Scripture:
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 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. A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” You who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!” See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.
“To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:1–11; 25–31
Devotional Thought:
After chapters of judgment and exile, Isaiah 40 opens with the most tender words in the prophet’s entire book: Comfort, comfort my people. The hard service is over. The sin has been paid for. God is coming — and he is coming as a shepherd who gathers lambs and carries them close to his heart.
The exiles were convinced God had forgotten them. My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God.It is a profoundly human feeling — the sense that you have fallen off God’s radar, that the silence means absence. Isaiah speaks directly into that feeling. Do you not know? Have you not heard? The God who created the ends of the earth does not grow tired or weary. He has not missed a single star. He has not missed you.
This is the longing that exile produces: a desperate, bone-deep hunger for God to show up and make things right. And Isaiah promises he will. A voice in the wilderness is coming. Prepare the way. The glory of the Lord will be revealed. We know who that voice is — John the Baptist, crying in the wilderness. We know whose glory was revealed — Jesus, the shepherd who carries lambs.
The kingdom that was lost and longed for has arrived. But today, in whatever weariness you are carrying, the promise of Isaiah 40 is still yours: those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. He has not forgotten you. He is carrying you close.
Reflection Questions:
1. Have you been living with the feeling that your situation is hidden from God or disregarded by him? What does Isaiah 40 say directly to that?
2. What does it look like practically to “hope in the Lord” in a season of weariness — what does that hope actually look like for you?
Application:
Write Isaiah 40:31 somewhere you’ll see it today. Every time you feel the weight of your circumstances, read it aloud. Let it be your declaration: I will hope in the Lord. He will renew my strength.