Isaiah 37:6-7 - Homilies By R. Tuck

God's message to the troubled.

"Thus saith Jehovah, Be not afraid." We have here the Divine response, through Isaiah, as the national intercessor. The circumstances, the boastings, the threatenings, were eminently calculated to produce fear, both in Isaiah and in the people. There was such a show of material strength as Elisha's servant saw at Dothan, which sent him to his master full of fears. The answer is such as Elisha gave when he made the servant see what it was to have God on their side. God in the city was abundant security against Assyria outside the city, and Hezekiah need not be afraid. God's message to those who seek him in their troubles is always this: "Be not afraid;" "I am with you." Our fears only stay with us when our eyes are so dim that we cannot see God. Fear goes when he "lifts the light of his countenance upon us." Matthew Henry says, "Those who have made God their enemy we have no reason to be afraid of, for they are marked for ruin; and though they may hiss, they cannot hurt." Dr. A. Raleigh remarks that every creature is liable to fear; there can only be one Being in the universe absolutely and for ever free from that liability—he who knows everything and controls everything.

1 . The great mysteries of existence have a tendency to produce fear. There am few thoughtful persons who do not feel the shadow of them on their path. They are such things as the existence of evil, sin, misery in the universe, under the government of an infinitely powerful and infinitely benevolent Being. There is great mystery about the plan of Divine providence in the world. Job, David, Jeremiah, were all perplexed and appalled by the sight of the afflictions of the righteous and the prosperity of the wicked.

2 . There are certain possibilities , the thought of which has a tendency to darken the spirit with fear. The most sanguine and cheerful can hardly ever imagine, far less expect, a wholly uncheckered future. The worst of all earthly calamities is the possibility of spiritual failure, ending in a final exclusion from the presence of God and the joys of the blessed. Whatsoever form our fear may take, whatsoever may be the trouble or the alarm out of which it grows, if the fear drives us to God, we shall always be sure of getting this response, "Be not afraid." The one answer to all mysteries is this: "God is, God lives; and I can trust him." The one strength with which to meet all the possibilities, and bear all the calamities, of life is this, "He maketh all things work together for good." Fully unfolded, the response of God is given in Isaiah 41:10 . "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God."—R.T.