Verse 14, fear not you worm Jacob, you men of Israel, I am the one who helps you, declares the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. The Bible is full of wonderful promises for those who know the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who are his sheep, those who hear his voice and follow him as the Lord tells us in John's gospel. In our text, the Lord is looking upon his beloved ones, his covenant people, who are in captivity. They're weak, they're poor, they're discouraged, they're depressed in spirit, because they're living amidst their enemies. A picture, really, of many in Christendom throughout history, not only in the times of the Old Testament. You may think that God, even today, that you're depressed, discouraged in some way, for many Christians are, and the causes are many. We do struggle at times, do we not, in this life? Because Jesus said in this world, you shall have tribulations. We must remember God has not promised any of us an easy path to heaven, nor should we expect it because our Lord himself suffered more than any man on his way back to his Heavenly Father. Sometimes trials and afflictions can become so dark. Many speak of the dark night of the soul, and many Christians go through that. A time when you cannot see anything in front of you. Everything looks terrible in your life. And you simply cannot hear the words of the master, fear not for I am with you. But dear friends, he is with us. He's promised he will never leave us. He will never forsake us. Just as he knew what Israel was doing in captivity and what they were going through, he knows exactly what you're going through, whatever it may be. He knows. He knows our situations. So we should be encouraged with these words, the words I believe of promise by the prophet here. He's telling the people then, and he is telling us now, not to be fearful. At the same time, neither should we be as believers, self-confident, boasting in ourselves, our supposed strengths and so forth. What we see here is the very opposite. of those who are self-confident. What we see here are people who trust in the Lord. But to trust in the Lord, we need to know our own weakness. We need to know we're frail creatures. So that's my first point. Have an awareness of your weakness. You worm Jacob, you men of Israel, We all need to be cognizant of who we actually are. See, Israel even in captivity needed to be reminded of this. God uses very picturesque and not flattering language here of his covenant people. He likens them to a worm, a description that points to weakness, defenselessness, A worm, of course, is easily trampled upon, as you know, by any one of us. It's a description that reflects upon all men. Job 25.6, how much less a man who is a maggot and son of man who is a worm. Alec McTeer points out here a possible reflection on that messianic Psalm, we find here in Psalm 22.6, but I am a worm. and not Ammon, the words of Jesus. These passages do stand under a messianic light, then follows the words, you men of Israel. Calvin and Jerome and others render the word dead man, you dead man of Israel. So we get a picture of weakness, of smallness, a group of nobodies in the eyes of the world. However, God is saying, although you appear as such, I will help you, I will restore you, Israel, to your father on the dirt. But at the same time, men have value as image bearers of God, and God will restore man and women through his son, Jesus Christ. Jesus was treated as a worm. He was despised and rejected by his own nation. He was viewed as unworthy by so many, especially when he took the sinner's place upon that awful tree at Calvary. But we must ask, wasn't the covenant people's position in captivity, didn't it come about because of their rebellion? That's true, Isaiah 59, 30 to 59 too. Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden the space from you. But they were still his covenant people. It's important for us to remember, he's speaking of them just how the world viewed them. The people of God have never been, it seems, at any given time, Large, although when you take a hold of history, they're large, but when you look at space and time and history, they're never sort of a majority in any nation. The strongest, they were never seen as the strongest, wisest people, barely culture. For the most part, as Samuel Rutherford says, they are the basest bodies. Jerusalem is a forsaken woman, he says, speaking of Israel. He says the Lord's Kirk, meaning church, is no better. Micah 4, 6, it's lame and afflicted. As Paul tells us, God chose what is foolish in this world to shame the wise. God chose the weak in the world to shame the strong. Hasn't the Lord shown us what was true of Israel is true of us today? We too are weak, we are sinful, we are rebellious, Romans 3.10. None are righteous, no, not one. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. So what about the modern church with these purveyors of theologies and practices far removed from scripture? Don't we today not realize who we are? We're just the same as ancient Israel, in a sense. All of us are worms before the Lord God of heaven. You ask, how do I know my weakness and so forth? Simply by contemplation. The believer who thinks themselves little will always think themselves little. Charles Spurgeon said this, men who have no brains are always great men. But those who think must think their pride down if God is with them in their thinking at all. David knew his sense of weakness, this great king of Israel. But the Jewish people still talk about this great king, David. He had this great sense of weakness. As he looked out at the moon and the stars and God's great created order, remember he penned those words and saw him, yet when I look at your heavens, Lord, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars, which you have ordained, what is man, he says, that you're mindful of the Son of Man, that you care for