In cards, emails texts and facebook posts our friends shared numerous passages from the Bible they thought would help us in our tragedy. We have collected most of them here because they became a source of great comfort and strength at moments when our sense of loss was at its most intense. Every verse or passage is a gift from someone which they have thought carefully about giving us; and that makes them a unique collection of bible verses. We have returned to them many times since when we have needed to realign our minds to God’s purpose and draw his comfort from them. They became a source of great personal strength to us in our journey of grieving.
We have left them in biblical order because any other sequence seemed forced. Each one applies in a different way; some encourage us to be strong and brave while others urge us to let it all out to the Lord. Some speak to our situation while others refer to Esther herself. But we realised that we had here a collection of concentrated biblical source material that was laced with tenderness and oozed strength.
We hope you will find them to be the same if you are facing a loss of your own:
Num 6:26 “… the LORD turn his face towards you and give you peace.”‘
Deut 33:27 The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.
Josh 1:5 No-one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
2 Sam 22:2-3 He said: “The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my saviour– from violent men you save me.
2 Sam 22:31-33 “As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.
Deut 32:3-4 I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.
Deut 33:12 “Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders.”
Neh 8:10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
Job 5:8-11 “But if it were I, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him. He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. He bestows rain on the earth; he sends water upon the countryside. The lowly he sets on high, and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
Ps 23:1-6 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Ps 27:14 Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.
Ps 29:11 The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.
Ps 31:1 In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness.
Ps 34:18 The LORD is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Ps 37:4-5 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do things.
Ps 46:1-3, :10-11 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. … “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Ps 55:22 Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.
Ps 57:2-3 I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfils [his purpose] for me. He sends from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me; God sends his love and his faithfulness.
Ps 61:4 I long to dwell in your tent for ever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.
Ps 62:1-2 My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I shall never be shaken.
Ps 68:19 Praise be to the Lord, to God our Saviour, who daily bears our burdens.
Ps 71:1-3 In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame. Rescue me and deliver me in your righteousness; turn your ear to me and save me. Be my rock of refuge, to which I can always go; give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.
Ps 91:4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
Ps 94:19 When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.
Ps 116:5 The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.
Ps 119:76 May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant.
Ps 121:2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
Ps 125:2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people both now and for evermore.
Ps 139:16-18 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.
Ps 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
Ps 145:18 The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
Ps 147:5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.
Prov 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
Prov 4:18 The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.
Lam 3:22-23 It is because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Isa 40:31 Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Isa 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isa 41:13 For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.
Isa 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isa 58:11 The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
Isa 63:9 In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
Jer 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Matt 5:4 Jesus said: Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Matt 11:28 Jesus said: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
John 10:27-28 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no-one can snatch them out of my hand.
John 11:17-44 “Where have you laid Lazarus?” Jesus asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. At that moment Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Rom 8:37-39 In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1 Cor 2:9 It is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”
1 Cor 13:8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
2 Cor 1:3-5 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
2 Cor 12:9 [God] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
Col 1:3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,
Phil 4:7 … And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
II Th 2:16-17 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
Heb 6:18-20 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest for ever, in the order of Melchizedek.
I Jn 5:11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
Rev 7:17 For the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Rev 21:4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
