“…I will never abandon you…”
Has there ever been anything in your life that was never?
The ironic part of this question is we can only give a current answer, “No, not yet.” Never is an eternal word, without end, something we might anticipate, but the very nature of never means the thing has most certainly not occurred.
The placement of the word ever behind never is a new way of emphasizing the word’s unlimited time of nonexistence. It will never ever happen!
God gives us a “never” promise in Hebrews 13:5, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (NIV) Other translations put it this way:
- “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” (NLT)
- “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (ESV)
- “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER ABANDON YOU,” (NASB)
- “I WILL NEVER [under any circumstances] DESERT YOU [nor give you up nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless], NOR WILL I FORSAKE or LET YOU DOWN or RELAX MY HOLD ON YOU [assuredly not]!” (AMP)
The use of all caps was how the NASB and AMP chose to emphasize the animacy behind God’s promise.
God will never leave, never forsake, never fail, never abandon, never desert, never let us down, or never relax His grip on us. When someone says, “we need to preach the gospel to ourselves,” the never promise is good news worth playing on repeat in our mind.
The enemy’s ploy from the beginning was to cast doubt on God, to make us doubt who He says He is and that what He says is true. (Genesis 3) When the enemies’ ploy goes to work on us, and our circumstances challenge us to doubt God’s commitment to follow through, we must remind ourselves of the promise that God will never desert us or loosen His grip on us.
The author of Hebrews quotes the promise of never from the Old Testament in Deuteronomy 4:31, when Moses pulled the Israelites together and encouraged them to dwell on and remember God’s agreement. “For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the solemn covenant he made with your ancestors.” (NLT)
Or was the Hebrew author quoting another time Moses addressed the Israelites? “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. 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” (Deuteronomy 3:6, 8, NIV).
Perhaps the author was referencing Joshua’s words when he addressed a new generation of Israelites. “No one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you” (Joshua 1:5, NRSV).
The Hebrew author may have been pulling from a song from King David. “Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you” (Psalm 9:10, NIV).
The multiple options for quoting this promise emphasized how God thought we might struggle with this one, and He made sure it was reinforced.
God will never ever leave us. Not that one time or multiple times we sinned and ran from Him. Not when our circumstances are incredibly rough, driving our feelings to tell us God no longer cares, and our sight highlights what we can see over what we cannot see. Not when things haven’t gone our way, our prayers are unanswered, or turned out in ways we did not want.
God will never ever desert us.
Even king David who penned the above verse from Psalm 9, also wrote many songs of anguish from times when he felt God had left him. He, too, struggled to remember the promise that God would never abandon him. (Psalm 77, 88)
Our faith muscle toughens each time we choose to believe the never promise that God is here, even if we don’t sense Him or see Him at work. “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1, NIV).
This never promise is a confidence builder. “‘I will never leave you or forsake you.’ 6 So we can say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?’” (Hebrews 13: 5-6, NLT)
Each step of faith to believe that God will never ever relax His grip on us, will also grow our confidence, lessen our fear, and empower us to take the next step. Because we know that even though we may not see it, God will never fail us.
I pray that as you meditate on the truth of God’s presence, never ever leaving you that your confidence grows. And with that solid confidence in Christ, your faith muscles strengthen as you know it is not about what you see but what you can’t see. May your eyes focus on the unseen and rest in His eternal commitment to always be with you. So be it, in Jesus’ name.
Meditate: God is always with me
Reflect: What is a time in your life when you question God’s never ever promise, but He came through for you? Where do you need God to show up now? How can you use this verse to remind you that God will never ever forsake you? Is there anyone else in your life right now that might need to be reminded of this promise?
Rooted: Psalm 77, Isaiah 41: 10-13, Hebrews 11
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(Bible References: NLT – New Living Translation, ESV – English Standard Version, NASB – New American Standard Bible, NIV – New International Version, AMP – Amplified Version)
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