Today’s verse is about fear and God’s power to overcome our fears. It is a verse that comforts the fearful.
“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with my righteous right hand.”
Isaiah 41:10 CSB
Do Not Fear…
This verse starts with a powerful instruction: “Do not fear.” The simple statement doesn’t just serve as a command but as an assurance. The assurance that with God on your side there is no need to fear. But I’m getting ahead of myself. The surrounding passage is all about placing trust in God and his promises. Verse 10 is the Lord promising them deliverance from their fears in a hard time, a time when the people of Judah will be exiled to Babylon. God in this passage is reassuring the Israelites that he will still keep his promises despite their impending punishment. God is comforting a sinful people about to be punished but the verse has a compassionate and comforting tone. If this verse can comfort the fears of the sinful Israelites then it can certainly help us to not fear.
Do not fear, for I am with you
The best reason to not fear is the presence of God. Throughout the Bible, God’s presence evokes a sense of power and reverence. Romans 8:31b says, “If God is for us, who is against us?” God’s presence is both powerful and comforting. It can calm our fear and give us the courage to overcome it. Having God’s presence with us, through the Holy Spirit is reason enough not to fear anything.
Do Not Be Afraid, for I am Your God.
This next part is a repetition of the first one with a few twists (called a parallelism in Hebrew literature). For this part, I like how Bible translations like the KJV put it: be not dismayed. In this context, the Hebrew word root means to look around. This verse instructs you to stop looking around for help and look to the Lord.Here God highlights that he comforts not just our fears but anxieties when in his presence. A presence that is uniquely powerful.
“For I am your God,” implies that God is their God above other gods. That in itself is a comfort. Both that the God of the Bible is our God and that he is greater than any idol. later in this chapter, there’s a section about God’s case against idols (Isaiah 41:21-29). This verse is an excellent precursor to this argument by showing you God’s loyalty, compassion and power. No idol can or does tell us to fear not. No idol has the power to defend us from our fears. Only the Lord our God gives us the power to make our mountain of fears look like an ant hill.
I will Strengthen You
God will give you the strength to overcome your fear and throw off its control. Throughout the Bible, God gives men strength. He gave Samson physical strength which he used to injure the enemies of Israel. He helped Gideon have the faith and courage to defeat an enemy army of thousands with only 300 men. He gave Elijah the strength to survive persecution and the wilderness with one miraculous meal that kept him strong for 40 days. If God gave these men strength to do these great acts, he can give you the strength to overcome your greatest fears.
I will help you
Here God Says he won’t just give you strength but guidance and help. Remember earlier when I mentioned the Hebrew root of do not be afraid: “In this context, the Hebrew word that’s root means to look around.” This is God showing us you should look to him for help.
He will guide us as you face the fear that constrains us. He may tell us to face them head on or to avoid what is dangerous. God’s guidance in any situation is always an invaluable help.
I will hold on to you with my righteous right hand.
God is holding you up when you can not stand. Not just when fear paralyzes us but when anything is against us and he will hold us up. When every other support or comfort is gone, God will hold us up to stand against our troubles.
The “righteous right hand” in the Bible is a symbol of God’s authority and power. It shows that God does what is right for his people.
Conclusion
Fear can be a very powerful yet harmful emotion.You should not fear because you have a powerful God that will help you overcome what you fear. Especially fears that inhibit your growth as Christians. If you’re scared to speak at your church, I pray the Lord will give you the words to speak and the confidence to say them. If you’re scared of persecution, remember you have a God more powerful than any persecutor. If your enemies capture and judge you, you will face them with courage because you have a greater judge. He will hold you up even into death. Or if you’re like me and afraid to tell people about the gospel, Lord willing, you and I will overcome this fear of becoming greater witnesses for God. I pray the next time you face any fear, the Holy Spirit speaks to your heart and says, “fear not, for I am with you”