Isaiah 41:13

Isa 41:13 For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

Ver. 13. For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand.] As a tender father taketh his dear child by the hand, in dirty or dangerous ways especially, lifting him over; so the saints are said to sit down at God’s feet, {Deu 33:3} or to stand between his legs, as little ones do.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Isa_41:13

For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand

The Christians help

I.

IT IS A PERSONAL HELP. I will help thee. When the religious element was strongly felt amongst the Jews, they looked to the King eternal for guidance and protection; nothing but His counsel would satisfy them. Man seems to have the special intuition of a personal God, as if nothing but personal contact with Him could revive the latent powers. Truth in the abstract cannot touch the heart so as to cause an inner revolution. Truth must come from God as from a living Being.

II. THIS PERSONAL HELP WILL BE GIVEN ONLY IN THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. The children of Israel had departed from the right way, and as long as they sought their own gratification they could not expect help from the God of their fathers. The way of righteousness is not the most pleasant at all times for flesh and blood, but it is always the safest.

III. IT IS THE MOST TENDER AND CONSTANT HELP WITHIN THE REACH OF MAN. The Jewish people were bruised by their terrible fall, they had but little strength left, they were almost hopeless of ever seeing their own country. The Lord knew their helplessness, so these words are full of the greatest kindness. The way of holiness, the way to heaven, is so strange to a person who has defiled himself with sin that but little progress could be made without a guide. So the Lord tenderly takes each traveller by the hand. (Homilist.)

The promised help

I. THE LORD GIVETH STRENGTH. What a precious truth is this, if believed in, to such a feeble creature as man. It is as a covenant God in Christ that the Lord comforts the believing soul with the promise, I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, etc. The Lord thy God.

II. MAN NEEDS THE STRENGTH which the Lord promises, and which He alone can give. Man needs strength for obedience to Gods holy laws. Vain is the help or salvation of man, even far more in things spiritual and eternal than in our temporal concerns; so that those who trust in and pray to saints and angels, and expect salvation from them, will be overcome: they will not tread down their enemies, nor obtain the conquerors crown. (W. Firth, B. D.)

Courage, its source and its necessity

I. ITS SOURCE. I will hold thy right hand. The grasp of the hand is significant of close and present friendship, of the living nearness of the deliverer. And that sense of Gods presence, so near that our faith can touch His hand and hear the deep still music of His voice--realised as it may be in Christ, is the source of a courage which no danger can dispel, no suffering exhaust, and no death destroy. The clearest way of illustrating this will be to take the higher forms of courage among men, and observe what states of soul are most conducive to it.

1. Beginning with the courage of active resistance, we find its great element in the fixed survey of the means of conquest.

2. Passing on to the courage needful for passive endurance, we find that its great feature is self-surrender to the highest law of life. The Christian endures, because the law of his being has become resignation to the will of God.

II. ITS NECESSITY.

1. It requires courage to manifest the Christian character before men.

2. To maintain steadfast obedience to the will of God.

3. To hold fast to our highest aspirations. (E. L. Hull, B. A.)

The repetitions of love

God repeats His love for, and His purpose concerning, Israel. Lacordaire said that love is always saying the same thing, yet never repeats itself. And though God repeats in both parts His love and purpose, yet it would be new all through to the Jew, sick with his sorrow and captivity; and the sum of the consolation is--I am with thee. Fear not; rather rejoice. No trial could or would befall the Jew but God would help him to bear it. (J. A. Davies, B. D.)

Held by Gods hand

A little lad in the hospital was asked if he could bear a severe operation. Yes, was his reply, if father will hold my hand. When we feel Gods hand holding us in times of trial, the touch gives us nerve and calm. (J. A. Davies, B. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

COURAGE—ITS SOURCE AND NECESSITY

Isa_41:13. For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, &c.

