Hope Amidst Fear

Today’s Text: Isaiah 32:1-2

Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule in justice. Each will be like a hiding place from the wind, a shelter from the storm, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.

Words of Devotion

This King was promised by the mouth of God through the hands of men. Acting as a herald of the Lord, Isaiah prophesied there would come a King who would “Reign in Righteousness”. For one in danger, He would act as “a hiding place from the wind, a shelter from the storm”. For the thirsty soul, He would be as “streams of water in a dry place”. For the heavy burden and the wounded, He would be “like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.” Jesus then is the Savior of body and soul, the temporal life and eternal. Our fears of the present may be eased by the assurance of this promise, that when we look to Jesus amidst the grief of life, He will be as “cool water in a burning desert”.

When the tempest rages, with thunder clashing and whirl winds blowing, He will stand unyielding as our strong tower (Psalm 61:3). In His righteous and just reign, He will be the answer in both fears that plague men: fear of today, and the greater fear of tomorrow. 

As Jonathan Edwards, a Christian preacher and theologian stated,

“The fears of a terrified conscience, the fearful expectation of the dire fruits of sin, and the resentment of an angry God, these are infinitely the most dreadful. The fear of eternal condemnation is suffocating when realized. If this promised King who is now ruling does in fact reign in justice, then he must deal justly with sin and evil. We ought rightly to fear at this epiphany”.

As Edwards continued on,

“Christ, by his own free act, has made himself the surety of such, he has voluntarily put himself in their stead; and if justice has anything against them, he has undertaken to answer for them. By his own act, he has engaged to be responsible for them.”

Our fears, though at first rightly founded, become as a dead seed planted in our hearts which blossoms to full joy once we are found alive in Christ.

Rejoice today, as Jesus is our strong tower for today, and our assurance of salvation for tomorrow.