The world is fraught with danger. Some trust in human strength and endurance to overcome. Others succumb to anxiety and fear. If Jerusalem had trusted in the LORD of Armies, He would have protected her and rescued her (Isaiah 31:4-5). But Jerusalem’s inhabitants chose to trust in Egypt for her deliverance. So, they found only terror and destruction …fear and exile. 

“As a lion or young lion growls over its prey when a band of shepherds is called out against it, and it is not terrified by their shouting or subdued by their noise, so the LORD of Armies will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on its hill” (Isaiah 31.5). The point of this imagery is that the LORD strikes fear and is not stricken with fear. If any dare oppose Him as He defends His people, He will destroy them. Indeed, if God is for us, who can be against us.

“Like hovering birds, so the LORD of Armies will protect Jerusalem; by protecting it, he will rescue it; by passing over it, he will deliver it” (Isaiah 31.5). Hovering birds protect their young from predators. They are persistent and ever vigilant. Even so, the LORD has protected His people at every turn. He has be an ever present help in our time of need. At every dangerous turn in life the LORD is there hovering and providing protection underneath His mighty wings. 

I am often tempted to lean on my own understanding and strength for deliverance in life. I do not rely solely upon the LORD. I must constantly learn that I cannot lift up my eyes to the hills of fleshly deliverance. My help comes from the LORD. I must look to Him. My confidence is found in the sure fulfillment of the promises He has made to me. The cause of anxiety, whatever it is, grows strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. It really is impossible for me to trust too much in the LORD of Armies. 

“The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD, their refuge in a time of distress. The LORD helps and delivers them; he will deliver them from the wicked and will save them because they take refuge in him” (Psalm 37.39-40). I am never disappointed when I take refuge in the LORD. How thankful I am for what the LORD does for me! There is nothing to fear as I trust only in Him. 

So, I realize that if He delivered up His own Son for my sins, how shall He not also freely give me all things? Jesus absorbed the wrath of God for me. His wrath is what I feared most. Jesus died in my place so that I might be reconciled to God, my Creator. And not only this, He gave me eternal purpose in this life and eternal bliss in the life to come. So, I must boldly approach the throne of grace for confidence today. I must be submissive and find my rest in Christ alone. “I will see your face in righteousness; when I awake, I will be satisfied with your presence” (Psalm 17.15).