From Cursed to Comforted

Scripture Introduction:

This morning we are going to begin a series on Isaiah 40-55. One of the disadvantages of starting in the middle of a book is that we don’t get to feel the weight of that first 39 chapters. And it’s heavy. Very heavy. Isaiah is writing to his contemporaries telling them that they are going to go off into captivity. Chapter 39 ends with Isaiah telling Hezekiah the king that even though it won’t happen in his day “everything shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left....and your own sons will be taken away.” And to this Hezekiah says, “whew, I thought that was going to happen in my day.” He literally said, “The word of the LORD that you ahve spoken is good” and the Bible says “For he thought, There will be peace and security in my days.” And to think selfish Hezekiah was one of the better kings.

But I started in Isaiah 40 for a reason. 2020 is exhausting. For all of us. We live in trying times. We’ve got baptisms, we’ve got people joining the church, we have discipleship happening, growth in our love for Jesus, we’re going to talk in our business meeting about beginning steps to call a new associate pastor. God is moving and working here. And yet there seems to be a spirit of discouragement. It’s the weight of our world. We’re feeling the impact of the fall in a mighty way. And so I wanted to camp out in Isaiah 40-55 because it’s a section of great hope.

But it’s a jarring hope. It’s so jarring that some scholars have assumed that this is actually not the same Isaiah who wrote the first 39 chapters. It’s clear from the context that the audience has changed. What is happening here is that Isaiah is actually leaving some bread crumbs for the exiles in Babylon. He’s not talking to his own stubborn generation in Isaiah 40. He’s talking to people about 200 years later.

I want to set the text up for you here. I want to try to place us into the text. We have to go to a really dark place for a moment to feel the jarring hope of Isaiah 40. Will you go with me there?

Let’s start in Deuteronomy 28. Here God threatened curses for their disobedience. You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country. They’ll be cursed with diseases…defeat before enemies…your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand…The LORD will drive you and the king you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your ancestors…You will become a thing of horror, a byword and an object of ridicule among all the peoples where the LORD will drive you....The foreigners who reside among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower....

Deuteronomy 28:64–67 ESV

“And the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. And among these nations you shall find no respite, and there shall be no resting place for the sole of your foot, but the Lord will give you there a trembling heart and failing eyes and a languishing soul. Your life shall hang in doubt before you. Night and day you shall be in dread and have no assurance of your life. In the morning you shall say, ‘If only it were evening!’ and at evening you shall say, ‘If only it were morning!’ because of the dread that your heart shall feel, and the sights that your eyes shall see.

That’s some pretty heavy stuff…and I left out a good deal of it. But can you imagine what it would feel like to be living IN those curses. But this isn’t something of mere feelings. It’s not as if they just feel cursed but in reality they aren’t. No they really are living in the midst of this curse and it’s because of their own disobedience. I’m not sure we can relate to this. But one place in Scripture which might help is Psalm 88.

Psalm 88 ESV

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite. O Lord, God of my salvation, I cry out day and night before you. Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry! For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol. I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am a man who has no strength, like one set loose among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom you remember no more, for they are cut off from your hand. You have put me in the depths of the pit, in the regions dark and deep. Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah You have caused my companions to shun me; you have made me a horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape; my eye grows dim through sorrow. Every day I call upon you, O Lord; I spread out my hands to you. Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon? Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? But I, O Lord, cry to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you. O Lord, why do you cast my soul away? Why do you hide your face from me? Afflicted and close to death from my youth up, I suffer your terrors; I am helpless. Your wrath has swept over me; your dreadful assaults destroy me. They surround me like a flood all day long; they close in on me together. You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me; my companions have become darkness.

Now when this is THE Psalm…the heart cry of the people of God who have gone astray…who have been cursed…and all of this from Dt. 28 has fallen upon them and their drinking dust. There are two questions which are crying out. If the curse of the Law has fallen upon them—has their sin cut them off from God forever? How can an unholy people EVER expect to return to a right relationship with God? Could they ever come back to the land? I mean there is nothing in the history of history where a people scattered and taken off into exile would ever come back to their land. But wait…God promised that He would do this thing. Has their sin cut them off from that promise forever? Or an even more pressing question…are the gods of Babylon actually more powerful? Are they the victors?

I mean when you’ve been sitting in the dust for all these years how can you hope? When it seems and feels like you’re too broken for redemption....

Ever feel that way. Ever think that is your reality. Maybe it’s because of your own sin. Maybe it’s because of all the stuff that’s happened to you. Is it even possible to get back up? It’s in that dark climate that Isaiah 40 enters in.

To a people living cursed. To a people who have turned their backs on God. To a people who have taken God’s wooing and used it as an occasion to further rebel from him. This isn’t a message to people who have changed, who’ve pulled themselves out of the mire and the muck and are needing a bit of God assistance. This is a message to a people who have abandoned God, who are paying the consequences of that, who are covered in muck and mire and yuck.

