Comfort Ye My People: An Exposition of Isaiah 40:1-11

Whenever we hear the word “comfort,” we think of the word “discomfort.” One does not need to be comforted when one is already comfortable. Comfort is a hot bowl of soup when one has been working outside in the freezing cold all day. Comfort is something we receive from others when a loved one dies. Comfort is something John Wesley received when he was on a boat in a terrible storm when he found the Moravians singing praises to God. Comfort is when those sailing with Paul in the terrible storm sounded that land was nigh. Comfort was hearing Jesus rebuke the storm the disciples were on. When they woke him from sleep, He rebuked the wind and told the disciples to be of good cheer. They took comfort in these words.

There are many situations that we find ourselves that involve fear and discomfort. These can be personal issues such as health problems or marital problems. It can involve addictions or depression. It can be the weight of sin in our lives. These things alone can make us quite despondent. But there are also situations in the world which trouble us. The world is in great dread right now from the Coronavirus Pandemic. The fear is palatable for many. There is political and economic upheavals worldwide. We might add as Christians that Jesus told us that in the end times there would be pestilences, wars and rumors of war, earthquakes and other natural disasters as well as the return of Jesus as judge. There are so many things beyond our personal power to stop, and there are things which no one is able to stop. It is always hard to live when things are so out of our control. We need to be comforted. Paul tells us in Romans 15:4 that Scripture was given to instruct us “that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” So, let us look this morning at one of these passages. Let us turn to the 40th Chapter of the Book of Isaiah.

Many songs have been written about the 40th chapter of Isaiah. Handel’s Messiah alone quotes these verses four different times. We hear the Messiah starting with “Comfort Ye My People” and “Every Valley.” Later on we hear “O Thou that Tellest Good Tidings to Zion.” Finally we have the comforting “He Shall Feed His Flock.” The first eleven verses of this chapter indeed cause us comfort and hope.

But not all of Isaiah is bright and cheery. Even within the text, Brahms in His German Requiem has the harsh and despondent “Alles fleisch ist wie die Gras.” (“All flesh is as the grass.”) Brahms was mourning the recent death of a loved one. The pall of death sounds loud at first but slowly resolves to more pleasant themes. Other parts of Isaiah are even darker. There are prophecies of judgment throughout the book. The LORD was displeased with injustice such as the neglect and abuse of the poor. He was tired of religious hypocrisy. He hated idolatry. He promised that judgment was coming. Not only was Israel and Judah to be judged, but the surrounding nations as well. Isaiah prophesied for a long time and promised judgments. Some of these took place within the lifetime of Isaiah, some after, but before our time, and yet others at the end of time. Trying to parse these prophecies is very difficult and has led to considerable confusion, It is hard for us to find comfort when so much is hard to understand. Perhaps this general confusion is deliberate, to make us realize that our hope through this is that we might depend upon Him who brings all things to pass according to His will. It may be beyond our control to understand how all these judgments find their fulfillment, but not for God.

Interspersed among these gloomy judgments are prophecies of salvation and hope. They are like bright stars in the gloomy darkness. They are like the sailors of old who did not have GPS and radar to guide them. The sea and the fog blended into one uniform grey. But then they see the light of the lighthouse and are now oriented and hopeful of reaching shore. How brightly shines these promises of deliverance against the backdrop of gloom. Like the prophecies of judgment, some of these deliverances occurred in the day of Isaiah, some after but before our time, and some in the future. But instead of confusion, we realize that the LORD is compassionate and willing to forgive and show mercy. The past deliverances display the character of the unchanging God. The same God who delivered the fathers is willing to deliver us. This promise is throughout Scripture. It teaches us to have hope.

