me and I'm in Christ and I'm in God. This is just one big. There's no getting out of it. We're wrapped up in one big union with God, because he saved us and he loves us. Thou art with me, boy God, I know you are with me, I know you're with me, but in the New Testament I know much more than that.

Austin Gardner: 9:40

I know that God fills up every nook and cranny of my life. I know that there's never a time I'm alone. I know there's never a secret that's hidden. I know there's not a part of my life that he's not concerned about. I know that he is sharing everything about my life with me.

Austin Gardner: 9:59

When you're sick, you're laying there and hurt and you know nobody in the room understands, because it's a chunk nobody else is going through. He does because he can be touched with the feelings of your infirmities. He's touched with it. Mean, I mean, that's that's new testament way of saying. He feels what you feel. He became one of us to live among us, to be one of us and feel what we feel, to be with us, to comfort us. Oh, he never leaves us, ever, ever, ever.

Austin Gardner: 10:36

Uh, all my life I I've just about been preaching and in churches, since I was I don't know 15. I don't know. All my life, it seems like. But it'd always be so funny to me, back especially 50 years ago. Somebody would come to me and they'd say I ain't going to lie to you, we're in the church of God, we're in the house of God. I'd say, well, you can lie, You're like you can lie here, like you can lie at your house. I mean, god's everywhere. And they'd be like, no, I wouldn't lie here. You might lie on the porch, but why are you lying in here? Amen. But you know what? You are the temple of the living God. He lives in you. Thou art with me, he knows you, he's with you, he shares your burden, he is actively protecting you. He's with you, he shares your burden, he is actively protecting you.

Austin Gardner: 11:22

I want you to read what it says. It says yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Why? Because because you are with me. The only way I can get through what I'm going through, the only way I can deal with what's happening to me is I'm not alone. I'm not alone, you are with me. Then he says thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. I'll do more on that at another time, but it's a funny thing, the way Baptist preachers you know.

Austin Gardner: 11:54

I grew up and the preacher loved to say something like if you run away, god may chase you down and break your leg and bring you back. You know, no shepherd ever does that. I grew up on a farm. My daddy would break my leg before he let me break an animal's leg. My daddy would be like you don't hurt the animals. That's money, buddy. You don't hurt them. I'd throw rocks at them sometimes. Oh, oh, my goodness. Whenever he saw that. Oh, it was like you don't hurt the animals because they're worth something. Well, god never does that. See what it says here Thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, Everything you have to guide and protect me. It's there. And I know that I may be going through the most scary time of my life. I don't know what's going to happen, I don't know where I am, but this much I know you are with me and you are able to protect me. And not only that, you will protect me because you are with me.

Austin Gardner: 12:51

In the New Testament I can say something even deeper than that. I can say he's in me, he lives in me. I want you to notice here there's no mention of sin or failure. There's no. You sin too much. There's no like God goes. Okay, you crossed the line. I'm backing off over here to look at you. That's not what's happening.

Austin Gardner: 13:18

By the way. If you run away, he goes with you. If you jump, what's happening? By the way? If you run away, he goes with you. If you jump the fence and run to the far fields and you're out there with the prostitutes and the drunkards and the drug addicts and you're wasting all your daddy's money, he's with you. You can't get away from him. He said I will never leave you, I'll never leave you. He's not going to do that. You can't leave and you can't be left. We are together in one. You matter to him individually. It's an unbreakable relationship. It's an unbreakable relationship. You're never, ever alone. So I want you to think with me that my shepherd is with me. Now.

Austin Gardner: 14:03

David's meditating. You see, david's taking what David knows and David's applying it to his life. David knows what it's like to be a shepherd. And so David starts off and said the Lord is my shepherd. I know what it means to be a shepherd and I know what it means to have a shepherd, because I know what my sheep have. By the way, you can't be a shepherd if you don't have sheep, and sheep are in trouble if they don't have a shepherd. So this is a symbiotic relationship.

