Fear Not

saiah 41 (click here to read the chapter)
 
Have you ever read the J.R.R. Tolkien trilogy, The Lord of the Rings?
If you haven’t, I highly recommend them to you, as well as the movies.  As we all know, the books are better, but it is a delight to see this trilogy brought to life on the big screen.
 
One of the characters in the trilogy is the aging King Theoden, who has been convinced by his counselor, Wormtongue (an enemy agent—even his name reeks of false counsel). Wormtongue has convinced Théoden that the situation is hopeless against the enemy, and Théoden is giving in to fear.
But then Gandalf the White comes; he is a wizard and frees Théoden’s mind from the spell and counsel of Wormtongue.  Once Theoden is freed, everything changes.
Theoden rises with new strength and calls his people to battle, leading them to victory.
 
Fear.  That’s something which Isaiah is working to overcome with the people of God in this chapter.  The people of God find themselves in a situation that they couldn’t possibly have imagined.  They knew they were the people of God and that the Temple was in Jerusalem, so they believed there was no way anything bad could happen to them.  They’ve even witnessed a great victory that the Lord brought over the Assyrians during Hezekiah’s reign, so the possibility that the southern kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem could ever fall is not even a glimmer in their imaginations.
But it does happen.  The Babylonians come marching in from the east, sweeping away every opposition as they turn their attention to Jerusalem, and the people of God are filled with paralyzing fear.
 
However, in the face of such an onslaught, the voice of the Lord rings out three times with the most frequently heard command in all of Scripture, “Fear not.”
The Lord is with His people and will help them (vs. 11), and Isaiah goes on to describe how the Lord will help them and that the idols of the world are nothing in comparison, just empty wind (vs. 29).
 
“Fear not” is a good word for us today in the middle of our troubling circumstances.  So much of what’s happening around us seems as if things have spun out of control, and it would be easy to give in to our fears. 
 
But hear the word of the Lord: “Fear not.”
 
Lloyd J. Ogilvie, Presbyterian pastor, author, and Chaplain of the United States Senate (1995-2003), in his book Facing the Future without Fear, noted that there are 366 “fear nots” in the Bible, one for every day of the year, including Leap Year.
 
God is always with us, and as we will next consider what we find in chapter 42, we will see the crimson whisper of what is to come in Jesus the Messiah.
 
Fear not.
 
God bless you, and know that I’m praying for you constantly.
Scott