8 “But you, Israel, My servant,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
Descendant of Abraham My friend,
9 You whom I have [c]taken from the ends of the earth,
And called from its remotest parts
And said to you, ‘You are My servant,
I have chosen you and not rejected you.
10 ‘Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
11 “Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored;
Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.
12 “You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them,
Those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent.
13 “For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand,
Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’
14 “Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel;
I will help you,” declares the Lord, “[d]and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
15 “Behold, I have made you a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges;
You will thresh the mountains and pulverize them,
And will make the hills like chaff.
16 “You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away,
And the storm will scatter them;
But you will rejoice in the Lord,
You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.
This isn’t quite one of those passages where we could just say, “insert your name”, as God is speaking to the nation of Israel. At least so it seems, but rather than dig in those weeds, we’ll focus on the parts that do apply to all of God’s children–or as He says, to “My servant”. For when we choose God, we are both: children and heirs, and servants and followers.
This passage comes on the heels of speaking to the nations about their foolish trust in idols that are at risk of tottering. In contrast, God reassures His children, and He does it multiple times–we need that as much as the Israelites did (and do). Three times (vv. 10, 13, 14) God assures us “Do not fear, I will help you.”
Even in the middle of those who are angered at you, or contend with you, those who quarrel and war with you, God reminds us again, “Do not fear… I will help you”. Attached to those are several reasons for us not to fear (beyond God helping us). In v. 10, it is God who strengthens us, and Who is with us. In v. 14, He is also our Redeemer.
Interestingly, both of these are true of Jesus, as He was called Emmanuel, which literally means, God with us”. He also then gave His own life to be our literal redeemer, to save us from sin and death. Though all sorts of things will happen in and to the world around us (vv. 15-16), we can rejoice in the Lord and glory in Him alone.
There are a lot of things in this world that might make us happy, and probably more that could make us sad. There are other things that we could revel in, and find glory in, but instead we should focus on our God who reminds us again today, “Do not fear, for I am with you… and I will help you. Rejoice and find your true glory in Me.”