Austin Gardner: 14:35

The sheep share the life of the shepherd. Did you know? The shepherd walks with them, the shepherd leads them, the shepherd lays down with them at night, the shepherd protects them. They're together when the sun's beating down hard, when the wind is blowing, when the wolves are howling, they're together. They know each other intimately. They are bound together. The Lord is my shepherd, he is with me. The shepherd's committed to the sheep. He made a promise to the sheep. Now I know who that shepherd is.

Austin Gardner: 15:04

By the way, david, in the Old Testament he can't see everything I can see. He didn't get to see all the 27 books of the New Testament. He didn't get to see the rest of the books that were written in the Old Testament. He's missing a lot of truth. That I have and I know this. Jesus said I am the good shepherd, I am the good shepherd. And Jesus said I know my sheep and I am known of mine.

Austin Gardner: 15:29

Did you know this morning that he knows your name? Now you need to take that to the bank with you. He knows you. He knows so many things about you. It's just scary. He said I keep the count on the hairs on your head. If a bird falls, I know about that and I keep up with the hairs on your head. I know you.

Austin Gardner: 15:46

So he knows where you are. He knows what you're feeling. He knows what you're going through. He's made promises to you. He will not leave you. You are secure in him. You are secure in him. You see, he says with me. That's where the security is. I'm not secure because I'm strong. I'm not secure because I have abilities. I'm not secure because I know how to fight. I know how to defend myself. I'm not secure because I know where to find the food to eat. It means that we share the same fate. He's with me, he's with me. So when I go in for scans in a couple weeks, he'll be in there with me. And if I have another surgery, he'll be with me. And if I end up dying, he'll be with me. He's with me. He's actively protecting me. He's my unconditional, unfailing friend. Psalm 23,. He says I walk through the valley of the shadow of death and I will fear no evil. I will not be afraid because you are with me and you comfort me. He's on with us on every dark path. He's with us. We are never alone. We are never abandoned.

Austin Gardner: 16:56

In the new testament, jesus explains that there are shepherds that don't take care of their sheep. He said I call them hirelings, y'all remember that. It says in John, chapter 10 and verse 12, he, that's a hireling, he's a hired hand. He is doing it for the money. He's not a shepherd and they're not his sheep. And when he sees the wolf coming, the Bible says he'll leave the sheep and he'll run away because he doesn't care. He doesn't care for the sheep. But Jesus says I am the good shepherd. I lay down my life for the sheep and so before anything he'd get to me to hurt me, jesus died for me to take care that that didn't happen. He's taking care of me. I want you to know he's with you. I want you to know you can't get away.

Austin Gardner: 17:46

In Psalm 139, 7-10, he said when would you go to get away from my presence? Where would you go to get away from my presence? He said. Where would I flee from my presence? He said If I were to go all the way up into heaven? You're there, he said. If would I flee from thy presence? He said if I were to go all the way up into heaven? You're there. He said. If I go all the way down into hell? Well, you're there. If I take wings in the morning and go to the father's parts of the sea, there's your right hand and it leads me and it holds me. You can't get away from the shepherd. He loves you, he loves you, he loves you.

Austin Gardner: 18:22

At night, when fear rolled in on me and I felt the tumors and I'd say they're growing, and I'd hear the voice of the oncologist and I'd hear the voice of all the doctors no-transcript. What to think Now when the nasty thoughts come rolling in? You know what nasty thoughts I mean. You're alone, nobody cares about you, you're about to die, it's about to be over. When all that junk comes rolling in now, I'd say whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I don't think like that. Because he's with me, because he's with me, he is the Lord, is my shepherd. I shall not want, I will not.

Austin Gardner: 19:13

Did you know sheep? They don't have a sense of threat. That's a dumb. That's dumb. They let a lion walk right up and eat them. I mean, they're dumb. They don't worry. I wonder if we're eating tomorrow. Hey, let's have a sheep convention. I don't know if the shepherd got us any water to drink. They don't do that. They're just dumb. They're like that's the shepherd. He does his thing, I do my thing and we get along. He takes care of the food and he takes care of the water and he takes care of protecting me. He takes care of everything. I just look to the shepherd and the shepherd looks to me. They simply trust. They don't worry about the future. That's what Jesus said.

