Imagine with me this morning, that you are an Israelite living in Babylon after the Exile. You are a slave in a foreign land. Everything around you is unfamiliar and disturbing. You would give anything to be back in Jerusalem. But then you remember, Jerusalem has been destroyed by the Babylonian invaders. You watched as they invaded the city, ripped down houses, and even tore down the temple of God. Thus, even if you were free you really would have nowhere to go. You remember how the prophets foretold of a time when Israel and Judah would be judged by God and it hits you that you are now living in the fulfillment of those prophecies. It seems that all is lost. The city has been destroyed, the people have been exiled, and God has judged disobedient Judah.

In this moment, you might rightly ask: Where is my comfort? Where is my hope? It is this very question that Isaiah is addressing in chapter 40. If you remember from last week, at the end of chapter 39, in verse 6, Isaiah prophesied: Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left says the Lord. And we can read in 2 Kings 24-25 the fulfillment of this prophecy. So, then, what is Isaiah doing in chapter 40? Very simple, he tells us plainly in verse 1: Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. In light of the coming judgment, the Lord gives Isaiah a message of comfort to his people. Yet, what could comfort the people who will experience such terrible judgment of the Lord? And indeed, as we face difficult times in our own lives, to what will we turn for comfort? Isaiah answers by reminding them and us of three important truths.

First, he reminds them and us of the coming day of the Lord.
Look at verses 3-5 with me again. In the first 11 verses of this chapter, there are three speakers that are to cry out. The first speaker that we see in this verse reminds the people of Judah that the Lord will come. And this is exactly what the people of Judah were desperate for. Look at Isaiah 52:7-10 with me. The people are desperate for the salvation of the Lord and verses 3-5 make it clear that He indeed will come and that nothing will deter his coming, be they mountains, valleys, or anything else. It is clear that the Lord will come to rescue His people. Isaiah calls them to look forward. He is reminding them that things will not always be as they are now. No, the coming day of the Lord is approaching and that should bring you great comfort.

Now we can speak of this being fulfilled in at least two ways. First, as we will consider more in the rest of the book of Isaiah, the Lord will actually rescue His people from Exile by raising up a King, King Cyrus, who will let them return. Isaiah speaks of this in chapter 45, which we will look at in a couple of weeks. A second way we could see this prophecy fulfilled is through the coming of Christ. Even as we have already read this morning, we see that John the Baptist quotes this passage from Isaiah and states that it is referring to him. And who is it that John is preparing the way for? He is preparing the way for none other than God himself. It is Christ who will come and reveal the glory of the Lord to all flesh. He will be the one to rescue Israel, as the song goes “O Come, O come Immanuel, and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lowly exile here, until the Son of God appears.” It is John the Baptist who announces that the Son of God has come in the flesh. We will speak more of this in a moment, but let me just say here that Isaiah is comforting the people of Judah, and us, by reminding them of the coming day of the Lord.

Second, Isaiah reminds them and us of the stability of the Word of God.
Look at what the second speaker says in verses 6-8. The Lord makes a comparison here between man and the Word of God. Man is temporary, he is constantly changing. The analogy that Isaiah uses is that of grass and flowers. If you have spent anytime working in your yard then you know how temporary grass and flowers can be. I remember last summer coming to the conclusion that you need flowers that either bloom more than once or bloom at different times. Otherwise, you only get a couple of weeks of nice flowers in the summer. This is what Isaiah is comparing humanity to. We are temporary and constantly changing. Specifically Isaiah could be referring to the Babylonian nation. He is pointing out that even when Judah is in exile, she can hope in the fact that Nations do not retain power for long. The Lord has told Judah that she will not be in bondage forever. Even the nation of Babylon will fade when the breath of the Lord blows on it.

Yet, in contrast to the ever changing nature of humanity is the stable Word of the Lord. Isaiah is comforting the people by assuring them that even when things seem terrible, you can trust in the promises and power of the Word of God. It is not in constant flux like so much that we see around us. We can take comfort in the fact that God has given us His word and it will stand forever. The other day I read an interesting article on FDR on the Yahoo web page. The next day I went to look at it again and I could not find it. I looked at all the top stories and everything had changed. I noticed that the major headlines are actually updated throughout the day. It seems that printed news is becoming a thing of the past because by the time it is printed and shipped to your door it is probably old news. If we want to keep up with the latest updates, then we are going to need to log on every hour or so and see what is happening. This is not the case with the Word of God. It does not need to be updated every hour to keep up. We do not have to worry if God has changed his mind overnight. If we want to know of the plans and purposes of God, then we simply have to take up and read. We can find great comfort in the stability of the Word of God.

Third, Isaiah reminds them and us of the character of God.
Basically stated, Isaiah calls to the people to take comfort in the character of your God. Look at the third speaker in verse 9. It is actually Zion here who will proclaim to the cities of Judah: Behold Your God!! Isaiah then begins to lay out some specific characteristics of God that the people should take comfort in. I think they can be broken up into four categories.

In verses 10-11, we see that God is mighty and tender. Look at those verses with me. A real interesting point to notice in these verses is the use of the Lord’s arms. In verse 10 we see that the Lord rules with his arm. Isaiah points out that there is might in the arm of the Lord. Yet, in verse 11 we see the Lord as a shepherd who gathers the lambs in his arms. Thus, Isaiah is painting a picture for us of the Great Shepherd King who is our God. With His arms He fights for us and rules with His might. And with His arms He takes us up and draws us near to His side. Thus, we see that God is both mighty and tender towards His people.

