Christ My Companion: The Prayer of St. Patrick

"I can never escape from your spirit! I can never get away from your presence!"
-Psalm 139:7

St. Patrick was the patron saint and national apostle of Ireland who is credited with bringing christianity to Ireland. Most of what is known about him comes from his two works, the Confessio, a spiritual autobiography, and his Epistola, a denunciation of British mistreatment of Irish christians. St. Patrick described himself as a "most humble-minded man, pouring forth a continuous paean of thanks to his Maker for having chosen him as the instrument whereby multitudes who had worshipped idols and unclean things had become the people of God."
St. Patrick prayed a prayer called "St. Patrick's Breastplate." The title of the prayer itself has a lot of meaning, when we think especially back to Ephesians and what the breastplate of righteousness is. I have been studying a portion of this prayer as well, and have found that it offers a range of reflection on scriptual teaching, Christian theology, and the mystery of God's presence with us. One of the things St. Patrick repeats in this prayer is "I bind unto myself today," St. Patrick "bound unto himself" the truths he knew and claimed in order to equip himself for work in a pagan world. Something for us to consider and remember as we still live in a pagan world.
Here is his prayer:

I bind unto myself today
the strong Name of the Trinity,
by invocation of the same,
the Three in One, and One in Three.

I bind this day to me forever,
by power of faith, Christ’s Incarnation;
his baptism in the Jordan river;
his death on cross for my salvation;
his bursting from the spiced tomb;
his riding up he heavenly way;
his coming at the day of doom:
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power
of the great love of cherubim;
the sweet “Well done” in judgement hour;
the service of the seraphim;
confessors’ faith, apostles’ word,
the patriarchs’ prayers, the prophets’ scrolls;
all good deeds done unto the Lord,
and purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today
the virtues of the starlit heaven,
the glorious sun’s life-giving ray,
the whiteness of the moon at even,
the flashing of the lightning free,
the whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
the stable earth, the deep salt sea,
around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today
the power of God to hold and lead,
his eye to watch, his might to stay,
his ear to hearken to my need;
the wisdom of my God to teach,
his hand to guide, his shield to ward;
the word of God to give me speech,
his heavenly host to be my guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,
the vice that gives temptation force,
the natural lusts that war within,
the hostile men that mar my course;
of few or many, far or nigh,
in every place, and in all hours
against their fierce hostility,
I bind to me these holy powers.

Against all Satan’s spells and wiles,
against false words of heresy,
against the knowledge that defiles
against the heart’s idolatry,
against the wizard’s evil craft,
against the death-wound and the burning
the choking wave and poisoned shaft,
protect me, Christ, till thy returning.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the Name,
the strong Name of the Trinity,
by invocation of the same,
the Three in One, and One in Three.
Of whom all nature hath creation,
eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
praise to the Lord of my salvation,
salvation is of Christ the Lord.

The whole Bible is essentially "God with us." It is full of stories of how God was with His children, from the children of Israel to his pouring out wrath and judgement in the prophetic books. Then Emmanuel came, God with us. Jesus, fully God, and fully man stepped off His throne and lowered himself to our level; He came to us. Jesus is referred to as The Light, because He is our light. If you read John 1:1-14, this passage of scripture describes and explains Jesus as the light that surrounds us, and is among us. The light is Salvation, we are asking God to dwell within us and be with us. We know that God is with is when peace reigns, and when God is with is our knowing is certain. "Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand." Isaiah 41:10
When we are in His presence, He is with us. For the Christian that is all the time. Our Father never leaves. However, song, like prayer, brings us into His presence. The Spirit prays over us (Romans 8:26), but the Spirit also sings over us (Zephaniah 3:17).
Christ is within us. "For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’" We experience this when we "feed" on his word; the Word is our spiritual bread of life. Even in the Lord's Supper we "take eat of His body that was broken for us, and drink His blood that was spilled for us. The core truth in this line of St. Patrick's prayer is that our God is a God who enters into the created order and inhabits it-who does not simply act upon us from above or afar but dwells at the heart of things, in the hearts of the very people who fail and forsake Him. However, we are reassured that what is at work within us us not limited to our imagination or control, but only inhabits us when we are willing vessels. My heart and flesh may fail, but MY GOD NEVER FAILS!
St. Patrick's prayer both reminds and invites to turn our attention and bring our intentions to the Christ within us: Christ, who renews my life with every breath, who offers me direction when I quiet my mind, who empowers me to act despite my shortcomings. The Christ who comforts and fills up every dark space with His light.

Christ be with me, Christ be within me.

"Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”" -Isaiah 30:21

My Aunt tells me she walks behind me sometimes because I'm her child, and she has to keep her eye on me, and watch me even at 23. Really anywhere you go in public you will see the kids in front of the parents, and it's because 1 the kids have already run ahead in excitement, and 2 the parents watch their children to make sure they are okay. Or sometimes you will see one parent in front and another in the back with the kids in between. This is how it is with Jesus and his children (us).
On this journey of life on the narrow road it gets hard. Jesus said that "the gateway to life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it." (Matt.7:14) There are several reasons He is both behind and before us. When we are behind he encourages us when we lag, and he motivates us when we are weary, He also guards us. He is a God who protects us, our shield, and defense, to hide those who are seeking escape from the enemy. One of the most moving images of one who walks behind is the story of Simon, the man who carried Jesus' cross. He was recruited to help bear one of heaviest burdens in history! Simon becomes another figure of Christ, who, when he asks us to take up our crosses and follow Him, promises to walk behind us as Simon did, and lighten the weight.
David says it so beautifully in Psalm 139:5 "You both precede and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head." Behind us, he watches and protects, he waits for us to find our way, he prompts and directs, and he carries the heaviest part of the crosses we may think we carry alone. He leave no one behind, he waits in divine patience for the strength that will come as we grow in the Spirit to the point when we can run and not be weary, and when we mount up with wings like eagles, on His strength and in His good time, He will be there, moving the currents that will bear us heavenward.
Wherever we may go, God was there first and is waiting for us. There is no where we can go where we are unobserved, unprotected, or unanticipated. There is never a situation that Christ doesn't know intimately, or personally because he's been there before me. Lysa TerKeurst president of Proverbs 31 Ministries here in Charlotte put it in these terms, "He came to save us but spent His first 30 years living in the trenches of everyday life. Can you imagine what patience and humility that took? To live for 30 years swallowing the reality that you are the King of Kings doing chores, getting along with your brother, learning the art of carpentry, and figuring out what’s for dinner it really is amazing. He could have just appeared as an adult and started preaching His messages.
But He didn’t. He started at infancy identifying with us. Then, He started at 30 inspiring us. Him identifying with us made His inspiration more real, more authentic, more touchable." He is the one who goes before us preparing the way, assessing the difficulties ahead, he leads us "by the still waters" as David says in the 23rd Psalm. Wherever we seek Him, we will find Him standing before us who went before us to prepare a place, who stands before us to summon us into communion, and who walks before us to lead us home. As the David says again in Psalm 26:3 "For Your loving kindness is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth."