Back in the day (let’s not talk about how far back it was!), I loved watching the game show, “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” As contestants answered questions, they could use lifelines such as phoning a friend or polling the audience. Depending on the question and the friends they had waiting for a call, the contestant would make a decision about who could help the most. 

Over the next several weeks, we’re walking through the hymn “How Firm a Foundation” together. The verses that follow the first verse are all written as God talking to us, and they paraphrase promises from the Bible. The second verse closely mirrors Isaiah 41:10. Here are the lyrics: 

“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.” 

Isaiah 41:10 gives us a wonderful promise: that God is with us, and He will strengthen, help, and uphold us. But this promise brings zero comfort if we can’t rely on God to stay with us through our darkest hours. And this promise means nothing if God isn’t able to give us the help we truly need. 

When we look at this verse in context, the promise becomes even more powerful. God’s people are being threatened by larger military powers around them in the ancient world. They have every reason to be afraid. But God tells them that He is the One who rules over world powers and events. (Isaiah 41:4) 

Other nations trust in their preparation and might. (Isaiah 41:5-7) But Israel has the privilege of being chosen and called by God. He has brought them to Himself and called them His friend. He has promised to always be with them. (Isaiah 41:8-9) God is their Redeemer and the only Holy One. (Isaiah 41:14) 

Because of who God is and what He has done for His people, the Israelites could be confident in His help and have no fear. And as those who have the gift of knowing the cross of Jesus and His empty tomb, we can have even greater confidence in the God who promises to be with us, help us, strengthen us, and sustain us. 

No matter what you face this week, God promises to give you His sustaining strength. 

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“Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so . . . “ As a child singing this song, I didn’t understand the importance of knowing the trustworthiness of an information source. My parents taught me this song, and I trusted my parents. If they said that the Bible said that Jesus loved me, it must be true. 

As adults, we’re constantly bombarded with information – some true, some distorted, and some blatantly false – and we have to try to discern the trustworthiness of the source. We may start to wonder how we can ever find truth in the midst of so much conflicting information. But one source we can always trust is the Word of God.  

Today we’re starting another hymn series, and each week we’ll look at a verse of the hymn, “How Firm a Foundation.” Here’s the first verse: 

“How firm a foundation, ye 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?”

The writer of this hymn wanted us to know that God has given us a firm foundation for our faith in His Word. In the Bible, God has told us everything we need to run to Jesus and find our salvation, our refuge, and our hope in Him. 

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” (Hebrews 1:1-2)

All of God’s Word is good – the Old Testament and the New Testament. “God spoke”—what an amazing privilege we have to read His Word! But we also have an incredible gift the Old Testament saints lacked: God speaking to us by His Son, Jesus Christ. 

We can read our Bibles and see how all the Old Testament pointed to Him. We more clearly understand God’s plan of salvation through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. And we live with the certain hope of His return and the consummation of His victory over all things. 

When we run to Jesus for refuge from suffering, from sin, or even from death itself, we know He is there and that He loves us, because our Bible tells us so. 

No matter what you face this week, you have a firm foundation in God’s trustworthy Word. 

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