When I was researching for this sermon I looked up redemption stories. And you know what almost every one of them had in common…they were of somebody who had an epiphany…they changed…they got their life together…and then climbed their way back into success. That’s not what is happening here. This isn’t a message for people who get it together. This is what you say to the people still living in the midst of that curse, the people who have made themselves God’s enemies....this is what he says to them.

So there are two questions hanging over us as we approach this text. Has sin become so great that even God cannot forgive and restore and rebuild and redeem? Is there any comfort to be had? And secondly, has the plan of God been defeated by the powerful Babylonians? See if you can hear the answer to those questions as we read Isaiah 40...

Read Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon Introduction:

There is hope! There is comfort. And God is not defeated by the Babylonians. God is still in control. God is still moving history along. God is still doing everything He said He was doing.

In some ways we see the answer to those two questions in the first two verses. Comfort, comfort. The fact that the word is used twice is meant to emphasis to show that this is a deep comfort that is given. These two verses are saying—your warfare is ended, your sin has been pardoned, the debt has been paid.

All is well. But how do you know that? How do you know that you can be forgiven? How do you know that all will be well? How do you know that God is going to redeem and restore? How do you know that the story is one of hope? How can we rest in God’s promise of comfort?

Ultimately the answer to this is found in Jesus Christ. It’s not an accident that all four gospel writers quote Isaiah 40 to introduce John the Baptist and the ministry of Jesus. Because Jesus is the fulfillment of all these promises. But you’ll also notice a word or phrase keeps appearing in this text. “A voice” or “say to her..” You see this in verse 3, 6, and 9. And you also see it in verse 27 but it’s a little different there. These are three anchors for answering those questions. And so can you rest in God’s promise of comfort? Yes. And here are three reasons from this text. We can rest in God’s promise of comfort because God himself will do it, because God’s word never fades, and because God is uniquely mighty.

We can rest in God’s promise of comfort because God himself will do it

So you want to live in peace. You want to have the comfort of God. You want warfare to be ended, iniquity to be pardoned. You want shalom. You want comforted.

How is that going to happen? Let’s take this out of the clouds for a second and set this in our laps. I’m convinced that ever single person in here has at least some sort of longing for all to be well within their world, for their relationships to be in sync, and more than anything—even if we don’t acknowledge it—we want to know that our relationship with God, our Creator, is restored.

So how is that going to happen? I think there is an impulse in all of us to answer that question—well if I can just....

This is where the Pharisees in the NT came from. They had all these promises in places like Isaiah 40. They had been booted out of their land, they mircaulously returned to the land, and they came up with an idea—if we can just....

keep the law perfectly. If we can just never displease God again…if we can just honor the Sabbath…if we can just...

But you never can just…that was what Jesus was saying when he came. The Pharisees had outwardly done some things right…they did follow the Law outwardly…they tithed their spice rack. If we can just give perfectly according to the Law...

But they couldn’t do it. Not only could they not perfectly obey the Law but they never could seem to get that Love the Lord perfectly thing down. And when God Himself came to them—in His Son Jesus Christ...they crucified the Lord of glory. If I can just…well you can’t.

What in your life is saying that? If I can just...

This is why verses 3-5 are such good news. All this talk of lifting up valleys and making mountains low is so that God Himself can come quickly. If there is going to be deliverance it’s going to come from God Himself. This is how the NT writers used this verse to introduce John the Baptist to introduce Jesus. He is the Lord who comes…It is through Him that the glory of the Lord is revealed.

You and I cannot just…no matter what comes after those words. We cannot do what the Law requires. But guess what…Jesus did. He has accomplished what is necessary for us to be comforted. He himself will come. That is what these verses are proclaiming. And the gospels proclaim that He has come.

My comfort and my rescue doesn’t ultimately depend upon me. It doesn’t depend upon my behavior or my performance. The comfort given to us in the gospel is given to us as a promise in the gospel.

There is more good news.

2. We can rest in God’s promise of comfort because God’s word never fades

I don’t really want to delve into politics here but I’ll dip my toe in here long enough to get myself in trouble. I haven’t been around for too many presidential elections that I can remember. I vaguely remember Bush/Dukakis in 88…the first one I really remember is Clinton/Bush/and was it Perot in 92? I remember that everybody was all concerned…you know why…this will be the most important election of your lifetime. And what’s crazy…that same thing happened in 96…I thought maybe it’d change when I became a Christian but actually the language seemed to heighten in 2000. This election will be the most important one ever....2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020. Every single one in my life has been the most important election ever.

Now don’t hear me wrong. It is important. I would encourage you to vote. I’d encourage you to vote your biblically informed conscience. But here is the point I’m attempting to make. Why were every single one of those the most important election of my lifetime....because we are increasingly attaching our hopes and our dreams and our comforts to political outcomes. There are promises being made. Sometimes they come through on those promises. And sometimes they don’t. But every politician says, “vote for me and I’ll make things better for you...” I’ll give you comfort.

But can I tell you a little secret. Every single one of them, and us, according to the Bible...”blade of grass”. If we attach our hope for comfort, joy, peace, rest, shalom to this…then it’s going to be about as long lasting as a dandelion. Listen dandelions are nice for a season, you can do some fun stuff with them, that was the flower that my mom got all the time when I was little…I think it was her favorite…but we couldn’t keep it alive.

