This extract from the recently published Theological Tracts of Anne Dutton is part of an encouraging letter written to a friend who had asked for Anne’s thoughts on Isaiah 41:10

Be Not Dismayed…

And though at times you are greatly dismayed and your heart is ready sink within you, through unbelieving fear, through heart and hope slaying fear, that the Lord is not your God; yet lay the ear of faith to this precious word of his mouth: “Be not dismayed, for I am thy God!”

Does God prohibit your dismaying fear and will you yield to it? Does Jehovah say, “I am thy God,” and will you doubt it? The word is gone out of his mouth in faithfulness and it shall not return void. “Once hath he sworn by his holiness; and he will not, cannot, lie unto David.” Unto Christ your head, with whom God’s covenant was made, for all the chosen seed. If I lie, unto David! The great and eternal Jehovah doth as it were hereby pledge his whole Godhead for the performance of his great word. It is as if he should say, “I swear by my great self, that I will be a God unto David and his seed; and let me not be God, if I break my word! All immense perfections, and infinite glories of my great being, I engage to perform my word! Once I have sworn by my holiness; if I lie unto David!” And little can we tell, how much there is, in this great if! Oh the astonishing condescension of this great abomination! And to doubt it by unbelief; how great is the abomination! And this great declaration of grace, sir, which the Lord here makes unto you, “I am thy God!” is made in Christ. In him it is confirmed, confirmed by the oath of God! Confirmed by the blood of God! In him, it is yea and amen! And eternal yea! And a fixed amen! And thus, it’s not an uncovenanted, but a solemnly confirmed promise, an oath, a blood-confirmed promise! Confirmed thus, stands Jehovah’s promise-word by the oath of an infinite God, who, “Because he could swear by no greater, he swear by himself.” And for what end? “That by two immutable things, the great word and the solemn oath of Jehovah, wherein it was impossible for God to lie: the heirs of promise might have a strong consolation; who have fled for refuge, to lay hold on the hope set before them.”

And have you fled, my dear friend, have you fled to Christ for refuge, to lay hold on him, for eternal life, as your only hope? Then you, are an heir of promise, and of this great and all-comprehending promise, this oath-confirmed promise, “I am thy God!” And confirmed thus it is, not only for your spiritual and eternal salvation, but also, for your strong consolation! That you might have a cordial strong enough, to keep your heart from sinking, under the most depressing fears. Yea, to raise your heart into an holy triumph and joy of faith over your most potent enemies and all possible adversities. And will you not receive this cordial? This strong consolation? Does the Lord say and say to you, “I am thy God,” and will you, dare you, disbelieve it? And thus and thereby, make God, the God of infinite truth, in this his oath-confirmed word, a liar! Forbid it, mighty God! No, rather, dear sir, set to your seal, that God herein is true! And doubt your interest in him no more.

If Satan tempts you, if sin terrifies you, if trials perplex you, and your heart is ready to sink within you, and all agree to say, “The Lord is not your God.” Put their lie in one scale and God’s truth in the other, their suggestion on one side and God’s confirmation on the other side; and then see by the eye of faith what an infinite disparity there is between them! What a light atom of dust, a mere nothing, your enemy’s suggestion is! And what a ponderous weight, a solid substance, a soul-satisfying, and heart-rejoicing all, Jehovah’s promise is! And take it out of the balance of the sanctuary, by the hand of faith and hold it fast, in the face of all opposition, from inward and outward temptation; with a “Thus saith the Lord, I am thy God; and let God be true; and all that
oppose his truth, liars!”

Thus, sir, stand fast, on God’s side and in his truth; and you shall find his promise-word to be to your enemies a destroying sword; unto you, a sword of victory, a shield of safety, and a cordial most spirituous, to sustain, revive, and delight your heart in the greatest distress. For God’s honour, for your own joy, while he says in his Word, and has often said by his Spirit to your heart, “I am thy God.” Say after him, say to him, in faith and without doubt, “Thou, Lord, art my God. Thou hast told me so; I believe it is so. Thou hast given thyself, in all thy persons, and in all thy perfections, to be mine, entirely and eternally; unto my deliverance from all misery and salvation unto all joy and glory. And, drawn by thee, in love to thee, I give myself, my whole self, and all that thou hast given me, unto thee, the Lord my God; to be unto thy praise, both here and hereafter, for times and for eternities ever!”

To find out more about Anne Dutton’s life and letters, there is an accompanying volume The Spirituality of Anne Dutton