Isaiah 43

I am not going to memorize the entire 43rd chapter of Isaiah, but there is a bunch of good stuff here...as there is in the rest of the Bible. I just love how it keeps opening up new vistas of understanding, the more we read it. Read more.

We have discussed “fear” in earlier posts, so will forgo that for now. But look at this context for the rest of the chapter. The Lord created us and formed us. What is there to fear since He has also redeemed us, called us by name, and claimed us. (V.1)

The next verse (2) is taken from an old hymn.*“When through the deep waters I call thee to go, The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow; For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless, And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.” Then verse 4: “When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply; The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.” :>)

Nothing to fear from floods or infernos. Just ask Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. (Daniel 3) Next we skip to verse 5. More on fear. He is with us. Just as Jesus was next to Peter when he began to sink in Matthew 14, He promised to be near His people, and we are also His people. Glory!

Verse 10 is our memory verse for this week.
“You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me.

We were chosen to be His witnesses, and His servants. We can know God. That was the cry of Paul’s heart and of ours as well. (Philippians 3:10) But that is not all. We can believe on Him and understand Him. John 3:16 And when Jesus proclaimed that he was the “I am,” amazing things happened.

In John 8:58 Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am.” And the Jews boiled over with indignation at His claiming to be God. That comes from our verse. Do yourself a favor and look up the number of times Jesus claimed to be “I am” in the Gospels. It is overwhelming, encouraging, and enlightening.

And speaking of overwhelming, look at John 18:6. He was in the Garden of Gethsemane when Judas brought the soldiers to arrest Him. When He answered their query of seeking for Jesus with “I am He,” they were knocked off their feet. I think it was not surprise, but the flash of Shekinah glory that “slipped out” when He revealed Himself.

And He reveals Himself to us. He is the only God, and He is our Savior. Is this good, or what? And to finish things off, He is the One and Only God, there never were, are, or will be any others. He has existed from eternity and will exist for eternity.

This is the God we serve. What a thought! We are His witnesses, His servants, and His believers.

Carl Sagan said, “The Cosmos is all that is or was or ever will be.” He said that he was only able to mount a “feeble contemplation” of it. But he was only looking at what God had made. We get to “contemplate” the Creator of the cosmos. Glory!


*How firm a foundation  and just for Christmas, listen carefully.  https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/339