September 11

SEPTEMBER 11.—“Fear thou not; for I am with thee.”—Isaiah 41:10.

THERE are more than sixty admonitions against fear addressed in the Scripture to the Lord’s people. And what do all these imply, but their proneness to apprehension, and the groundlessness of their alarms. Hence the injunction is never unaccompanied with an argument to enforce it. For whatever the men of the world may think, religion is wisdom, and its children are able to give a reason of the hope that is in them. Hence knowledge always befriends a Christian. It is injurious to the comfort of many, because their comfort is founded in delusion: they think themselves safe while their house is built upon the sand; and therefore a discovery of the truth must tend to distress them: but though the Christian may fear, every thing is safe and right with him; and therefore the more he truly examines his condition, the more he must be satisfied with it; his doubts are mistakes, his apprehensions are misapprehensions—He only needs to be informed of things as they really are, and he is free indeed. Hence nothing can be of more importance to the subjects of divine grace, than just and clear views of their state and privileges; for though their safety does not depend upon the degree of their knowledge, their consolation is much affected by it—They that know his name will put their trust in him.

The presence of God is the most effectual resource against the fears of his people: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee.” This does not intend the essential presence of God by which he is every where. When his presence is spoken of in a way of promise, it refers not to a perfection of his nature, (though this is always implied,) but to his peculiar nearness and influence as their Saviour and friend. He is in one place as he is not in another. He is in heaven as he is not on earth; and he is with his Church as he is not with the world—“The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”

What the Lord says to all his people, he says to each of them individually, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee.” And what fear will not this assurance prevent or remove?

Do your temporal exigences excite your fear? Fear thou not, for he is with thee to provide for thee. He sustained the Jews with manna from the clouds, fed Elijah by ravens, and multiplied the widow’s oil and meal. You are not to look for miracles; but you may look for the Lord, who performed these wonders of old. He is with you; and his hand is not shortened that he cannot save, nor his ear heavy that he cannot hear—

“And sooner all nature shall change,

And what has he promised? Thy bread shall be given thee, and thy water shall be sure. O fear the Lord, all ye his saints, for there is no want to them that fear him. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger, but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?”

Do your perplexities excite your fears? Fear thou not, for he is with thee to guide thee. The Jews had before them a wayless desert; but to relieve them from their anxieties, the Lord furnished them with a pillar of cloud by day, and of fire by night. As this paused they rested, as this moved they followed straight on, or turned to the right hand, or to the left, according to the direction of their leader, till it brought them to a city of habitation. You have the same advantage. You have the world before you, through which you must pass to reach a better, even a heavenly country. How much depends upon your course, yea, and upon every movement. And the way of man is not in himself, it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. Neither is it necessary, if he knoweth the way that you take, and he will direct you with his eye. And he is with you for this very purpose: "I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them."

Do your duties excite your fears? Fear thou not, for he is with thee to aid thee. You are indeed called to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts; to forgive injuries; to walk by faith; to have your conversation in heaven. You will not quarrel with these demands; you will acknowledge them to be just and good: but you will lament your want of conformity to them: and sometimes they may discourage you—They must indeed always dismay you if you view them only in connection with your own strength. But your sufficiency is of God. His almighty Spirit shall help your infirmities. He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. His strength is made perfect in weakness.

Do your dangers excite your fears? Fear thou not, for he is with thee to keep thee. It cannot be denied that you are surrounded with enemies, compared with which you are nothing in yourselves. But though a worm, Jacob shall thresh mountains. If God be for us, who can be against us?

"A thousand savage beasts of prey Around the forest roam, But Judah's lion guards the way, And guides the traveller home."

Do trials excite your fears? Fear thou not, for he is with thee to comfort thee. "I, even I, am he that comforteth you." "As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you, and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem." And his consolation is not only tender, but strong consolation, sufficient to bear up the mind under any burden, and to cheer the heart in every distress. "Yea," says one who had often been revived in the midst of trouble, "yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." Death is a trying hour; but it should not appal you. You are not to judge by your present feelings what your experience will be when the season arrives. He is peculiarly with his people in their afflictions, and his grace is proportioned to the time of need—He will not, he cannot fail you in your last extremity: and you may say, with Dr. Grovenor, "I can smile on death, if God smiles upon me."