“… The God of Israel will be your rearguard.” (Isaiah 52:12)
When the Lord is for us, who can be against us? David said he had nothing to fear, because when his enemies came upon him to eat up his flesh, God would cause them to stumble and fall. (Ps. 27:2.)
The worst thing an army can ever do is to turn tail and run. This only emboldens the enemy to chase down and slaughter those who show themselves filled with fear. But if the Lord has our back we can not only stand our ground, but we can know He is before us to lead us and behind us to protect us. There is no need to run when He is our “rearguard.” “For you shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.” (Isa. 52:12)
How marvelously did the Lord both lead His people by day and protect them by night when the Egyptians were in hot pursuit of them. We read:
“And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them: And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it lit up the night unto Israel; and all that night the one side never came near the other.” (Exodus 14:19, 20)
There is no need to run when He is our “rearguard.”
Is this not remarkable: the same pillar of cloud acted as a wall of light for the children of Israel and a wall of darkness for the Egyptians. The Egyptians could see nothing and didn’t even know they were a short space from their prey. The Israelites had a “night light” to comfort them in the presence of their enemies.
We can become so afraid of people and what they can do to us. We can be gripped by the fear of man and their potential to harm us. But David said: “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Ps. 27:1) We don’t need eyes in the back of our head if the Lord is our rearguard. We can say with David: “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.” (Ps. 4:8)
Know this: Satan himself needed permission from God to touch Job. Pilate needed power from above to sentence Christ to death. Evil does not run so rampant that it can touch the righteous without God’s knowledge. Not a sparrow falls to the ground without Him knowing; and His dear children are worth more to Him than many sparrows.
Don’t live in the torment of fear. Pray: “Preserve my life from fear of the enemy.” (Ps. 64:1) The only one we need to fear is God Himself, knowing: “The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.” (Ps. 34:7)