Comfort and Strength for God's People – Finding Hope in Despare

Comfort and Strength for God’s People
Isaiah 40:1-31
Daily News filled with discouragement…
A world full of restless people without the comfort of God
Crime, divorce, loneliness
Addictions, alcohol, drug abuse
Seeking relief in pleasure
Finding Hope or Sinking in Despair
Finding Hope or Sinking in Despair
Finding Hope or Sinking in Despair
The Need for Comfort and Hope
Isaiah 40:1-2 "Comfort, yes, comfort My people!" says your God. 2 "Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins."
The Need for Comfort and Hope
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
The Need for Comfort and Hope
Psalms 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
1 Peter 5:6-7 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
The Message of Comfort
Isaiah 40:3-5 The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desertA highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be exalted And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth; 5 The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
The Eternal Power of the Word of God
Isaiah 40:6-8 The voice said, "Cry out!" And he said, "What shall I cry?" "All flesh is grass, And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. 7 The grass withers, the flower fades, Because the breath of the LORD blows upon it; Surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever."

Prescription for Comfort: Behold your God
Isaiah 40:9-11 Lift up your voice with strength, Lift it up, be not afraid; Say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!" 10 Behold, the Lord GOD shall come with a strong hand, And His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him. 11 He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young.

The Greatness of Our God
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, Measured heaven with a span And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales And the hills in a balance?
13 Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, Or as His counselor has taught Him?
The Greatness of Our God
14 With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, And taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge, And showed Him the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, And are counted as the small dust on the scales; Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing.
The Greatness of Our God
16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 All nations before Him are as nothing, and they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless.
18 To whom then will you liken God? r what likeness will you compare to Him?

The Greatness of Our God
19 The workman molds an image, the goldsmith overspreads it with gold, And the silversmith casts silver chains. 20 Whoever is too impoverished for such a contribution Chooses a tree that will not rot; He seeks for himself a skillful workman To prepare a carved image that will not totter.
The Greatness of Our God
21 Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
The Greatness of Our God
23 He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless. 24 Scarcely shall they be planted, Scarcely shall they be sown, Scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth, When He will also blow on them, And they will wither, And the whirlwind will take them away like stubble.
25 "To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom shall I be equal?" says the Holy one.

The Greatness of Our God
26 Lift up your eyes on high,And see who has created these things,Who brings out their host by number;
He calls them all by name, By the greatness of His might And the strength of His power; Not one is missing.
27 Why do you say, O Jacob, And speak, O Israel: "My way is hidden from the LORD, And my just claim is passed over by my God"?
The Greatness of Our God
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.29 He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.
The Greatness of Our God
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, 31 But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.