Isaiah 41:10-14 Fear you not; for I am with you: be not dismayed; for I am your God: I will strengthen you; yes, I will help you… Israel in captivity, hoping for return from exile, but fearing lest its enemies should prevail and the desire of its heart be defeated, might well delight in such reassuring words as these. In the battle and burden of our life we also gladly welcome them to our hearts. I. SOURCES OF DISQUIETUDE. 1. The strength of the forces which are against us. "All they that were incensed against thee;" "they that strive with thee;" "they that war against thee." We may say as Paul said, "There are many adversaries." There are the evil tendencies of our own nature not yet extirpated; there are the vicious, the ungodly, the half-hearted men, who act injuriously upon us; and there are the "principalities and powers" of the evil spiritual world. 2. The weight of the burden of responsibility laid upon us. We are God's servants, his children, his spokesmen, his representatives. He is our God (ver. 10), and we owe to him the faithful discharge of varied and weighty obligations. 3. Our personal feebleness. "Thou worm Jacob;" "Ye men [mortals]of Israel." Who is sufficient for all these things? With our bodily weakness, our mental poverty and our spiritual failures, with the limitations of our humanity, we look forward to the work which we have to do, to the sufferings we shall be called to bear, to the battle we shall have to fight, with serious apprehension. We are inclined to give way to "fear," to allow ourselves even to "be dismayed." II. OUR STAY IN GOD. 1. His sympathizing presence. "I am with thee." The presence of a friend or of a parent in the time of trouble is, in itself and independently of any expectation of help, a reassuring thought. That God our Divine Father, that Christ our unfailing Brother and Friend is with us, is by our side, with purest interest and tender sympathy in his heart, - this is a strength and a stay to our trembling hearts. 2. His strengthening aid. "I am thy God: I will strengthen thee," etc. God helps his people (1) by making their difficulties to disappear, so that "they that are against them are as nothing;" e.g. the drowning of the Egyptian host, and the slaughter of the army of Sennacherib; or, and more often, (2) by imparting courage and strength to overcome them. He "holds our right hand;" he inspires us with skill and energy to act, with fortitude to endure, with patience to persist, with victorious strength. He "always causeth us to triumph." 3. His faithful, redeeming word. When he is not actually interposing on our behalf we may rest on his sure promise. He has assured. us of our ultimate triumph, not only for ourselves, but for the cause of truth and righteousness in which we are engaged. On this word we may absolutely build. (1) It is a Divine word; "he is our God" (vers. 10, 13). (2) It is the word of one whose faithfulness cannot fail; it comes from him whose hand is "the right hand of his righteousness." (3) It is the word of One whose compassion is well proved. He is "the Lord, our Redeemer." - C. Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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