The LORD Comforts His Own

Isaiah 51:1-11 

(cf. Gen. 12:1–3)

1 "Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness,
You who seek the LORD:
Look to the rock from which you were hewn,
And to the hole of the pit from which you were dug.

2 Look to Abraham your father,
And to Sarah who bore you;
For I called him alone,
And blessed him and increased him."

3 For the LORD will comfort Zion,
He will comfort all her waste places;
He will make her wilderness like Eden,
And her desert like the garden of the LORD;
Joy and gladness will be found in it,
Thanksgiving and the voice of melody.

4 "Listen to Me, My people;
And give ear to Me, O My nation:
For law will proceed from Me,
And I will make My justice rest
As a light of the peoples.

5 My righteousness is near,
My salvation has gone forth,
And My arms will judge the peoples;
The coastlands will wait upon Me,
And on My arm they will trust.

6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
And look on the earth beneath.
For the heavens will vanish away like smoke,
The earth will grow old like a garment,
And those who dwell in it will die in like manner;
But My salvation will be forever,
And My righteousness will not be abolished.

7 "Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
You people in whose heart is My law:
Do not fear the reproach of men,
Nor be afraid of their insults.
8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment,
And the worm will eat them like wool;
But My righteousness will be forever,
And My salvation from generation to generation."

9 Awake, awake, put on strength,
O arm of the LORD!
Awake as in the ancient days,
In the generations of old.
Are You not the arm that cut Rahab apart,
And wounded the serpent?

10 Are You not the One who dried up the sea,
The waters of the great deep;
That made the depths of the sea a road
For the redeemed to cross over?

11 So the ransomed of the LORD shall return,
And come to Zion with singing,
With everlasting joy on their heads.
They shall obtain joy and gladness;
Sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

The LORD comforts His people as everlasting joy and gladness await the ransomed of the LORD because the tears are washed away forever and despairing sighs cease.  This is the prophetic hope offered to all God’s people through Isaiah to Israel, being echoed in Matthew and Revelation as well as in many other scriptures.  The call is to those seeking to live in His righteousness (Matthew 5:6) as the ones called by the faith that Abraham demonstrated in taking God at His word when spoken to.  He is the spiritual ancestor of all God’s people, of Israel and all other nations as promised to the father of many nations (Galatians 3:6-9).  Therefore it follows that the promises are for all His descendants as God’s and the comfort originally found in Eden’s Garden will be given to all in Christ as well with “Joy and gladness …Thanksgiving and the voice of melody.”  The tears will be wiped away (Revelation 21:4) along with sin’s curse (Revelation 22:3) which will result in our great joy and thanksgiving.  His law and justice are satisfied according to His word as promised in forgiveness and grace through His righteousness for deliverance which is our salvation.  Even here we see what Jesus later told us in Matthew 24:35, 2 Peter 3:10, and repeated in Hebrews 1:10-11 for us to remember what He said through Isaiah concerning the heavens and earth being made new as the old vanishes away.  The emphasis is on how His salvation and righteousness will never fade away or be taken from us, just as His word never does (Luke 21:33) because His promises are for forever.  Why then should we fear the ridicule and insults of those rejecting the Lord and mocking Him and us when they will die and face Him?  His righteousness and salvation are eternal, which we possess in Christ.  They attack Him as they do us; we therefore take up our cross daily to die with Him for righteousness’ sake and His glory.  The Lord delivers as He did Rahab and has mortally wounded the serpent of old from the very beginning of time in His omnipotent strength.  Who shall we fear then (Psalm 56:4, 11, 57:2-3)?  He who opened a way of deliverance from bondage through the Red Sea and across the Jordan has made a way to the Celestial City for us by the blood of the sacrifice of His Son as a new and living way (Hebrews 10:20) for us to cross over from spiritual death to everlasting life.  All whom He calls back to Himself as ransomed from sin’s punishment will come to the heavenly city brought down from heaven (Revelation ) to enter with never ending joy and singing of worship to the One who has given us this joy and gladness by the grace of salvation in exchange for our sorrow and sighing of sin’s curse on all of Adam’s children.  Yes, the Lord comforts His own  as 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 reassures us.  Let us rejoice and be glad in Him!