Fear not! I am with thee, oh, be not dismayed! ForI am thy God and will still give thee aid. I’ll strengthen thee, help thee and cause thee to stand. Upheld by my righteous omnipotent hand! These are the words to one of my favorite hymns. And they are also the words of Isaiah! In Isaiah 41:10 we read— And if you are thinking that these words sound alittle softer than the previous two weeks of Isaiah-well you are right! There is definitely a tone and theme shift inthese coming chapters. Scholars think these chapters were written after the Assyrian army destroyed all the smallercities of Judah, but then, as they tried to overtake Jerusalem, all 185,000 of the Assyrian soldiers were killed in the night. Jerusalem was miraculously saved because Israel had heeded the words of Isaiah. They had repented and turned tothe Lord, and the Lord kept His covenant with Israel-to fight their battles for them! He delivered them just like He had when they fled Egypt! This theme of Jehovah being one who has the powerto deliver is repeatedly compared to the world that has no such power, over the course of these chapters. So, for us tomake these chapters about your story, I want you to push pause for a second and make a list of two or three trials in your life that you would like to experience deliverance from. Another repeated theme we are going to see thisweek is the Lord telling Israel, and therefore all of us, “fear not!” At least 8 times throughout these chapters weread phrases like, “be not afraid”, “fear thou not”, and “fear not”. So, again, for us to really connect thesechapters to our lives, I want you to push pause and write down two or three things in your life that are causing you to experience fear. One other theme we are going to focus on todayfrom these chapters in Isaiah, is the same theme that we have been learning about all year in our study of the Old Testament. And that is the theme of the power of thecovenant that the Lord and Israel have made with each other. It is because of this covenant relationshipthat the Lord can counsel Israel to “fear not.” It is because of the power of the covenant that Israel can trust that when the Lord says things like, (read Isaiah 49:8-10) they can have confidence in the Lord’s promises. What blessings can we confidently expect from keeping covenants in our day? As I read this quote from Elder Soares who spoke of Covenant Confidence in April of 2024, I want youto listen to the blessings that he lists and pick out one or two that would help you with the list you have just made of your trials and fears. He said, “Such confidence…fortifies ourability to love and serve each other, and it strengthens our souls to live in an unholy world that is increasingly dark and discouraging. It empowers us to overcome the seed of doubtand despair, fear and frustration, heartache and hopelessness that the enemy tries to drive deep into our hearts, especially when life is hard, trials are long, or circumstances are difficult. Dear brothers and sisters, those who gaingenuine confidence in the covenants made in the house of the Lord through Jesus Christ possess one of the most powerful forces that we can access in the life.” I hope you will invite the Spirit to teach you howyour covenants can empower you as you face the trials and fears you wrote down. Remember the words from Elisha to his young servant when he saw the horses and chariots that encompassed the city, and he askedthe prophet, “What shall we do?” Elishaanswered him, “Fear not: for they that be with us are more than be with them.” And then Elisha prayed for the Lord to openthe young boy’s eyes, and he beheld that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. Wecan have confidence that the Lord will do the same for us as we strive to keep our covenants with Him.
