When Jacob the Worm Met God the Helper

Sometimes, life knocks you down so hard that you feel like a lowly worm and that the whole world is out to get you. “Everything is against me,” said Jacob after he lost his wife and his son. But the good news is that God helps the lowly:

“Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel; I will help you,” declares the Lord… (Is. 41:14)

It may shock you to hear God calling Jacob a worm, but it should reassure us to hear God refer to himself as “the mighty One of Jacob” (e.g., Is. 49...