August 13 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Isaiah 41:10-20:

¹⁰Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
¹¹Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish.
¹²Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.
¹³For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
¹⁴Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
¹⁵Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.
¹⁶Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.
¹⁷When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
¹⁸I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
¹⁹I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:
²⁰That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.

Devotional

How concerned God is that his children should put their trust in him, that thus they might be without fear and without anxious care. He has chosen them from all eternity. He says of Israel, "But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend . . . Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away." "Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish . . . For I, the Lord thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. Fear not, thou worm. Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel." Time and again God says: Fear not. Time and again He assures us of his gracious presence and of his divine help. There is never a reason to be dismayed. "For if God is for us, who can be against usr" He is God, our God. His hand "is not short­ened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear." Was He not with the three friends of Daniel in the fiery furnace?, and did he not deliver Daniel from the mouths of the lions: and was not Jonah saved from a watery grave? "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 shall not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." God is the same God today. He said, "I will keep thee."

Prayer

O God, we must deplore before Thee our lack of child­like faith. Help us to take Thee at Thy word. Grant that we may derive the needed strength and comfort from Thy precious prom­ises. May we never be ashamed of Thee, nor deny Thy name; but may we be faithful witnesses of Thy truth, ready and willing to lay down our life, if need be, for Thee and Thy cause. We thank Thee that we know that Thou wilt triumph over all Thine en­emies. May we be counted worthy to triumph with Thee and through Thee. For thy name's sake. Amen.

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Scripture in Devotional: Isa. 41:8, 9, 11-14; Rom. 8:31; Isa. 59:1; Dan. 3; Jonah 2; Isa. 43:3.

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