PODCAST
Take Comfort
May 24th, 2020
Isaiah 40:1-11
Mark can’t read Isaiah 40 and not immediately recall the memory of playing timpani for Handel’s Messiah while attending Olivet Nazarene University. This passage, and Messiah’s musical presentation of it, came as good news to people in exile. The word from the prophet came to the people saying, “Take comfort, my people.” The days of judgement would come to an end and God would gather them to himself and heal them. Messiah is coming.
Sometimes I think we need to be carried, cared-for, and healed. Lest we think we are able to stand in our own strength, pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, it’s good to remember that, like sheep, we tend to go astray when we follow after our own way. Going astray has consequences for us, and those around us, just as it did for Israel and Judah.
Into the darkness of exile comes this message from Isaiah. The Lord hears, sees, and knows. Redemption is coming, as is the day when He will hold us close to His heart and make all things new.
Author: Mark Hendrickson
