“Thou drewest near in the day [that] I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not. O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life.” (La 3:57-58 AV)
What a verse of praise! Especially when one considers the context. The book of Lamentations is Jeremiah’s verbalization of Judah’s response to the severe chastening of the LORD. After hundreds of years of disobedience, idol worship, and Sabbath neglect, the LORD’s grace ran out. He sent Assyria against the north. He sent Babylon against the south. He had had enough. As Jeremiah spies the condition of the inheritance of Judah and Benjamin, he is brought to tears. As he sees the destruction of the temple, the city wall, and the homes of all those who once resided in Judah, he is moved to despair. But among his deep remorse over the condition of his people, he is able to see God’s grace. He knows this condition is temporary. As soon as Israel and Judah have learned the hard lessons of disobedience and faithlessness, God will bring them back to their land. Even though the hand of God is heavy upon them, it is no reason to fear. God still loves them. He has made a covenant of grace with them. He will not forsake them. He we return to them as they return to Him. He will bring them back. He will redeem them. He will plead the cause of their souls.
If we could begin to appreciate just who and God is to us, it would radically change our lives. We begin by remembering who and what God is. He is the omnipotent Creator of all things. His being is past human understanding. He is infinite in all His attributes. There is no end of His power, He presence, and His providence. His intelligence is immeasurable. It has no limits. There is no comparison. We could imagine what an ameba would be to us. But that would not even come close. To say that God is meek would be an understatement. With unlimited power, He keeps it under constraint so His beloved creation is not swallowed up by His mere presence. What are we to Him? Substantively speaking, we are less than a speck. To bring the example of the single-celled organism back into mind would be insufficient. Both we and the organism have a finite existence is space and time. There is no comparison. Even if we were to fill the known universe with one being and we the rest, it would still not come close. We are so insignificant that there barely exists any description of note when compared to the rest of the known universe. To say that we exist by the grace of our Creator who be a monumental understatement.
So, when the LORD tells us to fear not, that is a big deal! It is a challenge to us. But it is a condescension for Him. For the Creator so say that His being is under restraint so as to have a relationship with those whom He has created is a hard concept to grasp. Add to that our rebellion against so great a Creator and we can begin to understand just how hard it is to be free of fear. Yet, He tells us to fear not. How amazing is that? Further, to know that a Creator as infinitely great as He can manage such delicate and frail beings as the human soul boggles the mind. He does! He is infinitely more skilled that the best nano-surgeon to ever live. He operates in such finite details that no computer ever created can compute all the variables involved. As I sit and write this, my mind is short-circuiting over just how miraculous a God-to-wicked-man relationship truly is. If He tells us not to fear, it is because He has it all under control. If He tells us not to fear it is because an infinite God loves a finite soul more than he could ever appreciate or understand. Praise be to God!
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