him? O Lord, when I consider the vastness of your creation, when I look at the majestic mountains, the splendor of the deep valleys, the plains, the rivers, the boundless oceans. And I think back of my days in the Navy when I stood on the decks of ships in the North of Gladden or in the Mediterranean Sea in storms and the ships being pitched and rolled about. It seems as if the sea is going to engulf you. It's terrifying. It's really, you think it's going to swallow you up. But you just want to think back and look back through the eyes of being a believer. I simply marvel that God would look upon me, a worm, and make me his child. You see, when we compare ourselves with the almighty God, we are like grasshoppers. We are so little. We shrink into nothingness before him. Simply meditate for a while on the great doctrines of the Godhead. The very existence of God, the God who is there, always there. The God who inhabits eternity, the God who declared that there'd be light and there was light. God spoke and brought this whole world into being. The great I am, the eternal one who existed before all worlds. Indeed, there was never a time that there wasn't God. He is the one who is, who was and is to come. So let your mind as a believer this afternoon and your heart and your very soul begin to reflect upon and try to make this and comprehend as much as you can take in of the intimate one, the intimate God, the infinite God who is intimate with his people. And when your heart nods by in reverence, in awe and worship like the psalmist. We are all but little specks of dust in a vast universe compared with the Holy One who created us. Just think for a moment upon your nothingness this afternoon as you contemplate the greatness of God. If you want to know your nothingness, consider yourself amidst sufferings. You see, sometimes when all is going well for us, we may think we are somebody, but if God should put us on a bed of sickness, as one Puritan has said, if God's finger had touched one nerve, we would be miserable, that we could sit down and we do not know how to bear it ourselves. How weak and fragile we are. How easy for the sovereign God to cast any of us into misery. Think of how the Scriptures describe human beings. As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field, and the wind passes over him, and it's gone, and his place remembers him no more. Psalm 103. Job said, my days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle. How fast is that? Your eye can't even see it. Beloved, that's our life. That's our lives. So if you want to know your weakness, think of God. Try some great labor for Jesus Christ. For it's in service for our Lord that we really learn how we need the power of God. We can do nothing of ourselves. We soon learn, don't we, just what worms we are. See, if you read the biographies of the great choices, saints of history, they all marvel that God would use them, such weak vessels. to do his work, to glorify him. It bursts the bubble of human pride, doesn't it? We know, we all know we're helpless, we are nothing. Spurgeon said that contemplating sharp suffering and hard labor always teaches that what little creatures we really are. See, the battle with human pride is not easy. It's like a demon in us that was born within each of us. Nor will it die one hour before us. It's woven into the very fabric of our natures, our fallen natures. Whereas humility is not something we are born with, it's something we need to learn. James says, humble yourselves before the Lord and He will exalt you. So we need to learn who we are. We're creatures, we're real creatures. But remember this, dear people here this afternoon, nothing bears more closely upon our plight as fallen creatures than the revelation of the love of God. Donald MacLeod says we may be tiny, lowly specks on the face of an almost infinite universe, quantitatively insignificant. Yet amidst all that insecurities, strives the love of God, he says. You matter, beloved to God. You matter to him immensely. It's this truth that lightens the darkness for us. It is this what redeems our lives from the threat of meaninglessness and causes our hearts to rejoice. This is what we find in this glorious promise. For God goes on to say to us, to make this affirmation of help, therefore we should trust in him. This is a call to trust in him. I am the one who helps you, declares the Lord. He addressed Israel as Jacob. It's as much to say, fear not despised and weak people for you are my covenant people and I will help you. I have bound myself to do so. Paul says of them in Romans 11, 20, but as regard election, speaking of Israel, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers, Romans 11, 28. Our Lord does not abandon his own people, he has told us in Jeremiah 29 11, for I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans for peace and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Oh, dear believer this afternoon, you may be experiencing difficulty in your life, but remember this, there's not a cross and misery or an affliction that comes upon God's people, but it is the Lord and it is allocated by him to us. For although the first word that comes upon them speaks of a despised worm, the next word, as Samuel Rutherford says, is a word of honor. Jacob, that's a word of honor. We need to learn as children that the very misery of the church is its glory. The crosses of the church have a luster that is more than all the glory of this world. The Lord promises that he will help us. Think about that. Although men be nothing yet, they can accomplish deeds which is one that says needs the power of the infinite one. How then do we account for this? It certainly isn't the worm, so to speak, is what it said. There must be some other secret energy which gives them such might. Well, the mystery is unraveled in this promise. I am the one who helps you, declares the Lord. One of the two prophets, Isaiah