Isaiah: Trust in the Lord
Isaiah ESV
Isaiah 12:2 Trust When We Are Afraid
“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”
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Small Group Study
Isaiah – Trust in the Lord
October 18, 2026
Isaiah lived in the 7th century B.C. in Judah during the reigns of King Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Isaiah’s message covered most social and spiritual issues one could imagine. He addressed kings unfaithful to God, priests lax in their responsibilities and adherence to God’s law, people worshiping other gods, and political unrest, to name a few.
This study focuses on the theme of trust throughout his messages.
The outline for Isaiah I have chosen is taken from Gary Smith’s “The Prophets are Preachers” which focuses on this idea of trust. For your own study Smith delineates the following seven sections in Isaiah: 1) Trusting God or Trusting Self (1:1-6:13); 2) Trusting God or Testing God (7:1-12:6); 3) Trusting God’s Plan for the Nations (13:1-23:18); 4) Trusting God or Other Nations (28:1-39:8); 5) Trusting God for Deliverance (40:1-48:22); 6) Trusting in God for Salvation (49:1-55:13); 7) Trusting in God for Restoration (56:1-66:24)
Isaiah 12:2 Trust When We Are Afraid
“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”
Read Psalm 23:4. A shepherd’s rod is a weapon against predators. The staff is a protection gear for gathering/guiding sheep.
Discuss the Isaiah images of God being our STRENGTH and SONG in light of facing fears that we have.
Discuss the Psalm images of the ROD and STAFF of God. How do they give comfort in fear?
Trust Comes From Consistent Devotion
Isaiah 26:3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
Isaiah 30:15 For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”
Read Matthew 22:37. Jesus emphasizes that we should be devoted to God with ALL/EVERYTHING we have.
Share how you keep your mind “stayed on the Lord.”
Share how you “return and rest” in the Lord.
Discuss how we can lose sight of “staying, returning and resting” when Jesus says we are to love God with ALL of our might.
Trust in God’s Available, Unchangeable Nature
Isaiah 26:4 Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.
God also uses Isaiah in a Messianic prophecy: “So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.'” – Isaiah 28:16
Paul also makes this connection in Ephesians 2:19-20.
Read also 1 Peter 2:5. Discuss this progression from “God the Rock”, Jesus the “Cornerstone”, and God’s people the “living stones.”
What does this tell us about God? About the purposes of Christ? And the responsibilities we have in the Kingdom of God?
Trust in God’s Plan
Isaiah 31:1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the Lord!
Share things in this world in which we trust (i.e. banks, governments, friends, employer). Share a time when these have failed (SVB failure of 2023, Taliban control of Afghanistan 2021, friend?, job?)
Isaiah 31:1 encourages us to “look” to God and “consult” the Lord. The Hebrew word for “look” has the idea of pondering with respect. The word for “consult” has the idea of enquiring of God. What is the importance of each of these idea in regards to our prayer/devotion time with God.
Righteousness Comes by Faith, Trust Comes from Faith
Isaiah 32:17 And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.
According to this text trust is an outcome of righteousness. However, as with Abraham, righteousness is appointed to us by God through faith. Read Genesis 15:6
Discuss how faith leads to trust as indicated in these texts.
James 2:21 expands the understanding of righteousness to not just faith but also works.
How does faithful works lead to trust?
Trust in God’s Word Not False Prophets
Isaiah 36:15 Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us. This city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”
Share false messages about God’s nature/character/plans that you have heard recently. What criteria and method do you use to make the judgment on its truth?
Isaiah 50:10 Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.
Spend time in prayer for those that do not trust in the Lord and our role in telling them of God’s great name!