Isaiah 43:1-7

In this chapter the Lord comforts his people. By his divine foresight he perceives that there are great and varied trials a little way ahead, and therefore he prepares them for the ordeal. They are to go through rushing waters and flaming fires; and he kindly bids them not to be afraid. How often in God's word do We read those tender, gracious words, «Fear not!» Should not the trembling ones listen to the voice of their God, and obey it when he saith to them «Fear not»? It is not right for you who fear God to fear anything else. Once brought to know the Lord, who can harm you? Abiding under the shadow of the Almighty, what danger need you dread? Nay, rather, be of good comfort, and press forward with peaceful confidence, though floods and flames await you. To encourage his people to rise superior to their fears, the gracious God goes on to issue matchless promises: «When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee.» Present good- «I will be with thee» absent danger- «they shall not overflow thee.» God stays his people's hearts by his own promises. In proportion to their faith those promises must lift them up. If you do not believe the promise, you shall not be established by it; but if, with childlike confidence, you accept every word of God as true, then his word shall be to you the joy of your heart, and the delight of your spirit, and you shall be a stranger to fear. The Lord proceeds, after giving those promises, to set before them what he himself is, and what he has done for them, and what they are to him. He is speaking, of course, to Israel; and he says of Israel, his chosen nation, «I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.» What cause for fear now remains? All believers are of the true Israel. Abraham was the father of the faithful. The faithful, or the believing, are therefore Abraham's seed, according to the promise. The seed was not after the flesh, else would the children of Ishmael have been the heirs of the covenant; but the true seed was born according to promise, and in the power of God; for Isaac was born when his parents were old, by faith in the power of God. Isaac was not the child of flesh, but he was born according to promise, so that we who are not born of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God, by his Spirit, and according to the divine promise, are the true children of Abraham. We are the spiritual Israel. Though after the flesh Abraham be ignorant of us, and Sarah acknowledge us not, yet are we the true seed of him who was the father of believers. The literal Israel was the type of those chosen and favored ones who by faith are born again according to promise. To these heirs according to promise the Lord saith, «I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.» Let us now meditate on this passage verse by verse.

Isaiah 43:1. But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.

«Fear not,» is a command of God, and is a command which brings its own power of performance with it. God, who created and formed us, says to us, «Fear not,» and a secret whisper is heard in the heart by which that heart is so comforted that fear is driven away. Observe the tender ties that bind our God to his people;-creation, the formation of them for his praise, redemption, the purchase of them for himself, and the calling of them by their name. The Lord remembers the bonds which unite us to himself even when we forget them; he recollects his eternal love, and all the deeds of mercy that have flowed from it. Though our memory is treacherous, and our faith is feeble, «yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself;» blessed be his holy name!

Isaiah 43:2. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

«When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee.» The godly have the best company in the worst places in which their lot is cast God's presence is all that we need even in the deepest floods of tribulation; this he has promised to us. He does not say what he will do for us, but he does tell us that he will be with us, and that is more than enough to meet all our necessities. «When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.» That is a wonderful picture of a man walking through the fire, and yet not being burned; but there was a greater wonder, that was seen by Moses, which may well comfort us. He saw a bush that burned with fire, and yet was not consumed. Now a bush, in the desert, is usually so dry that, at the first application of fire, it flames, and glows, and is speedily gone: yet you and I, who are, spiritually, just as dry and combustible as that bush was naturally, may burn, and burn, and burn, and yet we shall not be consumed, because the God, who was in the bush, is also with us, and in us. «Neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.» Thou shalt come out of the furnace as the three holy children did, with not so much as the smell of fire upon thee; for, where God is, all is safe.

Isaiah 43:3. For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.

«For I am the Lord thy God.» This is the grandest possible reason for not fearing. Fall back upon this when you have nothing else upon which to rely. If you have no goods, you have a God. If thy gourd is withered, thy God is still the same as he ever was: «For I am Jehovah, thy God.» «I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.» And he has given infinitely more than that for us who are his people now, for he gave his only begotten Son that he might redeem us with his precious blood. Now that we have cost him so much, is it likely that he will ever forsake us? It is not possible.

Isaiah 43:4. Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.

How sweetly this verse comes home to those whose characters have been disreputable! As soon as they are truly converted to Christ, they become «honourable.» «Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable.» God does not call his people by their old names of dishonour, but he gives them the title of «Right Honourable,» and makes them the nobility of his Court. «Unto you that believe he is an honour;» and you have honour in him and from him.

Isaiah 43:5. Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.

«Fear not: for I am with thee.» This is the second time that the blessed words, «Fear not,» ring out like the notes of the silver trumpet proclaiming the jubilee to poor trembling hearts: «Fear not, for I am with thee.» The Lord seems to say to each troubled believer, «My honour is pledged to secure thy safety, all my attributes are engaged on thy behalf right to the end, yea, I am myself with thee, therefore, fear not.» «I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, my daughter from the ends of the earth; every one that is called by my name.» Whatever happens, God will be with his Church. His own chosen people shall all be gathered in. There shall be no frustration of the diving purpose. From east or west, north or south, all his sons and daughters shall come unto him, even every one that is called by his name. «For I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.» And God will be glorified in his people; the object of their creation is the glory of their God, and that end shall, somehow or other, be answered in the Lord's good time. The Lord seems to dwell upon that note of the creation of his children for his own glory. This accounts for many of our troubles, and for all our deliverances; it is that God may be glorified by bringing his children through the fires and through the floods. A life that was never tested by trial and trouble would not be a life out of which God would get much glory, but they that do business in the great waters see the works of God, and his wonders in the deep, and they give him praise; and, besides, when they come to their desired haven, then they praise the Lord for his goodness, and God is thereby glorified.