Verse for Today - Isaiah 41:10 (click to read mini-blog)

Isaiah 41:10

"Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."

Read at Bible Gateway

Read all of Isaiah 41

This verse in Isaiah 41 has been immortalized in the gospel hymn "How Firm a Foundation."  As you may know the first verse of this hymn asks an extended question. 

"How firm a foundation, you saints of the Lord, 

is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!

What more can He say than to you He has said,

to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?"

What is this firm foundation the hymn writer identifies?  Well, it's the fact that God has revealed himself favorable toward His people.  In spite of their sin and the terrible judgment that He would inflict  upon them, God promises to take care of His own.

That was true then, and this remains true today.  These words were intended for God's Old Testament saints.  In verse 8 He describes them as "the descendants of Abraham His friend."   In spite of the judgment of the Exile, He would not forget His promises.  The same is true today.

The hymn writer captures the essence of today's verse in the second stanza:

"Fear not, I am with you, O be not dismayed;

for I am your God, and will still give you aid;

I'll strengthen you, help you, and cause you to stand,

upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand."

Pretty encouraging.  The remaining stanzas then apply this comfort to believers in all of life's trials.

P.S. You can hear these words sung at the by clicking on the song title above.

Verse for Today - Isaiah 12:4

Isaiah 12:4

"In that day you will say: “Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted."

Read at Bible Gateway

Read all of Isaiah 12

This verse from the Old Testament Prophet Isaiah looks forward to the time after the First Coming of Christ (His Incarnation, suffering, death and resurrection) and especially after His Second Coming.  In the previous Chapter (11), the anticipation of the great Son of David, "the Branch of Jesse", is announced.  

His coming will usher in a day when all that is broken will be fixed, all that is sick shall be healed.  We're told in Romans 8 that the whole Creation groans in travail awaiting for the fulfilment of redemption.  Well, after the final coming of Christ, all struggle, hardship and pain will be over.  Listen to the words used to describe this remarkable time (Isaiah 11:6-9):

"The wolf will live with the lamb, 

    the leopard will lie down with the goat,

the calf and the lion and the yearling together;

    and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear,

    their young will lie down together, 

and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the cobra’s den,

 and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy 

on all my holy mountain, 

for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."

Already now, we have the privilege and responsibility of proclaiming the rightful worship and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of all the Earth!