This is a word in season to every one who is weary. It is as surely ours as if, like the message of the shepherds at Bethlehem, it came to us, with stroke of light and rush of mystic music, straight from the eternal throne.
I. In what sense has God said, "My presence shall go with thee"? He is present to the believer as a Friend whose love has been accepted, and whose conversation is understood with all the intelligence of a kindred nature.
II. In what sense does the presence of God give rest? (1) It tends to give rest from the terror incident to a state of condemnation. (2) It gives rest from the anguish which springs from a discordant nature. (3) It gives rest from the cravings of an unsatisfied spirit. (4) It gives rest from the distraction felt amidst uncongenial scenes and associations. (5) It gives rest from the disquietude which results from want of human sympathy. (6) It gives rest from apprehensions regarding the future. (7) The presence of God with us now is the pledge of perfect rest in the next life.
C. Stanford, Central Truths,p. 227.
I. The Angel's presence refers to Christ, the same who is elsewhere called the "Angel of the covenant."
II. The presence of God in Christ showed itself in the desert by the pillar and cloud in which it tabernacled, and also by the shechinah, which, as it hung over the sacred tent, testified to God's faithfulness and glory.
III. Note the imperatives of God's futures. No uncertainty shall harbour here; it comes in the infallibility of a prophecy and the sovereignty of a fiat: "My presence shall go with thee." It is personal, intimate, minute, appropriate.
IV. The presence of God brings rest. There is (1) a rest by God, when a justified soul rests through the blood of Jesus from the torment of its fear; (2) a rest on God, when the sanctified spirit reposes on the bosom of the promises; and (3) a rest with God, when the battle of life is over, and the victor-saint lays down his armour.
J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons;9th series, p. 249.
References: Exodus 33:14. J. E. Vaux, Sermon Notes,1st series, p. 64; Homiletic Quarterly,vol. v., p. 467; Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xxvii., No. 1583.Exodus 33:15. Expositor,1st series, vol. vii., p. 467.