My Dad's Last Sermon: Part 3 Be not dismayed

But he goes on to say something else:  “Be not dismayed for I am thy God”.  I understand that word dismayed really means panicking, looking this way and that, being desperate, not knowing which way to turn.  In the earlier verses we find that was the attitude of the pagan nations in the face of the advancing armies of Persia.  They were panicking and not knowing which way to turn.  But for the Lord’s people he said, “There’s no need to do that.  Be not dismayed for I am thy God.”  He reminded them of his covenant with them through Abraham and we have an even greater covenant through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  The apostle Paul says in Galatians, “if we are Christ’s then are we Abraham’s seed.”  In other words, those promises made to Abraham about God being with his people hold good for us as much as for any Jew descended from Abraham.

So, we thank God that we do not need to be dismayed.  Those words would have had a familiar ring to many Jews who were familiar with their history because they’re very similar to the words that God spoke to Joshua when Joshua led God’s people into the Promised Land.  In Joshua chapter 1, verse 9 we find that God said to Joshua, “Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed for I, the Lord thy God, am with thee withersoever thou goest.”