and Jeremiah, had said to the covenant people, I will help you. It certainly would have been a kind offer. However, it would not have been enough. People can say to us, can't they? I will help you. It has its place. However, the psalmist tells us not to place our trust in man whose breath is in the nostrils. But notice, it's the Lord who is saying, it's the God of heaven who's saying, I will help you. It is the Lord who gives the promise so it shall stand sure, it's eternal. When our Lord says to a doubting soul, fear not, you can truly trust in his word. As Rutherford says, and I love Sandal Rutherford, a doubting soul It gets no sure word to fasten on until it gets God's word to uphold it. Have you ever read Rutherford's letters? I recommend Samuel Rutherford's letters to you. Spurgeon said that the nearest thing is the Holy Writ that he's ever written. And remember, Samuel Rutherford was a Covenanter, as you know. And a Westminster Divine. I've got a stone in my study from his church, one of the rocks of his church. If that stone could talk, it could say a lot of things. Hear him preaching. Are you overcome with some situation in your life? Are you ready to run away? Are you dispirited in any way? Are you feeling low, perhaps because of some circumstances in your life? Do you feel some burden pressing upon you? Listen to the word of God. Cast your burden on the Lord and he shall sustain you. As he says here, I will help you. Beloved, it is a promise that is true and it's all sufficient. It's not just words. People say this, I will help you, and you don't help at all. But this promise is sure. It doesn't matter what your situation's like, or what our Lord has in his providence permitted in your life, this promise of help still stands. If God is with you, it doesn't matter what the world can do. How much of the fear of God is in the modern church? When you look at the nations of the world and the utter bankruptcy of this world, the utter lack of solid leadership, no matter where you look, there's no leaders. It's almost at times that man's hearts are filling them for fear. Even the church, we seem to be falling into that trap of looking to man for answers. looking to men for answers. But the answer is given to us right here in this word. The answer is God. I will take only one of those stones to die on the giant, so to speak. You see, we're like Israel. When the Philistines faced them, they were all free of Goliath. And then this little shepherd boy comes, meeting his brothers, and he takes on the giant. because he had faith in Israel's God. You see, when you have God in your heart and in your eye, you can defy anything, kings and princes, as it were. Put God on the lips of a man and he will speak truth, even at the cost of his life. You see, for the one who is the Lord in them, there's no fear of man, you see. There's nothing that man can do to them. As Jesus said in Matthew 17, 20, for truly I say to you, if you have faith like a train of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, move from here to there, and I will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. A mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds. Just as it says in the next verse in Isaiah 41, Behold, I will make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp teeth. You shall thresh the mountains and beat them small and make the hills chaff. You shall widdle them. The wind shall carry them away and the whirlwind shall scatter them. You shall rejoice in the Lord and glory in the Holy One of Israel. But how, pastor, can you say fight when our Lord is a God of peace? Well, the truth is, As a Christian, you've been called up to war. The Lord has called us to this war. We're soldiers in the Lord's army. We are at war with the world, the flesh, and the devil. But the weapons of our warfare, as the scripture says, are not carnal but spiritual. And our Lord strengthens us as we use those weapons. He in mercy and grace has provided for us. with such weapons as believing prayer, really believing prayer, the word of God, the preached word, the meditated word, the studied word, the prayed over word. It's these weapons that pull down the strongholds of our enemies. Also remember that our great high priest, our Lord Jesus Christ, is praying for his people. Robert Murray McShane once said, If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yes, distance makes no difference when Jesus is praying for me. Pray then that God shall help you. He comes to you with help at the exact moment it's really needed. He will help you when you need help. Say in your heart of hearts today, if I die, go ahead, look onto me and be, and he'll help you. So why should you fear? Fear is an awful, painful thing. If you're united to Jesus Christ, when you really exercise that gift of faith and really trust in Jesus Christ, the Lord, you'll be truly a happy person. But as soon as we begin to foster doubts, it leads to misery. And it's fear that weakens us. Because to fear people, you're dishonoring the Lord. And when you fear man, you're doubting the Lord. So ask yourself, can the eternal sovereign God feel me? Honest of God's word. captured it in his words that he once wrote, and he wrote many words. He says, how sweet the name of Jesus sounds. Is it sweet to you, that name, in a believer's ear? It soothes our sorrows, heals our wounds, and drives away our fear. This is the one who said of himself, I am a worm and no man, Psalm 22.6. This is the one we look to, to drive out our fears and doubts away. Why does these words, your Redeemer, is the Holy One of Israel? Why is the Redeemer's name joined to this precious promise? Well, look at the words of the text closely. Israel, God's covenant people, were cast down, and Yahweh, for you'll notice the name Lord is capitalized, and he says to his despondent servant, I am he who helps, helps you. Now along with many others, do I believe we are