Austin Gardner: 19:57

You remember what he said in Matthew 6? He said y'all, quit taking thought of tomorrow, stop thinking about tomorrow. He said do I take care of the birds and the bees and the lilies of the field? Do I take care of the flowers? In fact, solomon couldn't put on the kind of clothes I put on my flowers. He said everybody knows that, the wild people of the world, they need these things and you need these things, but I'll take care of getting you what you need. He said thy rod and thy staff. They comfort me.

Austin Gardner: 20:29

He's not going to break my leg. He's going to protect me when the enemy comes. He's going to raise up and defend me when the negative thoughts come, when the devil wants to attack me, when sin comes in on me, he'll protect me. And, by the way, if I run away, instead of breaking my leg, he'll find me down, stuck in the pit, where I've fallen in the pit, or stuck in the mess that's ruining my life, or about to drown or about to starve, and he'll just pick me up and put me on his shoulders and pull me tight and close to him and have my little head next to his head. And all the way home he'll just be telling me how much he loves me and he'll be feeding me some sheep sweets and he'll be telling me how sweet it is to have me back and how he looked for me and how he found me, no matter where I was, and he brought me back. And then, when he gets back, you know what he does, don't you? He throws a party. I know what y'all thought he put him in church discipline. Y'all thought he's gonna say you, you should have done it, you should have done it and we're here, done it, and we're here to get you. No, jesus goes back and says hey, everybody, come here. I found my sheep. I found my sheep. He'd gone away but I found him. I'm never alone, always together.

Austin Gardner: 21:47

In Isaiah 43, 2, he said when thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee. I want you to get a hold of this. It's all through the Bible. He's going to be with us. The rivers can try to drown us, he's with us. The fires can try to burn us, he's with us. He's not watching over you. That's so different than with you. It's one thing for me to sit here and watch you burn. It's another thing for me to sit here and watch you burn. It's another thing for me to be in the fire with you. Three Hebrew children got thrown in the fire first. He didn't go. Let me watch and see what happens to them boys. He said I'm getting in there with them. Amen, he was with them.

Austin Gardner: 22:26

You know, adam and Eve messed up in sin. They're hiding from God. But our God is such a sweet God. You get looking for him, say hey, where are y'all? What y'all doing? Get over here. I'm going to cover that up. You messed up, but I'll fix up. He cares and he's there. He's with you. He's united with you in your struggles. He struggles with you.

Austin Gardner: 22:53

In 2 Corinthians, chapter 12, he said my grace is sufficient. See, paul said I really, I need help. I got this sickness, or I got this person plaguing me, or I got this. We don't know for sure what was going on. He had a thorn in the flesh. Could have been a deacon, Could have been a demon, could have been a sickness who knows what it was. Because I got his thorn in the flesh and I need you to do something about it. And the Lord says oh, don't worry, I'm with you. I'm with you. I feel your pain, I hurt with you, I care, and my strength will be what you need.

Austin Gardner: 23:38

And so, before it's over, paul says I glory in my infirmities, in my weaknesses, in my hurting, in my problems, because I know when I'm in a mess, that's when the power of Christ is in me. It's not the sheep's smarts, it's not the sheep's strengths, it's the shepherd. I just got to remind you of what just revolutionizes my life. I'm always nervous to preach to you, even though I've been preaching all my life. And every now and then I'll say to him, just before I get ready to preach be with me. And now I'm like, excuse me, I didn't mean to say that. Thank you for being with me, because I know you already are. I know tonight you get home and the problems will come running at you and you'll feel like you're alone and you'll feel like nobody cares and you'll feel like nobody sees you. I want you to remember this he's with you, but he's more than with you.