These words were spoken to the Jews in an age of national peril and dismay; they had slowly been losing their ancient strength through a spirit of indifference, and at length the alarm had come that awoke them from their dream. The Assyrian invasion had paralysed them with fear; no sooner had they been saved from it than the prophet was commissioned to announce an invasion from Babylon that would carry them into a strange land. Then it was that Isaiah proclaimed the source of courage, the power of which he himself had proved. The Jews might seem as nothing before the great surrounding nations; but the Lord was at their side; His voice was in their midst, crying, “Fear not; I will help thee.”

The words which give us the secret of the old Hebrew courage reveal the source of the courage we need as Christians. The notion, indeed, has gone forth that the ancient fortitude has no place in the life of the Christian,—it has declined before the gentler graces of spiritual life; but if this means that the Christian is to be only a loving, and not a righteous man, then the teaching of Christ Himself contradicts it. Not only so, but the gentler graces demand as much fortitude of soul as the stronger and sterner virtues; and, above all, steadfast obedience to God amid sorrows, and temptations, and failures, requires a courage more deep and real than that of the Jewish warrior.

Our subject is—Courage, its source and necessity.

I. ITS SOURCE.

What a broad sense of the Divine presence and aid in the figure: “I will hold thy right hand!” The grasp of the hand is significant of close and present friendship; and that sense of God’s presence—so near that our faith can touch His hand and hear the deep still music of His voice—realised as it may be in Christ, is the source of a courage which nothing can shake. Take the higher forms of courage seen among men, and it will be seen how this belief creates at once that state in which courage rises, and in which it attains its highest power. We may pass by animal courage—the bravery of instinct or temperament—as not proceeding from any principle, and so totally unlike courage of soul. The higher and true form of courage is of two kinds:—

1. The courage of active resistance. Its great element is found in the fixed survey of the means of conquest; fear rises from the contemplation of difficulties—courage from the perception of the thing to be done. There is always a lion in the path of a man who expects to find one. Intense concentration on the means of action creates the courage that actively resists danger. This is especially true of spiritual courage. It is by the aid of God that we conquer in spiritual battle; and while our gaze is fixed on that, fear vanishes; with the sense of omnipotence grasping and cheering his spirit, a man can defy the world, and death, and hell to make him turn aside from the path of Divine duty (H. E. I. 1911–1919).

2. The courage needful for passive endurance. It is harder of attainment; for while there is anything to be done, we find relief in action; but when we can only be still and endure, then it is supremely difficult to resist the assaults of cowardice. The great feature of this aspect of spiritual courage is self-surrender to the highest law of life; but if we could hear God’s voice, amid the dismay and darkness, proclaiming “All is well,” should we not be trustful, courageous, and strong?

II. ITS NECESSITY.

It is essential to Christian life for three reasons:—

1. It requires courage to manifest the Christian character before men (H. E. I. 1042–1046). Regarding the two sides of that character as seen in Christ—the strong and the tender, the severely true and the forbearing, sympathising, forgiving—we feel the incompleteness of any other character, and both of these aspects demand courage for their manifestation. What can give us courage to do the right regardless of consequences but the grasp of God’s hand and the sound of His voice?

2. It requires courage to maintain steadfast obedience to the will of God. Christian life is more than visible Christ-like character; it means Christ-like obedience amid the inner and unseen temptations of the soul. Every man has his own cross to bear.

3. It demands courage to hold fast to our highest aspirations. As Christian men, we are bound to aim at being our highest and best. The revelations of our aspirations must become our practical ideals; if we do not strive to realise them, we shall degenerate. If we would gain the far-off summits, we must keep our eye fixed on the gleaming heights. And can anything give us power and courage to do so but the knowledge that the Everlasting arms are round about us, and the voice of the Eternal cheering us onward? And here, as in all the storm and strife of our earthly pilgrimage, we are simply driven to the man Christ Jesus. He knows our weakness, and left us the legacy of everlasting power when He said, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.”—E. L. Hull, B.A.: Sermons, Third Series, pp. 157–167.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