screening the text if we say God, the Holy Spirit, the Holy One of Israel, adds as it were His amen and declares by oath and covenant, I shall help you? No, I'm not. Some might question this. Call it vain repetition. Well, and they'll say, wasn't that simply sufficient for the Father to declare He would help His people? Why include the other two persons of the Trinity to unite in what is called a solemn declaration? I think we'll see the usefulness of it, especially when we look upon the words, your Redeemer. When you consider this amplification, as it were, your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. Remember the text says, I am the one who helps you, declares the Lord, meaning Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And as one remarks, we would forget unless he would ratify the thought. So I remind them of the Trinity. Yes, we need to grasp hold of this truth of God's unity. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Lord your God is one God. But we need to always remember There are three in one also there. These three are one. So he adds a word, your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. All three are included lest we forget that. Think of it, God the Father, the everlasting God says, I will help you. God the Son who's also the Redeemer, the ransom for sinners says, I will help you. And God the Spirit, the one who brought our Lord Jesus Christ, the great shepherd of the sheep from the dead, he who quickens the soul by whom the elect are called out of darkness, the light says, I will help you. What a glorious promise, the supply is endless. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all say the same thing, I will help you. Yet the promise is sweetened, I believe, all the more with these words, your Redeemer. How sweet is any promise when Jesus is in it. Yes, all God's promises are yay and amen, but I think when the name Jesus is in it, it imparts a unique blessedness to that promise. When the grace of God shines through the man, the Lord Jesus Christ, it becomes a light that we humans can bear these words, your Redeemer. It reminds us of the fact, doesn't it, that the word became flesh and dwelt among us, that Jesus actually came into this world He walked where I've walked, where you've walked. He became a worm as he testified of himself in Psalm 22. As Paul says in Philippians 2, he emptied himself. He became nothing for nobodies to make us somebodies, to make us children of his kingdom. So how sweet is this precious name, Redeemer. Surely as believers, we love this promise all the more when we see the Savior. When we look upon Him by faith upon that tree, bleeding and dying for sinners, yet His blood-stained hands stamped as it were, His approval on this glorious promise, I will help you. There's a blood mark, I believe, on this promise, so to speak, for everyone who repents of their sins and believes in Christ and cries out to him, be merciful to me, sinner, save me, Lord, help me. He answers, I will help you. For he helps all those whom he has loved with an everlasting love, who by the bounds of his loving kindness has drawn them to himself. The Lord will not forget you, you see. He doesn't forget us. Can a woman, he says, forget her nursing child? That she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget you. But I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraven you on the palms of my hands. Isaiah 49, 15. Why can the Lord Jesus Christ ever forget us? As he looks to the marks where shed blood flowed from his hands, he remembers his people, and he helps them. He's here in our midst at this very moment, and he says to us, I will help you. He will help you, whatever difficulty it may be as a Christian. If you're struggling with doubts and fears, simply say with one of, oh Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. Because that's what doubts and fears is, it's unbelief. He hears such a prayer and he will help us. He speaks, yes, through the preacher, but especially his word. And whatever you need, the Lord tells us, cast all your cares upon him because he cares for us. 1 Peter 5, 7. Cast your eyes on this text again. I will help you, says the Lord. These I wills, these I shalls of the Lord are some of the sweetest words in all the Bible. Notice, it's not possibly I will help you, or I could help you. No, it is a definite promise. Fear not, I will help you, says the Lord, who gave all his very life for you and for me. Does He not have enough to help you in any situation? Isn't He the all-sufficient Savior? If He has died for you, He shall never leave you. He'll help you. Now look at this final word, you. He will help you. If you are His because of His covenant with His Son, the Redeemer, John 16, 39, this is the will of Him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all He has given me, but I will raise Him up at the last day. That's your future. He shall keep His covenant. I will help you. Ought we then not to respond in love to such a Savior? Does your eyes at times filled with tears when you think of Jesus, the blessed Redeemer, dying for you? Do you know he will help you, do you not? Therefore you will not fear what the world can say or do about you. May each of us know his voice and may hear his voice today. I will help you. May you hear it in your heart, I will help you. Bless his glorious name, let us pray. Our Father and our God, we thank you that you indeed are the helper of your people. And indeed, you promised in your word you would send another helper, even the Spirit of God. We thank you, Father, as we look back on our lives, how you brought us through different situations, different trials, different joys, different heartaches. And we know your word is true, you will not forsake us. We thank you for all your loving kindness and grant the Lord you will bless your word to our hearts this afternoon and accept of our parting praise in Jesus name we pray.