Isaiah 51:12-13

I, even I, am He that comforteth you

Divine comfort is strength

They prayed for the operations of His power (Isaiah 51:9); He answers them with the consolations of His grace, which may well be accepted as an equivalent.

(M. Henry.)

Our true Comforter

I. THE LORD COMFORTS ALL WHO TRUST HIM, BY REVEALING HIS RELATIONSHIP. It is a delight to know that if the Almighty be a king, He is seated on a throne of grace, to which every man is at liberty to: come; but it is a much more comforting consolation to know that the Lord does not wish to be known to us as our king; it is His desire for us to approach Him as our Father. If you gather the record of all the good and lovable fathers who have ever existed, and can imagine them welded into one being, you will have some idea of our Heavenly Father.

II. THE LORD COMFORTS US, BY HIS CONTINUAL PRESENCE. Have you thought what it means, in prayer, when you close your eyes?

III. THE LORD COMFORTS US, BY PROVING HIS EXTRAORDINARY LOVE. Perhaps you may have sinned grievously, and, though you have repented, and are struggling bravely, the unfeeling world may point its finger of scorn; but do not despair. Listen to the voice of your Heavenly Father, “I, even I, am He that comforteth you I”

IV. THE LORD COMFORTS US, BY SHOWING THAT HE GOVERNS ALL THINGS. Fear hath torment, and it is the parent of all our cares and anxieties. (W. Birch.)

Who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man?--

The comparative fear of God and man

I. There are TWO PARTIES here spoken of--man that shall die, “the son of man that shall be made as grass;” and “the Lord our Maker, that stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth.” It appears to be a main object of the Scriptures, elsewhere as in the text, to set in the most vivid contrast with each other the meanness, the emptiness, the nothingness of man; and the all-sufficiency, the majesty, and the glory of God.

II. In the common intercourse of the world, THE FORMER OF THESE PARTIES, RATHER THAN THE LATTER, IS PRACTICALLY THE OBJECT OF

REVERENCE, RESPECT AND FEAR. Indeed, the whole system of society seems founded on the principle that human sanctions are above Divine.

III. THE MEANING OF THAT EMPHATIC QUESTION WITH WHICH THESE WORDS COMMENCE, “WHO ART THOU?”

1. The inquiry seems to have been primarily addressed to those whose prevailing fear of man was the result rather of weakness under trying circumstances, than of carnal blindness and depravity of heart. It seems intended for the encouragement of God’s people when threatened with dangers, and particularly when harassed by the terrors which cruel enemies inspire.

2. But in another sense, and with far different emphasis, does it apply to those who, in the genuine spirit of the world, and with the full agreement of the will, pay that homage to man which the deliberately refuse to God. Well may it be said to such, in a tone of mingled indignation and surprise, “Who art thou?” (H. Woodward, M.A.)

Fear of man removed by reflecting upon God

If, being children of God, by faith in Jesus Christ, we duly reflected on our “high calling,” and wisely valued our privileges, we should certainly neither stand so much in awe of one another, nor be so guilty as we are of forgetfulness of the Almighty.

I. “WHO ART THOU?” The question was put to Israel, with reference, not to what they were in themselves--in dependence upon their own strength or holiness; for they were weak and miserable offenders, suffering the punishment of their offences; conquered, and carried into exile by heathen enemies; friendless and hopeless: but it referred to Jehovah s choice of them as a peculiar people, to their experience of the Divine protection, and their covenanted right in the Divine promises. And, without reference to God, and His salvation, what can be the answer of any human being to the question, “Who, or what art thou?”--nothing, and less than nothing; a vapour, that is exhaled and is not; an atom, that perishes and is forgotten; a sinful and miserable being, the child of perdition, “at his best estate altogether vanity.” It is not so, however, that God sees us. He beholds all things here below in His blessed Son. Redemption enables every believer to return a lofty answer to the inquiry, “Who art thou?”

II. If such be a correct draught of the reply which the faithful Christian can make to the question, “Who art thou?” THE UNFITNESS, THE IMPROPRIETY OF HIS YIELDING TO THE FEAR OF MAN IS MANIFEST.

1. It saps the vital strength of the Christian character, in undermining our faith. I cannot truly believe in God, as He has revealed Himself, and yet stoop to this fear.

2. It leads men to vain ,and unworthy expedients--to trust in the “arm of flesh” and in “refuges of lies.”

3. Carnal fear is the very worst form of that unreasonable care and anxiety, against the encroachments of which our Lord cautions, us.

4. “But,” asks the prophet, “who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid? Art not thou--thou, the child of God--of so high a dignity, of a strain and lineage so glorious, that thou oughtest not to be suspected of so degrading a passion as ignoble fear?

III. ALWAYS CONNECTED WITH FEAR OF MAN, IS FORGETFULNESS OF ALMIGHTY GOD. (R. Cattermole, B.D.)

God more to be feared than man

That of two evils the greatest is most to be feared, is a self-evident principle, which, as soon as it is proposed, commands our assent; that he who can inflict a greater evil “IS” more to be dreaded than he who can inflict only a less, is an immediate consequence of that self-evident principle; that the Lord our Maker, who hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth, is armed with greater power, and can inflict greater and more durable evils than “man who shall die, and the son of man who shall be made as grass,” is more forcibly expressed than if it were in direct terms declared in the expostulation of the text: that man therefore is not to be feared, and that God is; or that man is not to be feared in comparison with God; not equally to be feared with Him; not at all to be feared, when the fear of man would betray us to do things inconsistent with the fear of God, and such as would argue us to have forgotten “the Lord our Maker,” is a truth as clearly, plainly and fully demonstrable as any proposition in mathematics.

