On January 6, 1867, Charles Spurgeon preached a sermon titled, “Good Cheer For the New Year.“¹ His text was Deuteronomy 11:12. “A land which the Lord your God cares for: the eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.” In his closing he said,

“If the eyes of the Lord will be upon us His people from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, what shall we do? Why, let us be as happy as we can during this year. You have your trials and troubles to come—do not expect that you will be free from them. The devil is not dead, and sparks still fly upward. Herein is your joy, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ will never leave you nor forsake you. Up with your standard now and march on boldly! In the name of the Lord set up your banner, and begin to sing. Away with worrisome care, God cares for us; the sparrows are fed, and shall not the children be? The lilies bloom, and shall not the saints be clothed? Let us roll all our burdens upon the Burden-Bearer. You will have enough to care for if you care for His cause as you should. Do not spoil your power to care for God by caring for yourself. This year let your motto be, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” By anxious thought you cannot add an inch to your stature, nor turn one hair white or black; take, then, no anxious thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Lean upon your God, and remember His promise that as your day is so shall your strength be.”

I’m sure Spurgeon’s mention of sparrows alluded to the verses in Matthew 10:29-31 and Luke 12:4–7 when Jesus talked about these little birds.

Jesus speaks to our fear in His words on sparrows. In both passages, in Matthew 10:24–31 and in Luke 12:4–7, He says don’t fear man, fear only God. In a sermon on the Matthew passage, John MacArthur¹ points out that Jesus tells His disciples three times, do not be afraid. (Matthew 10:26, 28, 31).

If you look at the context of these verses, you’ll find that Jesus is preparing them for what will happen to them when they go out and tell the world about Him. These things will happen for the sake of Jesus. He reassures them over and over and over again, do not fear.

Jesus goes on to say:

Persecution may be far worse than facing lies or loss of livelihood—it may mean death. Even in the face of death, however, Jesus says, Do not fear. We have no reason to fear any person, only God Himself.

Jesus underscores this assurance by describing how well God knows us and how much God values us. God’s knowledge extends even to a halfpenny sparrow; God’s knowledge extends to the hairs of our head. A sparrow is not forgotten. Neither are we.

That leads us to the third do not fear.

The same Greek words translated as therefore in verse 26 are translated as So in verse 31. The do not fears interspersed in these verses are bookended with therefore.

Now read all of Matthew 10:26–31. Hear what Jesus is saying, Do not fear.

“Therefore do not fear… Do not fear… So do not fear.”

Earlier in the day that I became a Christian earlier I’d been talking with one of the women from the Bible study I’d been going to for several weeks. She listened to me and said, “You know, Iwana, God loves you so much that even the red hairs of your head are numbered.” As you can guess these verses became—and still are—very meaningful to me.

Whatever this coming year may bring, “So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.”

Why should I feel discouraged?
Why should the shadows come?
Why should my heart be lonely
and long for heaven and home,
when Jesus is my portion?
My constant friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow,
and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow,
and I know He watches me.

I sing because I’m happy,
I sing because I’m free,
for His eye is on the sparrow,
and I know He watches me.

Other verses:

“Let not your heart be troubled,”
His tender word I hear,
and resting on his goodness,
I lose my doubts and fears;
though by the path He leadeth
but one step I may see:
His eye is on the sparrow,
and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow,
and I know He watches me.

I sing because I’m happy,
I sing because I’m free,
for His eye is on the sparrow,
and I know He watches me.

Whenever I am tempted,
whenever clouds arise,
when song gives place to sighing,
when hope within me dies,
I draw the closer to Him;
from care He sets me free:
His eye is on the sparrow,
and I know he watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow,
and I know He watches me.

I sing because I’m happy,
I sing because I’m free,
for His eye is on the sparrow,
and I know He watches me.

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House sparrow in flight, ©Carl Bovis. Used by permission. Book: 100 Birds, prints, and other items are available at Carl Bovis Nature Photography https://www.carlbovis.com/
Passer domesticus, House sparrow; מינוזיג CC0.
Video: “Mother and daughter duo Patti and Emily Drennan sing one of their favorite songs of hope, “His Eye is on the Sparrow”, despite being miles and states away from each other during this global crisis (Oklahoma and New York).”
¹A tweet from Dustin Benge sent me on a search for this sermon. You can read the sermon in its entirety at Spurgeon Gems.
²John MacArthur has a wonderful sermon, “The Hallmarks of Discipleship, Part 1,” expounding Matthew 10:26–31 in detail.

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