July
20, 2003
MY
PRESENCE WILL GO WITH YOU
"And
He said, 'My presence will go with you, and I will give you
rest' " (Exodus 33:14, NKJV).
At to
foot of Mount Sinai, the children of Israel, in the absence
of Moses, had made for themselves "a molded calf, and
worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, 'This is your
god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!'
And the Lord said to Moses, 'I have seen this people, and
indeed it is a stiff-necked people!' " (Exodus 32:8,
9). There was a tension in the camp over the unfaithfulness
of Israel and Moses interceded with the Lord on behalf of
His people. The Lord had chosen Moses to be the leader of
His people and He had chosen well.
"The
Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend...
Then Moses said to the Lord, 'See, You say to me, "Bring
up this people." But You have not let me know whom You
will send with me. Yet You have said, "I know you by
name, and you have also found grace in My sight." Now
therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show
me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace
in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people."
'
"And
He said, 'My Presence will go with you,
and I will give you rest.' Then he said to Him. 'If
Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from
here. For how then will it be known that Your people and I
have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So
we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people
who are upon the face of the earth.
"So
the Lord said to Moses, 'I will also
do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace
in My sight, and I know you by name.' " (Exodus
33:11-17).
Jesus
made similar promises to us when He said, "I
am with you always" and "Come
to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest." (Matthew 28:20, and 11:30). We also
have been a "stiff-necked people" and have wandered
far from the safety of His fold. Yet He is there for us when
we recognize that we are lost and straying.
Moses
said it well when he said, "Now therefore, I pray, if
I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that
I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight."
(Exodus 33:13).
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