Jerusalem had been besieged, and a great army had come up against them. The city and its people had been threatened by death and plunder by the Assyrians. They had been hearing about the cruelty of the Assyrians from other conquered peoples. However, God had delivered them. Yet, there was still some fear in the people. So, God reassures the people in Isaiah. “Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isa. 41:10). God repeats the coupling of “do not fear” with “I will help you” three times in just a few verses. God specifically mentions that He would help them with those that were against them (Isa. 41:11-12). These that God was communicating with were His righteous ones (Isa. 41:8-9).
This is similar to a passage in the Psalms. David said this, “In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried to my God for help; He heard my voice out of His temple, And my cry for help before Him came into His ears” (Psa. 18:6). God’s response is broken down this way in the psalm. After the cry for help, we see God’s power respond (v. 6-15). Then David speaks about the deliverance from the enemy at the hand of God (v. 16-19). David attributes this response from God to his righteous life lived in the commandments of the Lord (v. 20-28).
We will always have enemies if we are living the kind of life we are supposed to live (1 Pet. 2:9-12). So, don’t worry about having enemies. Concern yourself with having the right ones and for the right reasons. Don’t have enemies because you are intentionally offensive. Don’t have enemies because you are caustic and abrasive. Don’t have enemies because you are unfeeling or unloving. But, do have enemies because you stand for truth. Do have enemies because you will not waver in the face of majority opinion when it clashes with Biblical authority. Do have enemies when you will not personally compromise your convictions. Some of our enemies can be from our own household (Matt. 10:34-37). They can be from city leaders (Acts 16:19-24) or from the government (Heb. 10:32-34). They can even be from popular thoughts of society (Acts 17:5-9). The biggest threat is not flesh and blood (Eph. 6:10-12). What do we do in the face of our enemies? We always pray, even for them (Phil. 4:6). We stand against our enemy (1 Pet. 5:9). We maintain an unwavering and calm trust in God (Prov. 3:5). We must also conduct ourselves in a way becoming those that profess to be followers of Christ (Luke 6:27-28; Rom 12:20-21). Do not fear, God will help. Some of that help comes from His instruction. Some comes from His providence. All of it comes because of His love, faithfulness, patience, grace and forgiveness.