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"As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee...And behold,
this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye may know in all your hearts and in all your
souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake con-
cerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof" (Josh. 1:5,
23:14).
Let us notice one or two features that minister to the comfort of the believer.
(1) The fact that the Lord will not forsake His people is a pledge of preservation:
"For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not His saints; they are preserved for ever"
(Psa 37:28). Surely it must minister to our joy to realize that in spite of all the opposition
of the enemy, and of the betrayal of their own failings, the saints are not forsaken, and
their preservation is assured.
(2) the fact that the Lord will not forsake His people is because He is gracious and
merciful, and slow to anger:
"...in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but Thou art a God ready to
pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookests them not.
Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, this is thy God that brought thee out of
Egypt, and had wrought great provocations: yet Thou in Thy manifold mercies forsookest them
not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the
way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go
...Yet many years didst Thou forbear them, and testifiest against them...Nevertheless for Thy
great mercies' sake Thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them: for Thou are a
gracious and merciful God" (Neh. 9:17,18,19,30,31).
(4) The fact that the Lord will not forsake His people delivers them from bondage of
fear: "Be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I will never leave thee,
nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, the Lord is my Helper, and I will not fear
what man shall do unto me" (Heb. 13:5,6).
Many children of God are compelled to walk in lonely paths. Faithfulness often cuts
them off from fellowship. Natural ties are also severed, and friends prove false or frail. It
is to such that the blessed assurance comes, with all its sweetness, that the Lord will not
forsake them:
"When my father and mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up" (Psa.27:10).
"Can a woman forget her sucking child...Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget
thee" (Isa. 49:15).
"At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may
not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me" (2 Tim.4:16,17).
The Apostle knew a little of the fellowship of His Lord's sufferings. He, like the
Saviour, was forsaken by his own, but there the parallel ceases. Paul could add,
"notwithstanding the Lord stood with me", but his Saviour, and ours, had to cry, "My
God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? (Matt.27:46).
Let us never forget in all the joy that comes to us by His gracious presence, that part
of the price for such blessing included the forsaking of the Holy One for our sakes.
CHARLES H. WELCH