When Moses was handing over the charge of his people to his successor, Joshua, he said first to the people and then to Joshua, “Be strong and of a good courage.… He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee.” The writer of the epistle of Hebrews appears to fall back upon these words with a slight alteration and turns “He” into “I,” simply because he recognized that when Moses spoke, God was speaking through him, and counter-signing with His own seal the promise which His servant made in His name. The other passage comes from the 118th Psalm. So, let’s  listen to the divine voice and the human answer.

118:1 Oh give thanks unto Jehovah; for he is good; For his lovingkindness endureth for ever. 2 Let Israel now say, That his lovingkindness endureth for ever.3 Let the house of Aaron now say,     That his lovingkindness endureth for ever.  4 Let them now that fear Jehovah say

Deut 31:6 Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be affrighted at them: for Jehovah thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. 7And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in

“He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Now, there is a distinct parallel between the position of the people to whom this epistle was addressed, and that of the Hebrews to whom the original promise was made. The latter were standing on the verge of a great change. They were passing from under the leadership of Moses, and going under the leadership of the untried Joshua.

Is it fanciful to recall that Joshua and Jesus are the same name; and that the difficulty which Israel on the borders of Canaan had to face, and the difficulty which these Hebrew Christians had to encounter, were similar, being in each case a change of leaders, the ceasing to look to Moses and the beginning to take commands from another.

Hebrews 13:5 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 mere mortals do to me?”

We Can Have Contentment This Year Because of His Promise to Provide

God is going to provide for us. v 5: “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

To often we have a fear that our needs are not going to be satisfied and we are going to live lives of discontent. Discontent is a disease that breeds fear

The secret of contentment is not wanting what we do not have, but being grateful for what we do have. Contentment is not having what we want, but wanting what we have.

Paul said, “having food and raiment, let us be content.” He didn’t say you have to have a house. Our Lord said, “Foxes have holes, and birds have nests; the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head.” Do you have food? Have you got clothes? That’s it. “Having therefore food and raiment, be content.” Be content with such things as you have.

We live in a day that has confused luxuries with necessities. 1 Timothy 6:6-8: “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment, let us therewith be content.” The material things of this world cannot meet the deepest needs of our heart.

It is not that the world is too big for us; we are too big for the world. God made us with something different. That is the reason that the Bible says so clearly, in Ecclesiastes 5:10, “He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver.” If he gets silver, it won’t satisfy.

Luke 12:15, “And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesses.” I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.”

Psalm 37:4 is often misinterpreted,  It says, “Delight yourself in the Lord; and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Does that mean that if you love God, you can have an island paradise somewhere, a pink Cadillac, or a handful of diamonds, or whatever material thing you may want?

No, it says if the Lord is you delight, “Delight yourself in the Lord; and he will give you the desire of your heart.” Is the desire of our heart the Lord?

Life is always changing, everything else will change. Children will grow up and move away. Wealth may disappear. Somebody says, “Money talks: it says goodbye.” You may lose your home. You may lose your job. You may lose your health. Eventually, you will lose your physical life. And that is the reason the Lord says, be content with such things as you have, food and raiment.” Because God has said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

Philippians 4:11-13., “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound.” Some of you are abased. You are saying, I can hardly make it until next paycheck. Some of you are abounding. You have more right now that you ever thought.

The word content literally means self-contained; not self-centered, but self-contained.

What we have in Jesus Christ is worth more than anything the world can offer.

We Have a Lasting Companion This Year Because of His Presence

Most people have some form of fear of being left alone, forsaken, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

This should be one of the most encouraging verse in all of the Bible. Why do we fear? We’re afraid of being forsaken. Our friends will leave us. Our companions may forsake us. Psychiatrists say the greatest need that we have on this earth is not material but the ability to love and to be loved. And the Lord has said, “I will never leave you.”

Nothing can separate you from the love of God.

Romans 8:35 Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction  or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

Whatever you and I face this coming year, His presence will see you through when you are discouraged. You are going to have some heartaches.

Psalms 16;11: “For thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy.” When you are worried, His presence is going to calm you down. That ought to remove a great fear from you, the fear of loneliness.

We Have Confidence This Year Because of His Promise

He hath said, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. It is God who makes this promise. His omnipresence is the answer when you are lonely. His omniscience is the answer when you don’t know what to do. This is God’s Word.

Leonard Ravenhill said, one of these days, somebody is going to pick up this book, read it, and believe it, and the rest of us are going to be ashamed of ourselves.

For He hath said,  God, who cannot lie. Many people just kind of go window-shopping through the Bible. We take verses like this, and memorize them, and even put them on our refrigerator door. But do we believe them?

We Can Be Comforted This Year by His Protection

v6: “So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do to me.

Isaiah 41:10 “Fear thou not, for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

Well, what if they kill me? They may, God may allow it. God has allowed His martyrs to die often. That doesn’t mean that God is out of control. It was said of one great Christian: he feared man so little, because he feared God so much.

Worry is a mild form of atheism. It’s acting like God doesn’t exist.

Now you’re going face some things. These Hebrew Christians in the Book of Hebrews, to whom this book was addressed faced some heartaches, some trials. This coming year may be a very horrendous year for you. But I am telling you that you can stand upon the promises of the Word of God, and say boldly, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear what man shall do to me.”