“The Lord of hosts, Him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear and let him be your dread.”
-Isaiah 8:13
Isaiah 8:13 was directed to a people who were tempted to be afraid of nations, of what men might do to them and God, through the prophet Isaiah says, “You don’t need to be afraid of men. You don’t need to be afraid of what other nations can do to you. You need to be afraid, instead of God. Let him be your fear. Let him be your dread.” I think about fear and what we’re tempted to fear, in each of our lives. I think about my four year old coming to me at night and in tears just saying, “Daddy, I’m afraid of the dark.” And so I hug him.
Carry him back to bed and say, “Buddy, you don’t have to be afraid of the dark.” And why? I say, “Because God is with you and God is greater than anything that can get you in the dark. So you can trust in God.” And that’s obviously, a picture with a four year old who is afraid of the dark, but I think it applies to so many things in our lives. We’re tempted to be afraid of all kinds of things. So what might happen to us in this way or that way? What might this person do to us? But when we realize who God is, and the fact that God is with us, then we realize, we have nothing to fear in any man or anything in this world for that matter.
We are tempted to be afraid of many things, but when we realize who
God is and that He’s with us, we don’t have to fear man.
This Verse Reminds Us God Is Greater Than Any Fear
We know our God is greater than any man and greater than everything in this world and we can trust in Him. So, if we’re going to fear anything, then Scripture says fear God. Honor, God is holy. This text says, “Look to God as the one who has all power, who has all wisdom, who has all authority.” He’s the one we should be in a very real sense afraid of. In fact, he is the one who has all power to do anything to us and yet this God, in his mercy, has promised to protect his people, promised to provide for his people, promised to help his people, promised to be with his people. Praise be to God. The one who we should fear in a very real sense is the one who loves us and is committed to caring for us. So, God help us to honor you as holy.
Isaiah 8:13 Fears Going Against God’s Holiness
There’s no one like you. There’s no one we want to or should fear, but you. Help us, we pray. Help us to have a healthy fear of you. Please help us to fear doing anything that doesn’t honor you as holy. Help us to fear doing anything that displeases you. We want to honor you. We want to please you. Therefore we praise you for the promises you give us that we need not fear anything or anyone in this world, for you are with us. And you, in Christ, are for us and for that we praise you. So in that we rest in you from fear of anyone or anything in this world. We fear you alone. And we trust you alone. Just like a four year old laying in his bed, in the dark, saying, “Okay, I can trust God. I don’t need to afraid of the dark.” God made that reality be true in each one of our lives today. And we just rest in you. Fearing you. Trusting you. May it be so, in Jesus name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
