"I Love to be with You"

When i recall, it really seems amazing, almost (and perhaps) divine, how a worship song crept into my head while i was busy at work this morning.

The song was an old one entitled, "I Love to be with You". And as i let my heart and mind take over as i worshipped God (in my heart, of course!) with the song, it suddenly dawned upon me that that was indeed the cry of my heart. It indeed expresses my deepest desire. And as i meditated and mulled over the song, each line became precious ... they seem to echo the depths of my heart there and then ...

"I Love to be with You"

Chorus:
I love to be in Your presence Lord
I love to be with You
For when i touch Your glory
Your Spirit restores me
I love to be with You
Lord i love to be with You

Verse 1:
All my fears disappear
Whenever I'm with You
Every care becomes a prayer
That I can be with You

Verse 2:
I exchange all my pain
And You give me perfect peace
Your steadfast love is like a flood
That washes over me

Here, then, are my simple mullings of the song ... line upon line ...

"I love to be in Your presence Lord"
The picture that this line brings to my mind is that of God's tangible and manifest presence ... There i am, in the midst of worshipping God - enveloped by His awesome presence. Oh, how i love that feeling; how i love to be in Your presence Lord!!!

"I love to be with You"
I know this may sound like a play of words; this second line actually (more of less) means the same thing as the first ... pardon me, but the picture it gives me is something different. With this verse, i see myself standing closely beside my Savior and Lord. It was something real, something much more tangible; there Jesus is - right beside me ... enveloping me with His loving embrace. Oh, how i love to be with You!!!

"For when I touch Your glory ... Your Spirit restores me"
In the following two lines, the songwriter exposes the reason why we (or at least me) ought to love to be in His presence; the connective word "for" says it all.

Oh, how i love to be in God's presence ... to be with Him ... for when i touch Your glory. The word "glory" could mean many things ... but two things stood out to me: firstly, that of the shekinah glory of God (the weight of His tangible presence), and secondly, that of seeing and beholding God in all His awesome splendor and infinite worth (seeing God for who He is; beholding the beauty of His holiness).

And indeed, it is because of that intimate and stupendous encounter with our Lord that the next logical thing happens: namely, "Your Spirit restores me". Ooh ... i'm sure many of us can attest to that ... for when we are lost - really lost - in God's sweet and holy presence, there we find serenity, peace, joy, rest, and a whole host of other wonderful things; our spirits are restored in the presence of our King!!! Oh, how i love to be in His glorious presence!!!

"I love to be with You ... Lord, I love to be with You"
These two lines that follow simply reiterates the desire of my heart after mediating over the preceding verses. It is interesting to note the double emphasis. Indeed, i love to be with You, Lord!!! Oh, how i love to be with You!!!

"All my fears disappear whenever I'm with You"
The next line delves even deeper as to what happens to us when we are lost in His presence - all our fears disappear. And indeed, how true this is. I can remember so vividly how in God's presence, all my fears and concerns all disappear ... Indeed, i believe it is because when we are in His presence, God lifts us up to where He is ... and there, we get a bird's eye view of everything; everything (our troubles, etc) all fall into their proper place as we embrace the sovereignty of our Lord. Everything - absolutely everything - is now viewed in their proper perspective - through the very eyes of our Lord. Thus, the songwriter could write - and we can attest - "All my fears disappear, whenever i'm with You." As 1 John 4: 18 says it so aptly - "... perfect love casts out fear ..." Oh, how i love to be with You!!!

"Every care becomes a prayer ... that i can be with You"
The song goes on to tell us how every care of ours that we carry with us into God's presence now becomes a prayer ... for in His presence, we can unload and cast all our anxieties upon Him, for He cares for us (1 Peter 5: 7). And indeed, our only 'concern' now would be that we can be with God!!!

"I exchange all my pain ... and You give me perfect peace"
After going through the chorus once again, this next verse describes vividly what happens when we are deep in God's holy presence; a divine transaction takes place. For there, we find ourselves unloading and trading all our hurts, pains, disappointments, etc with God's perfect peace - a peace that surpasses all understanding; a peace that comes from God alone. How awesome and satisfying the thought!!!

"Your steadfast love is like a flood ... that washes over me"
This next line expands a little more on the divine exchange that was mentioned earlier. It is God's love - His steadfast, eternal, everlasting, and very tangible love - that swamps over our souls like a flood ... it is this agape love of God that releases us from all our human cares and wants. Oh, it's like the balm ... the balm that flows in and heals ... that restores ... that refreshes!!! How true this is ... i'm certain that all of us have experienced the reality of God's love flow in and through us during our times with Him!!! How great that feeling ... Oh, how i love to be in His presence!!!

Concluding Remarks ...

Ponder, my friends, over how wonderful, how rewarding, how satisfying God's presence is to those who would long and pant after Him!!! Oh, how sweet is His very presence!!! Let's keep coming for more of Him; for we can never get enough ... the more we drink, the more we desire and long for more of Him!!! Paradoxical, but true ... and i close with this prayer:

"Lord, how i love to be in Your presence; how i love to be with You, by Your side. Oh, take me deeper, ever deeper in that sweet presence of Your's where unceasing joy abounds!!! Oh, i love to be with You - forever!!!"