Comforting Words
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1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her,
That her warfare is accomplished,
That her iniquity is pardoned:
For she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord,
Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be exalted,
And every mountain and hill shall be made low:
And the crooked shall be made straight,
And the rough places plain:
5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall see it together:
For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
Background of
Background of
Why is there a need for comfort at this point in Isaiah?
Why is there a need for comfort at this point in Isaiah?
The sin of Hezekiah
- Time was turned back, Hezekiah was healed and 15 years was added to his life
There was a promise of deliverance of Hezekiah and the Israelites from the hands of the Assyrians
opens with the king of Babylon visiting and Hezekiah lays bare all that he has before this earthly king
He makes an alliance with Merodach-baladan, king of Babylon, even after the promise from the King of kings to deliver him Assyria
Hezekiah was double minded. He wanted his own assurance but wasn’t concerned about his heritage. Look at the end of after Hezekiah told him Israel would once again go into captivity and even some of sons would be taken captive:
8 Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days.
Isaiah 39:8-
People are Unstable
People are Unstable
Two of my favorite examples - David is one
Two of my favorite examples - David is one
David
Look through his Psalms
One minute he is on the mountain top, full of praise and promise
- The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want
The next he is full of remorse and repentance for his sins
- Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities
Then he turns around and is full of vengeance and venom
Look at - a prayer, or psalm, against someone against someone accused of basically of sin
Psalm 109:6-
6 Set thou a wicked man over him:
And let Satan stand at his right hand.
7 When he shall be judged, let him be condemned:
And let his prayer become sin.
8 Let his days be few;
And let another take his office.
9 Let his children be fatherless,
And his wife a widow.
10 Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg:
Let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.
11 Let the extortioner catch all that he hath;
And let the strangers spoil his labour.
12 Let there be none to extend mercy unto him:
Neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children.
13 Let his posterity be cut off;
And in the generation following let their name be blotted out.
14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the Lord;
And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.
15 Let them be before the Lord continually,
That he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.
16 Because that he remembered not to shew mercy,
But persecuted the poor and needy man,
That he might even slay the broken in heart.
17 As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him:
As he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him.
18 As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment,
So let it come into his bowels like water,
And like oil into his bones.
19 Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him,
And for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually.
This is the very same David that wrote this:
13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways;
And sinners shall be converted unto thee.
Psalm 51:
And this:
A Psalm of David.
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul:
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
Psalm 23:
People have peaks and valleys…life gets to us, to them
Peter is my other favorite example
God Had a Plan from the Start
God Had a Plan from the Start
Isaiah 40:
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord,
Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be exalted,
And every mountain and hill shall be made low:
And the crooked shall be made straight,
And the rough places plain:
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall see it together:
For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
A voice cries out:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Isaiah 40:3-
as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth;
As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
Israel was a stiff necked people.
They went from valley to mountaintop, straight path to crooked road....over and over
There was a different way for them, really a harder way
God knew…and He told them of a time to come that would be better
Israel went from slavery to slavery, from Assyria to Babylon, and in the midst there was this prophecy. That no longer would they have to endure as they had. No longer would there be a difficult path to them…The Lord promised a clear path that the sinner may be found, and His way would be announced...
Luke, and the other Gospel writers recorded that announcement of John the Baptist.
And so the way was made.
Israel had to wait, they still had to endure. Isaiah was written about 700-680 BC…700 years they waited for this prophecy to be fulfilled.
My other favorite example - Peter
My other favorite example - Peter
Peter was no less “up and down” than David.
He didn’t write the dramatic Psalms like David, but his actions spoke the same sentiment
13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
10 Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.
17 Then saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also one of this man’s disciples? He saith, I am not.
25 And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They said therefore unto him, Art not thou also one of his disciples? He denied it, and said, I am not. 26 One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with him? 27 Peter then denied again: and immediately the cock crew.
John 18:25-
The beauty with Peter is he didn’t have to wait 700 years.
50 days laters in the upper room
1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Then if you keep reading, Petter stepped out and preached a message that seen 3000 saved
He kept preaching, kept working
He seen people healed just from his shadow
All From a Promise 700 Years Ago
All From a Promise 700 Years Ago
6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:
And the government shall be upon his shoulder:
And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God,
The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end,
Upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom,
To order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice
From henceforth even for ever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.