Songs of the Scripture - Pt. 4

 

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. (Isaiah 40:1-8 ESV).

 

There are inevitably those times when each of us needs a healthy dose of comfort from time to time. The child at play who trips and scrapes their knee badly needs comfort from a parent or other caregiver. The young man or woman at college with its unfamiliar surroundings needs someone to talk to. And, the young couple whose first child was stillborn, or the middle-aged couple whose son died in an accident, or the elderly man whose wife of 60 years is slipping away because of Alzheimer’s. They must have comfort… the question is who will comfort them?

 

That answer is the good news of our reading today. This is Isaiah’s song. God comes to him and gives him the peace of comfort: “Comfort, comfort my people. . . . Speak tenderly” (vv. 1-8). When we need comfort, we must remember, first, that God is the Sovereign Lord. He will meet us in every situation with his powerful arm. As an old hymn puts it, “Oh, let me not forget that, though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the Ruler yet.” Never forget it! This is our Father’s world.

 

Second, our Father is a loving, compassionate God. No matter what adversities you may be going through today, you can take comfort. Like a shepherd with his sheep, God carries us close to his heart. Remember Jesus’ parting words: “I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). His every act, His every accomplishment on your behalf is designed to produce good (cf. Romans 8:28). That is not a mere hope without basis in fact. It is accomplished work of grace through the atonement Jesus has already made in our life. Find a quiet place and draw on that truth of comfort in your life.