Here is the good news of the gospel though. The Word of the Lord stands forever. This verse is quoted in 1 Peter. And you know what he says? He says, “this word is the gospel”. So do you know what this means....it means that God himself accomplishes what is required for our ultimate comfort and joy AND the God who accomplishes this NEVER FADES.

When I preached through 1 Peter I shared the good news that this means the gospel gets the last word. And it’s not a word of condemnation. It’s a word—he’s with me. Line up all the things said about me, about you, things true, things false, things good, things bad, everything. And not a single one of them gets the last word. The gospel does.

That’s what is happening here in verses 6-8. How do you know that this comfort is going to happen? How do you know this good news is going to come to pass. Because 2020 doesn’t get the last word. Everything can fall apart…but it’s all just a comma. It’s all a blade of grass. But God’s Word isn’t. And so if God says that something is going to happen it’s going to happen.

But what if God isn’t big enough to make this promise? That’s why Isaiah spends so much time here on saying “Behold your God”. Because...

3. We can rest in God’s promise of comfort because God is uniquely mighty

There is so much for us to feast on in this particular section…and I’ll try to do that on Wednesday evening. For now I want us to get the big picture of what is happening here. Isaiah is saying “Behold your God!”

First, it’s amazing that he says, “your God”. That’s relational. But the biggest hit on the drum is “GOD”. What we are to see form this section is that God is unique. He is other. He is not like His creation. He is outside of His creation.

Look at v11. “He will tend his flock like a shepherd...” So here you have God’s people—His sheep---taken off into captivity. The Assyrians were powerful. The Babylonians were powerful. They were uniquely feared. Powerful mighty. Swift in execution. And the people of God were drawn up by them—some slaughtered, some taken away into exile. And you know what—it’s unprecedented that a people would be taken away into exile and then eventually come back into their land. It’s unheard of.

And in this moment God looks like a humble shepherd who wants to gather up his lambs but their being taken away by the big bad wolf. Nobody can stop Assyria. Nobody can stop Babylon.

It’s nice that you want to shepherd your flock but these other powers are too big. God’s just not big enough. Combine our thoughts here friends...

Comfort, comfort....

You want comfort. You want peace. You want shalom. You want the promises of God to be fulfilled. You want rescue. You want forgiveness. All of those things…right...

And a million things stand in the way of this. More than anything our own sin. But who is going to make the promises of Revelation 4? Who is going to make Romans 8 happen? Revelation 21? How will every tear be wiped from our eye? How will relationships be restored. How will humanity be redeemed. How will we be rescued? How will we enter into rest?

So much is gunning for us…and even our own sinful propensity. If I can just....man, drop that silliness. It takes someone outside of creation to restore and redeem creation. Who is going to give you rescue...

Will it be the nations? Any nation? v15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket....all the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.

Will it be by the work of our own hands? Will it be the stuff we create? These are the idols…and I love v20 he who is “too impoverished” idolatry is costly. It’ll drain every penny from you. And we’ll keep at it. Can an idol rescue…fill that blank in with anything that I’m trusting or hoping in? Can anything other than God rescue? We crafted them with our own hands. They can’t rescue.

Princes? Nothing. Consider the stars. Lift up your eyes and see. Not one of those is missing. That’s where your answer is found. He is outside of creation and so He can uniquely rescue creation!

The God who hung the stars is saying to you this morning…I am giving comfort. I have accomplished your comfort through the work of my Son, Jesus Christ. The gospel is the answer to all of this. The gospel gives shalom. The gospel gives peace. The gospel gives rest, rule, and relationship. The gospel redeems and restores. The gospel gets the last word.

So how are you going to respond to this?

I want us to close by look at verse 27-30. Two ways to respond to this comfort that God gives. The first is in verse 27.

“My way is hidden from the LORD”. The tense on this is one of a settled disposition. In other words, “My prayers NEVER get answered. God NEVER hears me. He has closed his ears to me”. And “my right is disregarded by my God”. What does that mean? It means that you’ve got a case that you really need the judge to hear…you need justice to happen…but it keeps getting thrown out. He never hears your case. It never makes it to trial. The Judge isn’t listening to your plea and so injustice continues to happen…this is in the ongoing tense. So God is settled against them and he never will hear their case.

What a despicable place to be. But that’s what happens when you’re living in the curse. And even for us…when things aren’t yet totally redeemed. There are days when we might feel this way. And when we hear the promises of God we just go, “meh”.

Have you not known…have you not heard...

Again Isaiah draws them back to the character and nature of God. He doesn’t faint…he doesn’t grow weary…his understanding is unsearchable. And he gives power to the faint…it Him that causes us to continue on.

v31…they who wait for the LORD.

That’s the two responses. I can look at my situation. I can look at the yuck of 2020 and say, “redemption isn’t coming. I give up.” Or I can say “I’m going to wait on the LORD. Comfort is coming.”

He became a curse for us...