Tender Words of Comfort

Isaiah 40 marks a shift in the content of the prophet’s message. Gone are the woes and pronouncements of judgment. The prophet now turns to speak words of salvation. He speaks tender words of comfort to a people who’ve seen God’s justice cast them out of the land. These notes from the ESV Gospel Transformation Study Bible will help us see how Isaiah’s gospel words of comfort anticipate God’s salvation in Jesus.

Comfort My People

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.

Isaiah 40:1-2

“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God” (v. 1). When the Babylonians brought their threats of exile to Jerusalem, there was great grief. Out of this context, the book of Lamentations emerged, reverberating with sorrows and mourning the pain and loss. Again and again, in that context, we see a great longing to be consoled, but Jerusalem “has none to comfort her” (Lam. 1:2, 9, 17, 21). As Isaiah records Yahweh’s gracious declaration, the promise of comfort has come. It needs to be announced, believed, and rested in. Yet this proclamation was to be given “tenderly,” for here was God’s promise that “her warfare is ended” and “her iniquity is pardoned” (Isa. 40:2).

God’s Eternal Word and Man’s Frailty

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 40:6-8

“A voice says, ‘Cry!’” (v. 6). The command to be a herald reminds us of Isaiah’s commissioning, in which he responds to God’s question, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” (6:8). For comfort to be received, it needs a voice to serve as the “herald of good news” (40:9). It is interesting, however, that in Isaiah 40:1, the call to “comfort” is in the plural, not singular, making it clear that this comfort was to be offered through a prophetic word echoed by many (see v. 9).

The people who are to receive this news are like “grass” and “the flower” (vv. 7, 8). One withers and the other fades. But in “the word of our God” confidence can be maintained, for his word “will stand forever” (v. 8). Our comfort rests not in the consistency of human leaders, even ecclesial ones, but in the certainty of the divine word.

Heralds of Good News

Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; and will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.

Isaiah 40:9-11

Here the “word of God” is spoken, but with the coming of the Messiah, the Word is made flesh. He will come as a shepherd who “will gather the lambs in his arms,” carrying them “in his bosom” as a loving Lord (v. 11) despite his great power (see vv. 12–17). Jesus self-identifies with this portrait, describing himself as the “good shepherd” who “lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:1–18). The Messiah will face a withering, even unto death, but this incarnate Word, with power beyond this world, overcomes death and sin, rising from the grave and making it certain that God’s Word will never die and can be trusted unto death. The apostle Peter even describes the unfading word of God of Isaiah 40:8 as the gospel message itself (1 Pet. 1:25).

The God Who Is Able

To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might and because he is strong in power, not one is missing.

Isaiah 40:25-26

The difference between the Creator and the creature is immeasurable (v. 25). So why look to idols (v. 19) or to other nations (v. 17)? Instead, look to the Creator of the earth who is also the Lord of Israel—their Redeemer (vv. 26–27).

The God Who Strengthens the Weary and Weak

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:28-31

When we are exhausted, when we wonder how we can continue, Isaiah reminds us not to look at ourselves and our own resources. Instead, we turn our eyes to the all-knowing (v. 27), sustaining (vv. 22–26), and creating God (v. 28) who “does not faint or grow weary,” but rather “gives power to the faint” (vv. 28–29). Strength from God in this context comes not from self-improvement but from waiting on the Lord, who promises to sustain us as we make this pilgrim journey (vv. 30–31).

As new covenant believers, we see with unprecedented clarity exactly why we are free to wait on the Lord. For God used his resources of wisdom, power, and creation to send his own Son to do all that we cannot do and to suffer the penalty of all that we have done wrongly. Nothing is left but to wait on the Lord, trusting him and walking with him in quiet confidence and courage.

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