Isaiah 40:1-8 ¹ Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. ² Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins. ³ A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. ⁴ Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. ⁵ And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” ⁶ A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. ⁷ The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass. ⁸ The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”

Isaiah tells the people of God to be comforted. Saying the word twice in Hebrew was a way to emphasize what was being said. “Take comfort.” Why? Your sin has been paid for. Even though it would happen in the future when Jesus came to this earth to do what was necessary, Isaiah spoke of it as already accomplished. Again, I ask “Why?” Because God said it would happen. “For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Isaiah also makes reference to the one who would prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah, John the Baptizer. I’ll be sharing some thoughts about him next week. Today I want to point out what the prophet affirmed at the end of this passage: “the word of our God stands forever.” That is the same Word that became flesh, lived among us, and did so without sin. He then willingly offered that life of perfection on the cross to make payment for the sins of the world, fulfilling what Isaiah had written earlier as the reason for us being comforted. Thing about that as you read or sing the hymn based on this passage.

Comfort, comfort, ye My people, Speak ye peace, thus saith our God;
Comfort those who sit in darkness, Mourning’neath their sorrows’ load.
Speak ye to Jerusalem Of the peace that waits for them;
Tell her that her sins I cover And her warfare now is over.

Yea, her sins our God will pardon, Blotting out each dark misdeed;
All that well deserved His anger He no more will see or heed.
She hath suffered many a day, Now her griefs have passed away;
God will change her pining sadness Into everspringing gladness.

Hark, the Herald’s voice is crying In the desert far and near,
Bidding all men to repentance Since the Kingdom now is here.
Oh, that warning cry obey! Now prepare for God away;
Let the valleys rise to meet Him And the hills bow down to greet Him.

Make ye straight what long was crooked, Make the rougher places plain;
Let your hearts be true and humble, As befits His holy reign.
For the glory of the Lord Now o’er earth is shed abroad,
And all flesh shall see the token That His Word is never broken.

(The Lutheran Hymnal #61)