In verses 12-20 we see that God is incomparable. If we just walk down through the text we see the many ways that God is incomparable. In verse 12-13 we see his great might and rule over the world as He measures the water in the hollow of His hands and weighs the mountains on a balance. In verse 14 we see that He is incomparable in knowledge. It seems that the gods of the other nations had to have a group of consultants for wisdom, but not Yahweh. He knows all. In verses 15-17, we see that God is incomparable in his rule over the nations. Even if all of Lebanon’s forests, which were known to be great forests, were burnt as an offering that would not be enough to adequately worship God. Isaiah is pointing out that in comparison to God the nations are less than nothing. Not that He has no regard for them, just that they are no comparison for Him. In verses 18-20 we see that God’s deity is incomparable. In fact, the idols are a joke compared to God. Isaiah uses very sarcastic tones to describe how ridiculous it is to worship something as divine that your own hands have carved. In all this we see that God is the incomparable God. There is nothing or no one like Him.

A third characteristic of God that is mentioned here is that God is the creator and sustainer of the universe. We see this in verses 22-26. It is God who sets above the earth and rules. It is God who brings rulers to power and then relieves them of their power. It is God who calls out each star by name and sustains them. All of this is a display of God’s rule over creation and His sustaining power.

One last characteristic of God that Isaiah points out is that He is the source of strength for the weary. Look at verses 29-31 with me. God is the one who upholds the faint and weary. Isaiah is reminding his readers that if they will wait on and trust in God, then He will restore them and rescue them from their captivity. In the same way, God will continue to give strength to us as we wait on Him and trust in Him today.

All of these characteristics that Isaiah points out makes it clear to see why there is so much comfort in the character of our God. He is the mighty One. He is the great Comforter. He is our Shepherd King. He sustains all of creation, even to the last star. His knowledge is unfathomable and His rule is all powerful. He is the One who gives strength to the weary and hope for the down-trodden. This is our God. He Himself is our comfort, even as He was to be a comfort for the people in exile.

As we think about the application of this text for our own lives, we might be tempted to think, ‘All this sounds great, no problem, just take comfort in the coming day of the Lord, the Word of the Lord, and the character of the Lord. I can do that.’ But if we are honest with ourselves, we know that it is not that simple. We know that our struggles are not that easily overcome at times. By why? Why do we struggle so much with having comfort in this life? Isaiah tells that we struggle with worry and doubt so much simply because we forget. Look at verse 21 and 27-28. Isaiah asks Judah, ‘Have you not known that your God is the King over all the nations, that He is the Creator and Sustainer, that His plans and His words will never be thwarted, that He will reveal His glory to all flesh and bring strength to the weary and the faint of heart?’ I think the implied answer here is ‘Yes we have known, but we struggle to remember.’ Is this not our condition this morning? We know the truths concerning God, we have read Isaiah 40 before, some of us probably have v. 31 memorized. So then why do lack comfort in our lives so often? Because we forget. We get distracted by circumstances and situations. We get too busy, too tired, too restless, too worried, to simply stop and remember the God we serve.

Thus, our application for this text is to be comforted by not forgetting, but remembering the truth concerning our God. You might be asking, ‘But how exactly do we not forget.’ Let me offer a couple of suggestions. First, meditate and memorize the Word of God. I can guarantee you that trouble will come your way. It may not be this week, but it will come. When it comes, we need to have the Word of God hidden in our hearts that we might fight our struggles with His truth. We do not simply need to have multiple copies of it our shelves. No, in those times we need it our hearts. We need it to be filling our mind and captivating our thoughts. Then we will answer Isaiah, ‘Yes, I know that the Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary and His understanding is unsearchable.’

A second way to remember the truth concerning God is to take time to notice the glory that is proclaimed in creation. Texts like Psalm 19 and Job 38-41 and this one here in Isaiah call us to look up and be amazed at what our God has done. Creation itself should comfort us in that it proclaims the greatness of our God. I cannot tell you how many times I have been wrestling over some issue in my life, struggling to make sense out of certain situation or something, and gone outside at night and found great comfort at simply the sight of the stars. Do they not silently scream to us of God’s greatness and might? I encourage you to be a person who listens to God’s glory being proclaimed in all His creation. Let even the stars remind you of the faithfulness of our God.

A third way to remember and be comforted by the truth concerning God is to observe the Lord’s table. We sit in a unique place in redemptive history. When we read verses 3-5 we immediately think of the coming of Christ and the announcement of John. We know that God has come. We know that Israel has been ransomed. We know that God has put on flesh, lived a perfect life as a man, and suffered cruelly on a Roman cross to atone for our sins. We know that the grave could not hold Him, that death could not defeat Him, that by His resurrection the victory was sealed. This morning as we eat of the bread and drink of the cup may we indeed remember what our God has done. Yet, we are still in a place of expectation in redemptive history. We too have the promise that God will come. Christ Himself has said that He will one day eat of this bread and drink of this cup with Him in His Kingdom. Thus, we too await the coming day of our Lord. May we find comfort in knowing that He will return to gather His church to Himself. Amen.

COMFORT, COMFORT, MY PEOPLE

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