Austin Gardner: 24:36

Galatians 2.20. I'm crucified with Christ. I'm dead with Christ. Yet I'm alive, but I'm not alive. Christ is alive in me, in the life which I not live in the flesh. I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. What in the world? That's a confusing sentence. I'm alive, I'm alive. I'm dead. I'm not alive. He's alive and I am alive, but I am crucified my life's over, because Jesus saved me, jesus rescued me, jesus changed me, jesus gave me new life. He lives in me. He's not just with me, he's in me, he's in me. He's not just with me, he's in me, he's in me.

Austin Gardner: 25:18

I guess I'll close with this thought here for you, when Jesus was getting ready to depart the earth, go back to the Father John and the Gospels. He said don't be worried, I wouldn't leave if I wasn't coming back. But while I'm gone I got another one, just like me. He's called the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. And it's better for y'all that I'm gone because the Holy Spirit is going. It's better for y'all that I'm gone because the Holy Spirit is going to come, live in you and the comfort will be in you. John, chapter 14, verses 16 through 18. And he will abide with you forever.

Austin Gardner: 26:05

You know there are times when the apostles in the Gospels, jesus ain't with them. He just send them out on the ocean and he'll go up in the hill and pray. That's a scary time and they get terrified. You remember that's when the boat's about to sink and the floods are coming, and then they look up and see a ghost walking on the water. You remember that don't happen to us, because he never leaves us and we're never alone, because he dwells with us, because he's in us, because jesus promised to never leave us comfortless. He said I will come to you. That holy spirit is god, the father, god, the son in the, in the person of the spirit living in you. You're never without comfort. We have peace because of His presence. We never face anything alone.

Austin Gardner: 26:59

The shepherd never leaves a sheep to wander alone. This verse Isaiah 40, verse 11,. He gathers the lambs with His arms and he carries them in his bosom Gently, sweetly, tenderly. He carries them and he's enough. He's enough. I shall not want, you see, when you learn to stop focusing on yourself and start focusing on the shadows, and stop focusing on the situation and stop focusing on the worries and to start focusing on the shepherd. There's the hope. It's the shepherd, he's sufficient. I shall not want. That means there's no sense of lack, there's no idea that I'm worried about the future. I know my needs are met. I know my needs are met. I know my needs are met and nothing can separate you from the love of God.

Austin Gardner: 28:05

Romans 8,. Nothing can separate you from the love of God. Sometimes, when we're discouraged and depressed and the devil is attacking, we begin to think things like I know he loves me, but I ain't sure he really loves me. I know he loved me, but I've messed up. I know he loves me, but I haven't been given. I haven't been praying. I don't know if I've been doing enough. I don't been praying. I don't know if I've been doing enough. I don't know, maybe I've gotten gold and backslid Boy.

Austin Gardner: 28:39

I grew up with that man. They guilted us all the time, didn't they? But he said this he said nothing should be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. You're united forever. And this is my last verse, maybe my favorite of the whole morning he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit. We're one with Him because he saved us, he rescued us, he justified us, he sanctified us, he washed us, he made us acceptable, justified us, he sanctified us, he washed us, he made us acceptable, he made us beloved. He did all those things. He took us 2 Corinthians 5, 21. He that knew no sin became sin for those that knew sin, so that we could know the righteousness of God.

Austin Gardner: 29:30

Thou art with me this week, no matter what you're facing, no matter what's going on. Know this I don't have to be afraid because he's with me, and I want y'all to be able to look up tonight, this week, sometime, and just go. You really are with me. I get it. You really are with me. With me, not with the preacher. Really are with me. With me, not with the preacher, but with me, not with some big fancy king. You're with me, he is with you. Father in heaven, I love you and I thank you so much for the privilege of serving you, and I pray that your name would be glorified and magnified. I pray that people today would know salvation If they've never trusted you that today they would be saved. They'd know that they go to heaven when they die, and I pray, god, that you would do a work in the lives of Christians and your name will be glorified. I'll give you praise for all In Jesus' name, amen.