What the Bible says
The promise is plain: “for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5). Jesus gave the same word to His disciples before He ascended: “and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20). Loneliness tells us no one is there. God’s Word tells us the Lord is there. David knew it: “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?” (Psalm 139:7).
On the night before the cross, Jesus told His friends, “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you” (John 14:18). He promised the Father would “give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever” (John 14:16). The Holy Spirit is not a distant visitor; “he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (John 14:17). Every believer carries the presence of God within.
Jesus knew loneliness Himself. He said, “ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me” (John 16:32). On the cross He cried, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). He was forsaken so that His people never would be. Paul, deserted by all, could still write, “Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me” (2 Timothy 4:17).
God also meets loneliness through His people. “God setteth the solitary in families” (Psalm 68:6), and in Christ He gives us a family in the church. So Scripture says, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another” (Hebrews 10:25). And nothing can cut us off from His love, nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).
12 verses, King James Version
Hebrews 13:5
I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee
5Let 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.
Matthew 28:20
I am with you alway
20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Romans 8:38–39
Nothing can separate you from His love
38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
John 14:16–18
Jesus will not leave you alone
16And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 18I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
Psalms 27:10
Even if family turns away
10When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.
Deuteronomy 31:8
He goes before you
8And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.
Psalms 139:7–10
You cannot go where He is not
7Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. 9If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
2 Timothy 4:16–17
Deserted, yet the Lord stood by Paul
16At 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. 17Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.
Psalms 25:16–17
A prayer from a lonely heart
16Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted. 17The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses.
John 16:32
Jesus knew what it is to be left alone
32Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
Psalms 68:5–6
God places the lonely in families
5A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation. 6God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.
Hebrews 10:24–25
Gather with God’s people
24And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (public domain). Read aloud by Anthony.