Leave and Forsake

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This post is something I wrote years ago on the topic of God never "leaving" us or "forsaking" us. When I learned this, it changed the way I think of God's attitude toward me. Enjoy!

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There are a number of places in Scripture where God tells someone, seemingly redundantly, that He will not “leave” them or “forsake” them. For example:

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say,
    “The Lord is my helper;
        I will not fear;
    what can man do to me?” -Hebrews 13:5-6

That verse quotes from two passages in the Old Testament. The first quote (the one we are concerned with at the moment) is from Deuteronomy 31:6:

“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

Here is a breakdown from Strong's Concordance of what those words mean:

LEAVE:

Greek: to send back, relax, loosen; to give up, omit, calm; to leave, not to uphold, to let sink [often translated to mean an act of releasing something]

Hebrew: to sink, relax, sink down, let drop, be disheartened; to sink down; to sink, drop; to sink, relax, abate; to relax, withdraw; to let drop, abandon, relax, refrain, forsake; to let go; to refrain, let alone; to be quiet; to show oneself slack [contexts imply relinquishing control]

FORSAKE:

Greek: abandon, desert; leave in straits, leave helpless; totally abandoned, utterly forsaken; to leave behind among, to leave surviving [most contexts imply abandonment]

Hebrew: to leave, loose, forsake; to leave; to depart from, leave behind, leave, let alone; to leave, abandon, forsake, neglect, apostatise; to let loose, set free, let go, free [to walk away from something]

To “leave” something means to accidentally relax your grip, to forget to take it with you when you go. To “forsake” means to intentionally abandon something, to turn your back on it and walk away on purpose. God has promised to do NEITHER to His people!

Do you think there is a time when God does chose to leave or forsake someone? Do you have a testimony of a time when God showed you He was there right when you needed Him? Sound off below by clicking the "comment" link and join the discussion!