When we look at the passage, it begins with the words to proclaim comfort to God’s people. Jerusalem can be comforted because her iniquity has been pardoned. She has suffered double for her sins. This does not necessarily equate “paying one’s debt to society” and being pardoned. A person who has done his time and is released from jail is still a convicted felon. A pardon goes beyond and removes the stigma of being a convict. Many see these words as referring to Judah’s release from the Babylonian Captivity. Whatever might be said of this, this would be no more than a shadow of the reality. Many of the Jews remained in Babylon and relatively few returned from exile. We see instead that these words instead find their fulfillment in John the Baptist, hundreds of years later.

Although it seems contrary to expectation, the first words of comfort are the words of truth. Much of our “comforting” involves some denial of reality. We tell funny stories during a funeral to break up the reality that our loved one has died. We try to find some diversion for our sorrows. Some comfort themselves in wine and strong drink. Others find escape in their work. But true comfort has to face the truth. Our world is falling to pieces. We have to come to the realization that we are grass. And like the flower of the field, our works look so beautiful in the morning. But the heat of the midday sun shows how vain our pride in our works truly are. We realize our helplessness. Our world is becoming unglued, and no one is able to hold it together under intense scrutiny. But the real truth that confronts us and comforts us is to be found in “The word of our God stands forever.” If we are indeed to stand in all the shaking around us, our only hope is in the unshakable Word of God. This same God has revealed His wrath against injustice and idolatry. These things are all around us. The word “all flesh” includes us. The truth the LORD tells us through Isaiah is that our righteousness is like filthy rags. (Isaiah 64:6) We cannot even find shelter in the time of storm within ourselves either. (Isaiah 25:4) We must trust in the LORD.

The LORD of truth confronts us in our sin. God punishes sin. But the LORD of truth also comforts us. Even our scarlet sins shall be white as snow. (Isaiah 1:18) So how does the LORD bring comfort? First he sends a herald in John the Baptist and tells us that a way has been prepared in the wilderness. All the obstacles such as hills and valleys are to be made level. The crooked road must be straightened and the potholes in the road filled. This is the way John the Baptist tells us about while he preached repentance to Israel in the wilderness. We realize that Isaiah was talking about a different road. Even the best four lane superhighway would have made little difference to the Babylonian Exile when most of the Jews remained in their new Egypt. God had a better “way.”

John was to introduce the One God had chosen to redeem us, Jesus Christ. Jesus calls himself “the way, the truth, and the life. (John 14:6) He is the way to a better Jerusalem where the Father is. This is indeed good tidings to Zion. He is the true hope for Israel. But Jesus sees a better Israel as well. As the Book of Isaiah glimmers hope to Israel and Judah, it also shines the light of hope upon the Gentiles as well. (Isaiah 9:2) Upon them also has the light shined. The One who comes in the name of the LORD is the Good Shepherd. The good Shepherd feeds His flock and carries the young in His bosom. The LORD who judges sin and injustice is the one who has provided the single highway from which we can escape. But this lavish provision in the wilderness of life in which we find ourselves is of no value unless we get on that highway to the better home that God has provided for us. Isaiah prophesies that Babylon the Great has fallen.(Isaiah 21:9 and Revelation 14:8) To remain in our Babylon and the temporary comfort and shelter it provides is simply to wait for the Day of Judgment. But if we are on the way, we realize that Jesus bore our judgment upon the cross. Isaiah tells us that He was chastised and bruised for our sins. The chastising whip was laid to his back. It is He who has paid the double penalty for our sins. The cry goes out: “This is the Way: walk ye in it.” (Isaiah 30:21)

So in a year where the world says we cannot sing the songs of Zion because of a virus, where we cannot make merry remembering the birth of one who will rule the nations with a rod of iron while at the same time leading His sheep, in a season of Advent where we make ready for his return, we are not without light and hope. In a year that the only performance of Handel’s magnificent Messiah will be on tape the strains of the Hallelujah chorus can still be heard in our heart. Better yet, Isaiah says to not be afraid and to lift up our voices with strength. We need to comfort each other with the words “Behold our God!” Has He not done great things for us? The world is in gloom and faded glory. But in Goshen, the light still shines. Brightly shines the Morning Star. For thee we are yearning, for the day of thy returning. Amen.