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Isaiah 40: 1-11
Comfort, give comfort to my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her service is at an end,
her guilt is expiated;
Indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD
double for all her sins.
A voice cries out:
In the desert prepare the way of the LORD!
Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill shall be made low;
The rugged land shall be made a plain,
the rough country, a broad valley.
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
A voice says, “Cry out!”
I answer, “What shall I cry out?”
“All flesh is grass,
and all their glory like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower wilts,
when the breath of the LORD blows upon it.
So then, the people is the grass.
Though the grass withers and the flower wilts,
the word of our God stands forever.”
Go up onto a high mountain,
Zion, herald of glad tidings;
Cry out at the top of your voice,
Jerusalem, herald of good news!
Fear not to cry out
and say to the cities of Judah:
Here is your God!
Here comes with power
the Lord GOD,
who rules by his strong arm;
Here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
Carrying them in his bosom,
and leading the ewes with care.
The Word of the Lord.
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Often in the Bible, God speaks to his people when the days are darkest and hope is nearly gone.
In our first reading, for example, Israel has endured terrible tragedy. A foreign army, the Babylonians, has invaded Jerusalem, destroyed the temple of the Lord, and sent the Jews into exile.
This is a hard pill to swallow because God promised to always be with his people; to lead them; to guide them; to shepherd them.
Anyone in Israel might’ve wondered, “Where is God now?”
Suddenly, the prophet Isaiah cries out, “Comfort! Give comfort to my people.” When all seems lost, God breaks the silence and promises to bring Israel back home. Eventually, they all rebuild their lives.
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The reason why Israel was sent into exile is a much longer story.
But, perhaps, the point for us today is this: sometimes the Lord waits until the day is darkest before he speaks. And when he speaks, it’s always a word of comfort.
“Comfort, I will comfort my people.”
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While many of us find the holidays to be a joy-filled period of hope, maybe this year you feel more like Israel did.
Perhaps you lost a job, a spouse, or a friend. Maybe your prayer life ran dry. Maybe you’re feeling isolated after living for nearly two-years in this pandemic.
The same Lord who delivered Israel out of captivity will deliver you.
But key to living out the spiritual life is remembering that the Lord is always present, even in the darkness, while we wait for deliverance.
Eventually, the Lord speaks. And when he does, it’s always a word of hope.
“Comfort, give comfort to my people.”
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Image credits: (1) Dee Brestin Ministries (2) Haaretz.com (3) adoeseofGodtoday.com