(Deu 33:26, Deu 33:29).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

13. will hold … will help] do hold … do help. For saying render: I who say.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand,.... Take hold of it, join in league and alliance with his people as it were, go hand in hand with them; and having such an one with them, and on their side, they need fear no enemy: or it is expressive of great freedom, familiarity, and friendship, which may assure believers of the strong affection of God towards them; and they may conclude themselves safe, being held by him as a child in the hand of its parents, which is then not afraid of anything. The Lord holds the right hand of his people, teaching them to walk by faith, leading them into his presence, and to communion with himself, and keeps them from falling: or, he "will strengthen their right hand" (r); to do his work and service, and oppose their enemies; or he will relieve their wants, and fill their hands with his good things, which is sometimes the sense of the phrase, Eze 16:45,

saying unto thee, fear not, I will help thee; as one friend takes another by the hand in distress, and bids him be of good cheer, promising him all needful assistance and supply. See Gill on Isa 41:10.

(r) "qui confortat dexteram tuam", Gataker.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Will hold thy right hand; or, will strengthen, &c, as this word properly signifieth; will assist and enable thee to vanquish all thine enemies.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

13. The stated reasons continue for hope, and not doubt; they lie in God’s continually encouraging, Fear not. In all these verses God is the speaker. Time past and time future is always to him time present.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand. God himself will be their Strength, will personally interfere on their behalf, taking them as it were by their right hand. Saying unto thee; rather, I who say to thee.

Vers. 13, 14. The supreme prayer.

"Lord, help me;" responded to by God in the gracious assurance, "I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel." Likening Israel to a worm, reminds us of its despised and depressed condition in captivity. "However weak and despised and trodden underfoot thou mayest be, in thy captivity and exile, yet fear not, I will help thee." It is a painful suggestion of hopelessness and helplessness that no cry can now rise but the brief, intense, "Lord, help me." And yet it is full of hope that any cry at all can rise, and that, even in despair, men are turning yearning eyes toward God. Of this we may be assured, when man cries, out of the depths, his cry, "Lord, help me," God will answer, out of his heavens, "I will help thee." The associations of the ancient goel, or family avenger, may be used in illustration, as the word translated "Redeemer" is in the original Goel. And the certainty of response to prayer by him who liveth, and is our God and Father, may be illustrated by an incident in the life of Luther. Usually he was of a cheerful temperament, but he was subject to occasional fits of severe depression. Once, when nothing seemed to avail, he was induced to leave home for a few days, in the hope that he might recover his cheerfulness; but he returned with a cloudy and dejected countenance. How great was his surprise, on entering the house, to find his wife seated in the middle of the room, attired in black garments, and with a mourning cloak thrown over her, while she pressed to her eyes her handkerchief, as if weeping bitterly! He eagerly inquired the cause of her distress, which she seemed loth at first to communicate; but on his again imploring her to speak, she answered, "Only think, dear doctor, our Father in heaven is dead! Judge if I have not cause for my grief." Upon this, immediately comprehending her riddle, he laughed, and embracing her, said, "You are right, dear Kate; I am acting as if there were no God in heaven;" and from that hour his melancholy left him. Only two points are suggested for elaboration and illustration.

I PRAYER NEVER REACHES ITS FULL INTENSITY WHILE IT CAN BE SET IN HUMAN WORDS. We say the same of grief. It never hurts, or imperils reason or life, while it can find expression. Silent grief hurts. A man is not utterly broken down while he can make a prayer and express his wants.

II PRAYER REACHES ITS INTENSITY WHEN IT CAN BE NO MORE THAN A VOICELESS CRY. A simple "Lord, help me." When the soul is quite full there can be no utterance. A man must go into the presence of God, and leave him to read heart, thought, and desire. Such experiences only come at times into any life. Yet they are the times when we are most really, most wholly, cast on God. Here is a sacred paradox our best times of prayer are the times when we cannot pray. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Will hold - Will enable thee to vanquish all thine enemies.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

“For My Jehovah thy God, (am) holding fast thy right hand; the (one) saying to thee, Fear not, I have helped thee,” (i.e., I, who command thee not to fear, have already helped thee, or secured thy safety.)

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For I, the Lord, etc. For this is a wonderful event, that Babylon was taken, that her armies were destroyed in their own land, and the Israelites remained unhurt.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.