Fear Thou Not

Josh Garrels sets this short song almost entirely in the voice of God, answering fear with a string of promises rather than arguments. The opening lines arrive like a direct address — "fear thou not," "be not dismayed" — and the reason given is not that circumstances will improve but that God is present: "I am with thee," "I am thy God." From there the assurances build in a steady chain: strength, help, and finally being held up by the right hand of God's righteousness. The archaic King James phrasing gives the lyric a scriptural, almost liturgical weight, and the repetition of "I will" turns the whole piece into a declaration rather than a request. There is no narrator wrestling with doubt here, no petition or lament — just the comfort spoken over the listener. The song's power lies in that simplicity: it takes one of the Bible's most quoted commands against fear and lets it stand unadorned, so the hearer is placed in the position of the one being addressed. It functions less as a narrative and more as a benediction, a few lines meant to be returned to when fear presses in.