I, I am He who comforts you. Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass and have forgotten the Lord, your maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. And you fear continually all the day because of the wrath of the oppressor when he sets himself to destroy.
– Isaiah 51:12–13
Do you hear what God is saying to his people in Isaiah 51? He’s asking them, “Why are you afraid of what people can do to you?”
Isaiah 51:12–13 reminds us to keep God and people in proper perspective.
When you think about it, there are a lot of reasons to be afraid of what people can do to you. People can hurt you in all kinds of different ways, from all kinds of different angles. They can harm your reputation. People can make life really hard for you. People can kill you. They can do a lot of things when you think about it to cause you to be afraid. But God is saying, don’t forget, they’re just people. You’ve forgotten.
That’s the language he uses in Isaiah 51:13, you’ve forgotten the Lord, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. God’s saying they’re just people. This is very similar to what Jesus says to his disciples in Matthew 10. He says, “Don’t fear the one who can kill your body. Fear the one who has authority over not just your body but your soul.” In other words, and in that context, Jesus is sending out his disciples on mission and he basically says to them, “What’s the worst thing they could do, kill you?”
Isaiah 51:12–13 reminds us God holds us in His hands.
We don’t think that necessarily sounds that encouraging, but when you think about it’s the most encouraging news in the world. Other people don’t hold you in the palm of their hands, God, your Maker, who loves you, who is all-wise and all-powerful, and all good, holds you in the palm of his hands. That’s where this whole verse starts in Isaiah 51:12. I, I am He who comforts you, your maker, the Lord, the sovereign King of heaven is your comforter.
I want to encourage you today, we’ve seen this at different points in Isaiah, but hear it again because we’re prone to forget Isaiah 51:13. You have nothing to fear today. Yes, all kinds of things people could do to you today, all kinds of things that could or might happen to you today, but you don’t have to be afraid of any of them. Why? Because the Lord, your Maker, loves you. He cares for you. He will provide for you, he will comfort you.
God has given his son to die on the cross for your sin so that you could walk today in freedom from fear of anything or anyone in this world, freedom to enjoy life under the sovereign, loving hand of God, your Maker, who promises to lead you, guide you, and provide for you in every way you need. Not just today, not just tomorrow, not just next week, next year, or the next 10, 20, 30, 40 years of your life, but for all of eternity, he holds you in his hands.
This verse challenges us to live free from worldly fear.
God, we praise you for freedom from fear, and we pray that you would help us to live in that freedom. Lord, help us not to fear people or what people can do to us. God, help us not to fear anyone or anything in this world. Help us to fear you alone as Isaiah 51:15 says, “You are the Lord our God. You stir up the seas that its waves roar.” You’re the Lord of hosts, the Lord of heavenly armies. We fear you, oh God. We praise you as our comforter and our deliverer from fear, our deliverer from sin, our deliverer from death, our Redeemer for all of eternity, all of our hope.
Oh God, all of our confidence is in you. As we live in freedom from fear today… God help us to spread your grace with boldness and the power of your Holy Spirit in us. Help us to lead people to freedom from sin and freedom from death around us.
Prayer for the Saini People
Today and around the world, God, we pray for the Saini people of India… This Sikh people group of 700,000 of them… God, for the few believers among them.
God comfort them. Strengthen them. Give them grace and all the help they need to follow you. Help them spread the gospel among other Saini brothers, sisters, moms, dads friends, and family members. God please, cause the gospel to spread among the Saini people. Raise up others in India, outside of India, to spread the gospel among the Saini of India. Please, oh God, bring freedom from sin and death, and freedom from fear to the Saini people of India. We pray all this according to your word in Isaiah 51:12–13. 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.
