He is in the midst! No child of God needs to be told who that One is. He was foreshadowed by the tree of life in the midst of the garden (Gen. 2:9)–He who is the Life.
Moses saw Him in the burning bush, and He called to him “out of the midst of the bush,” the blessed assurance that He is in the midst with His suffering people.
He dwelt among His people Israel, in the midst of the cloud, the visible sign of His presence.
And when the eternal and glorious One, the Life and the Light, came to earth tas the Lamb of God to die for the ungodly, we see Him in the midst: “There they crucified Him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left” (Lk. 23:32-33). Who can picture that scene–the Holy One in the midst of wicked men, hanging on the cross, shedding His blood!
They took His body from the place in the midst. They laid Him in the tomb. On the third day, the grave was emptied, and on the same day we see Him in the midst again: “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you” (Jn. 20:19).
We remember His blessed promise, recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, in anticipation of His death and resurrection, and the church He would have: “Where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them.” On the glorious day of His mighty victory, He fulfilled that promise. They were gathered together. Suddenly he was in their midst, to greet them with the message of peace, to show them His hands and His side.
And He is still in the midst. Wherever two or three gather together in His Name, having believed on Him, and owning no other name than His, gathered to Him, there He is still in the midst. “I will declare Thy Name unto My brethren; in the midst of the assembly will I sing praise unto Thee” (Heb. 11:12).
Now as the Firstborn among many brethren He leads in the praises, and we, redeemed by His blood, accepted in Him, one with Him, sing the song of redemption and praises in His Name. Such is true worship, gathered unto His Name, worshipping Him, singing that song, which He first sang–“He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praises unto our God.”
And John saw Him in the midst. “I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the breasts with a golden girdle” (Rev. 1:13).
And we shall see Him before long in the midst as it is so blessedly foretold: “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb, as it had been slain.” Oh! the glory that awaits us to see Him “in the midst.”
On earth, too, He will have the place in the midst. He will be in the midst of His people Israel and in the midst of Jerusalem. “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for lo, I come to dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord” (Zech. 2:11-12).
Around that glorious center will be grouped the nations, who have turned their swords to plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks, saying: “Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isa. 2:1-4).
The One in the midst will be the object of worship and of praise. He shall be King over all the earth. “All kings shall fall down before Him; all nations shall serve Him” (Ps. 72:11).
And this glorious Lord is our Lord, our Friend, our all! Well may faith shout for joy and look forward in happy anticipation to the day when we shall be with Him, who is “in the midst.”