“I Will Never Leave You Nor Forsake You”
By Pastor Dan Kennedy
© January 3, 2016
As we enter the uncertainties of a New Year, we naturally look for that which will bring our lives stability and security…something we can count on in a world filled with insecurity. When we honestly evaluate what can bring us enduring HOPE, rather than caution, questions and fear, everything we consider offers considerable limitations. Too many options have negative or even catastrophic probabilities. Glaring news headlines across the world highlight continuing dour evaluations of future events and instabilities – both short term and long term.
We need more than hollow promises. Our very souls cry out for stability deep within us, outlasting the visual paralysis of 30-second commercials proclaiming health and happiness supposedly gained from its touted product, sexual titillation, or the vain proclamation of self-promoting politics.
God created the human race with a need for an enduring hope. Each person longs for meaning that lasts much longer than the fog obscuring the fleeting mist of our mortal lifetime.
What a person needs is the day-by-day assurance that God is, in fact, with them. If one could be assured that God is with them, it doesn’t matter where the customized path of any life takes that person. Every one, so assured, can rest securely in the confidence of God’s Care.
The Promise of God’s abiding Presence is a sure and steadfast hope for those whose Hope is in God.
Without the stability given by God’s Promises, the emotions of the unsecured soul flail back and forth like the waves of the sea violently savaged by the winds of an angry storm.
Isaiah 57:20–21
20 But the wicked are like the tossing sea,
which cannot rest,
whose waves cast up mire and mud.
21 “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
Today we will look at the lives of those who have purposefully put themselves in the Hands of God, and we will look at what God says to us, through His Word, regarding His Promised Care for the personal life of each of His Children.
God Confirms to Abraham His Abiding Presence, “I will bless you.”
Genesis 12:1–3
12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.
2 “I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”
Through this blessing, God was promising His continual Presence on the life of Abraham. Did Abraham experience the ups and downs of dilemmas and trials during his lifetime? Did Abraham ever see the conclusion of God’s Promise of blessing? Not in his lifetime; but, now Abraham is enjoying the fullness of God’s Promise for eternity!
The LORD speaks to Isaac, “I will be with you.”
Genesis 26:1–3
Now there was a famine in the land—besides the earlier famine of Abraham’s time—and Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in Gerar. 2 The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. 3 Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham.
The LORD speaks to Jacob, “I am with you and will watch over you.”
Genesis 28:13–15
13 There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
The LORD spoke to Moses at the burning bush, “I will be with you.”
Exodus 3:12
12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
God Confirms His Presence with Moses as He Leads Israel in the Wilderness, “My Presence will go with you.”
Exodus 33:13–14
13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”
14 The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Gideon was confronted and challenged by an Angel of the LORD to save Israel from the bondage of Midian – Gideon responded in disbelief; but God assured him, “The LORD is with you…Am I not sending you? I will be with you.”
Judges 6:11–16
11 The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”
13 “But sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian.”
14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
15 “But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.”
Joshua is given this specific promise through Moses, whom he succeeded…and from the Lord Himself.
A Chosen People – The Promised Land
Deuteronomy 31:1–8
Moses Confirms God’s Promise to be with Joshua
31 Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: 2 “I am now a hundred and twenty years old and I am no longer able to lead you. The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’ 3 The Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross over ahead of you, as the Lord said. 4 And the Lord will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land. 5 The Lord will deliver them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their forefathers to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. 8 The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
Joshua 1:1–9
The Lord Confirms His Promise directly with Joshua
1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea on the west. 5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
6 “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
What were the two areas of distress that God directly identifies as problematic emotions for those who do not trust in Him?
· Fear
· Discouragement
What was God’s antidote to the problems of fear and discouragement?
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)
• Will anyone face problems, with fear and discouragement as they go forward seeking to do the will of God?
• How should we fight these problems?
God gave another specific promise through King David to David’s son Solomon, regarding the building of God’s Temple.
A Consecrated Temple – The focal point of a Sacrificial System Pointing to the Suffering Savior, Jesus Christ
Solomon was commissioned to build the Temple for God and his father gave him the greatest promise ever….
1 Chronicles 28:20
20 David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished.
The promise of God’s faithful Presence is not just reserved for special leadership in the Old Testament, it is also offered to all who believe on Jesus Christ as their Redeemer, Savior, and Lord!
God’s Promise to His Children Today: “A People Belonging To God”
Hebrews 13:5–6
5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.”
So we say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?”
What is God’s assurance for His Children today?
The Assurance of His Own Continual Presence with them.
Nagging Problems That Accompany a Life of Faith
What are the nagging problems that God’s Children will face, as they, by faith, trust God to walk with them through life?
Aren’t they the same problems, which confronted Joshua?
· Fear and anxiety
· Discouragement
When Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Solomon and many others faced hardship, ridicule, frustration, fear, anxiety and inability, what do you think carried them through their times of distress, so they could accomplish God’s purposes for their lives?
The fact that God had promised to be with them…and to never forsake them.
Let’s read Hebrews 13:5-6 one more time, putting it in context with the other verses preceding it in Hebrews 13:
Hebrews 13:1–6
Concluding Exhortations
1 Keep on loving each other as brothers. 2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. 3 Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
6 So we say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?”
God’s Presence with us is the essence of our daily hope as we walk forward, by faith, in this uncertain world.
Psalm 56:3–4
3 When I am afraid,
I will trust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I will not be afraid.
What can mortal man do to me?
Conclusion
We are at the beginning of a New Year! It will bring many joys and trials, excitement and challenges for each of us. To effectively walk through this year we should Honor God and rely on Him. We must remember that God is with us, if we are His Child.
We are a Chosen People
God has called us to be His Chosen People, just as surely as God chose the Nation of Israel to be Children of Faith through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, from which Nation the Messiah was born. We too, are grafted in, by faith, as His Children through the Redemptive Blood of Jesus Christ (Rom. 11:11-24). Just as God was with the Old Testament Patriarchs, so He has promised to be with us.
We are a Consecrated Temple
Just as God promised to be with Solomon as he completed God’s Temple under the Old Covenant, so He is with His Children who have been transformed by the Spirit of the Living God and whose bodies are the New Testament Temple of God.
1 Corinthians 6:19
19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own….
We are a People Belonging to God
1 Peter 2:9–10
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.” (Heb. 13:5)
Psalm 23 is a comfort to so many people. Why is it such a comfort? Because it reveals to us once more, that God is with us throughout our life!
Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.