Encouraging Bible Verses

“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

Spoken through Isaiah to a people far from home; the promise is presence before it is rescue.

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

The opening line of a psalm written for a time when the earth itself seems to shake.

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Paul's claim comes inside a chapter that openly names suffering and groaning.

“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;”

Paul describes real pressure on his ministry, and what it did not do to him.

“For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.”

Outward wear and inward renewal, set side by side.

“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;”

Paul weighs present trouble against what he believes is coming.

“The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”

David's psalm places God near the brokenhearted, not far from them.

“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.”

The psalmist talks to his own discouraged soul and answers it with hope.

“It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.”

Written among the ruins of Jerusalem, in a book of laments.

“They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”

The verse behind the hymn "Great Is Thy Faithfulness."

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

Jesus speaks to his disciples on the night before the crucifixion.

“Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

Said to people who were weeping as the law was read to them.

“Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

God's charge to Joshua as he takes over leadership after Moses.

“Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”

Moses encourages Israel before they cross into the land without him.

“And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.”

Moses repeats the promise to Joshua personally, in front of the people.

“And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.”

David's words to Solomon about the work of building the temple.

“For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.”

The picture is of God holding your right hand.

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

Paul writes to Timothy, a younger leader who seems to have struggled with timidity.

“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?”

David asks two questions that answer themselves.

“Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.”

The closing line of a psalm prayed under pressure from enemies.

“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

The end of a chapter that begins with "Comfort ye" and turns to the tired.

“Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.”

David's psalm ends by repeating the instruction to wait.

“The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.”

From the most hopeful passage in Lamentations.

“For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”

A psalm of thanks after a season of trouble had passed.

“For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.”

God's answer to a prophet who asked how long injustice would last.

“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

Paul's encouragement to keep doing good when results are slow.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

Written to exiles in Babylon who were told they would be there seventy years.

“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”

Paul's confidence about the church at Philippi, written from prison.

“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”

A prayer near the close of Paul's letter to the Romans.

“Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

The last words of Matthew's Gospel.

“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

The writer quotes an Old Testament promise and applies it to contentment.

“When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.”

Water and fire are both named; the promise is to be with you in them.

“The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.”

A prophet's picture of God rejoicing over his people with singing.

“What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?”

The question that opens the closing section of Romans 8.

“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”

Paul's answer after listing trouble, distress, persecution and danger.

“My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.”

From a Song of degrees, traditionally sung by pilgrims on the road to Jerusalem.

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”

The verse in Psalm 23 where the shepherd walks with you through the dark valley.

“Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.”

Paul asks the church to keep building one another up, as they already were.

“But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”

An instruction to encourage one another every day.

“Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.”

A proverb about what a kind word can do for a heavy heart.

“Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.”

Pleasant words compared to a honeycomb.

“Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”

Paul's short summary of what carrying each other looks like.

“Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.”

Comfort received becomes comfort that can be passed on.

“He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.”

He gives strength to the weary

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Come to me, all who are weary