I. It is certain mater of fact, that IN THE CONDUCT OF OUR LIVES WE ARE MORE AWED BY THE FEAR OF MAN THAN WE ARE BY THE FEAR OF GOD. This is proved from experience and observation. As evident as it is, that men commit those sins in secret which they dare not commit openly; that they take more care to appear religious than really to be religious; that in a licentious age they are afraid to own themselves to be under the influences of religion; that they commit greater sins to hide less; that they choose rather obstinately to persist in an error, than to own they were in the wrong; that they choose rather to break the laws of God than to be out of fashion; that they are time-servers, and play fast and loose with their principles, in order to secure or to promote their interest; that they “make shipwreck of their faith” when storms arise, and fall away in times of persecution; so evident is it, that in the conduct of their lives they are more swayed by the fear of men than they are by the fear of God.

II. INQUIRE HOW THIS COMES TO PASS.

1. As to the case of habitual, profligate, daring sinners, their conduct in this matter is easily accounted for. By a constant, uninterrupted course of sinning they have worn out all sense of religion, all notions of God, all apprehensions of a future state, and a judgment to come.

2. Every disciple of Christ is not so great a proficient in the doctrine of the Cross, as to reach up to that fulness of stature in Christ to which St. Paul was arrived, when he could, without arrogance, declare his undaunted courage and resolution of mind in that magnanimous, but sincere, profession, which we find him making, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” etc.

3. If persecution is proved to be so strong a temptation, and the faith of the generality of Christians is so weak, it is no great matter of surprise, that men should often yield to the violence of such pressing trials, and should be overawed into sinful compliances, by the fear of those evils, which, though they bear no proportion to the wrath of God, that shall be revealed in the last day, are yet strong enough to betray the succours which reason and religion offer.

4. But still what account can be given why men venture the loss of their immortal souls, to avoid evils of a much less magnitude; such as are shame, disrepute, the displeasure of superiors, the dislike of equals, or even sometimes the disapprobation of inferiors? The best account I am able to give of such extravagant and unjustifiable conduct is this: the sins to which men are drawn by such slight temptations are not usually of that heinous kind, as those are to which they are tempted by the terrors of greater evils; as the temptation is mush weaker, me the aims to which they are tempted are much lighter: though therefore they cannot plead the violence of the temptation, yet they are apt to hope, that the sins into which they are so easily betrayed, being not of the deepest die, will the sooner be blotted out.

III. SHOW THE EXTREME FOLLY AND UNREASONABLENESS OF IT. By the order of nature our passions ought to be under the government of reason; by the laws of God they ought to be subject to the rules of religion. Our reason tells us, that the greatest evils are most to be feared; our religion teaches us, that the evils to come are exceedingly greater than any we can feel at present: both reason, therefore, and religion agree to condemn the avoiding lesser evils, by running into greater, which we always so, when out of fear to offend men we presume to sin against God.

IV. GIVE SOME RULES HOW WE MAY CONQUER THIS VICIOUS AND IMMODERATE FEAR OF MAN.

1. We fear men more than God, because the evils threatened by men are apprehended to be nearer than those threatened by God. To weaken the force of this motive to the fear of men, we should consider that this apprehension of ours may be false; for though the sentence of God against evil works is not always executed speedily, yet the judgments of God do sometimes seize upon the sinner, even in the very act of sinning. But allowing them to be as yet far removed, and to advance with the slowest pace, yet the disproportion which they bear to the sorest evils men can inflict, is so great, that if we view them together, the “treasures of wrath which are laid up against the day of wrath” cannot appear light and inconsiderable, notwithstanding their present distance. But to take away all danger of our being imposed upon by viewing them as far remote, we ought in our thoughts to bring them nearer to us.

2. It will be further expedient for us to strengthen our good resolutions by considering those supports which we may expect from God, if we bravely bear up against those trials by which our virtue is, at any time, assaulted. The same power of God which will be manifested in our punishment, if we give way to the vicious fear of men, will exert itself in our assistance, that we may effectually overcome it. Having, therefore, these threats and promises of the Lord, let us act like men who are endued with reason, and like Christians who are strong in faith. (Bp. Smalridge.)

Foolish and impious fears

I. THE ABSURDITY OF THOSE FEARS. It is a disparagement to us to give way to them. In the original the pronoun is feminine, “Who art thou, O woman;” unworthy the name of a man, such a weak and womanish thing is it to give way to perplexing fears. It is absurd--

1. To be in such a dread of a dying man.

2. To fear “continually every day” (Isaiah 51:13); to put ourselves upon a constant rack, so as never to be easy, nor have any enjoyment of ourselves. Now and then a danger may be imminent and threatening, and it may be prudence to fear it; but to be always in a toss, to tremble at the shaking of every leaf, is to make ourselves all our lifetime subject to bondage, and to bring upon ourselves that sore judgment which is threatened Deuteronomy 28:66).

3. To fear beyond what there is cause for. Thou art afraid of “the fury of the oppressor.” It is true there is an oppressor, and he is furious. He designs, it may be, when he has an opportunity, to do thee mischief, and it will be thy wisdom, therefore, to stand upon thy guard; but thou art afraid of him “as if he were ready to destroy,” as if he were just now going to cut thy throat and there were no possibility of preventing, it. A. timorous spirit is thus apt to make the worst of everything, and sometimes God is pleased presently to show us the folly of it. “Where is the fury of the oppressor?” It is gone in an instant, and the danger is over ere thou art aware. His heart is turned, or his hands are tied.

II. THE IMPIETY OF THOSE FEARS. Thou “forgettest the Lord, thy Maker,” etc. Our inordinate fearing of man is an implicit forgetting of God. (M. Henry.)