OVER and over again in the Old Testament these words, “Fear not,” come like a soft breeze upon a weary summer day to our longing souls. “Fear not,” saith our God to us in our trials and our anxieties, our difficulties and our dangers. “Fear not!” is a motto for life and for death, and one which at the end of the year we may well make our own.
How these words must have cheered the saints of olden days, as they fell from the lips of Isaiah when he was denouncing the sins of Israel! The ways of that nation were evil continually, yet for such as trembled at His word, Jehovah could and did say, in tender compassion, “Fear not.”
And in the New Testament, how often does Jesus whisper to His disciples, “Fear not.” Upon the stormy sea, when clouds and darkness had closed around their tempest-tossed boat, or during the distresses and anxieties of the little flock, we hear Him saying, “Fear not.” And as we behold Him in His glory walking in the midst of the churches, and detecting their backslidings, still, to such as lie low at His feet, His gentle voice is heard, “Fear not.”
Christian, do you tremble at His word, and yet confide in Himself? Fear not, though the billows roll and threaten to engulph thy frail skiff; fear not, be the trials of life what they may; fear not, though the church around be indeed the scene of the Lord’s judgment; for Jesus says to thee, “Fear not.”
This is a personal word, of personal comfort. My fears are my own fears, and though we all may have similar fears, the fear that makes men panic-stricken is their own individual terror. The Prince of Peace says “Fear not;” and should the King of Terrors approach the bed, the sweet smile of Jesus’ face shall subdue death into but a shadow, for He lives to die no more, and His assuring comfort to the weakest saint is― “Fear not.”