New Life Women in the New Year

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ISAIAH 40

As we memorize Isaiah 40, these excerpts from the commentary Isaiah: God Saves Sinners by Raymond Ortlund are provided for your education and edification.

Isaiah 40 begins a major new section of the book. Isaiah is no longer addressing Judah in his own day. He is being projected by the Holy Spirit out into the future, like the Apostle John in the Revelation…. He is saying to them and to us, “God has not abandoned you. Your best days are still ahead. God has a purpose of grace for you better than ever. He is coming to save you. Believe it, and let this hope fill your sails….”

Chapters 1-39 address Isaiah’s own generation with a message primarily of confrontation. Chapters 40-55 address the Jews of the Babylonian exile with a message primarily of consolation. Chapters 56-66 seem to be omni-temporal, urging all readers to apply the truths of chapters 1-55 to their own times with reviving power. Within that simple framework, nuances abound….

Chapter 40, then, changes the subject. Its structure is threefold. In verses 1-11, the introduction, God comes with his comforting promise of worldwide salvation. In verses 12-26, the body, he argues that he is able to keep his promise. And in verses 27-31, the conclusion, he explains how his promise can energize us to live above despondency right now….

We brood over the bitterness of life. We think God is against us. But he wants to breathe new life into us. Will we give ourselves permission to stop resenting him and start delighting in him, according to the promises of his gospel?

Isaiah 40:1-2

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins. (Isaiah 40:1-2 ESV)

There is an end to the disciplines of God. Faith is not all struggle. It is also release and hope and new beginnings. God’s deepest intention toward us is comfort…. He overrules our stupidity with his own absolute pardon through the finished work of Christ on the cross. Do we sin? Yes. Do we suffer for it? Yes. Is that were God leaves us? No. When his discipline has done its good work, God comes back to us with overflowing comfort. See in God not a frown but a smile, not distance but nearness.

Isaiah 40:3-5

A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken." (Isaiah 40:3-5 ESV)

Isaiah hears a voice! God has commanded his servants, still unidentified, to bring a message of comfort to his people…. What is God saying? Three things.

One: the King is coming. He comes to us as we are, where we are, in the wilderness and desert of our real lives. He wants us to get ready to receive him, because right now we aren’t ready. We know from Luke 3:1-18 that Jesus is the coming King and that the readiness we need is newness of life. We can’t hide behind denominational labels, however correct. What we need is new selves. Prepare the way of the Lord!

Two: God will accomplish his purpose. Every valley shall be lifted up, and so forth. Isaiah is not talking about literal, topographical change. He is talking about the upheaval of true repentance. He is talking about a new moral topography, a new social landscape. He is talking about the disruptive advance of salvation. He is saying that lifting and lowering and leveling and smoothing are necessary to the kingdom of Christ. He is talking about depression being relieved, pride being flattened, troubled personalities becoming placid, and difficult people becoming easy to get along with. And he is also implying that if we cling to the status quo and refuse God’s upsetting but constructive salvation, we risk having no part with Christ.

Three: the glory of the Lord Jesus will be revealed to the whole world. We can be certain of it. God has decreed it: “…for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” His glory will be admired and delight in and trembled at everywhere….

The glory of the Lord, therefore, is God himself becoming visible, God bringing his presence down to us, God displaying his beauty before us, the true answer to our deepest longings. And he promises to do this for us. It is the central promise of the gospel.

Isaiah 40:6-8

A voice says, "Cry!" And I said, "What shall I cry?" All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. (Isaiah 40:6-8 ESV)

Isaiah hears another voice, giving him a message to declare. It’s a strange message. Isaiah is told to tell us that we are unreliable. God’s promise is infallible, we are not, and that must be said…. Even our good intentions are inconstant, like the flower of the field. We blossom only under ideal conditions, not under the blasts of real life. That’s why Christianity is not about what we can do; it’s about what God promises to do for us. Christianity is not fundamentally challenge; fundamentally it is assurance. It must be. Only God qualifies for our final trust. And he does because no human power or condition can stop him. We are the merest grass and flowers, but the word of our God will stand forever. Human failure is costly, but it’s not the end of our happiness. God’s promise of salvation is final. He is committed to his own glory and our joy in his glory. And in that certainty our hopes come to rest.

Isaiah 40:9-11

Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!" Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. (Isaiah 40:9-11 ESV)

Isaiah calls all who cherish this hope to spread their enthusiasm for God’s coming glory…. Our God doesn’t work at arm’s length or only through church programs or just by handing down decrees from on high. He comes. He brings his presence. And his presence is our joy. This is a simple message to spread around. You don’t need to know much. You only need the courage of faith….

God’s purpose is not only that you and I enjoy the comfort of the gospel, but that we increase our enjoyment of it by spreading that joy to others, all to the glory of God.

God had told Judah to trust him and no one else. They refused and suffered for it. But God does not forsake people who forsake him. His promise, his initiative, his imagination, his grace and glory are our comfort in our failure. You can trust this God even more than you trust yourself. You can trust this God absolutely.

 

1ST THURSDAY CONNECT

Join New Life Women on Zoom at bit.ly/NewLifeWomen Thursday, January 7 at 7pm! We will enjoy friendships, teaching from Isaiah, and begin our study of Matthew for January and February. Sign up for a Side by Side Bible Reading partner or group by filling out the form at bit.ly/NewLifeWomenSignUp.

If you signed up at any time this year for study materials to be mailed to you, you will continue to receive them through June. It is not too late to sign up. If you would like to receive study materials in the mail, fill out the form at bit.ly/NewLifeWomenSignUp. If you want to print your own materials, they can be found on the church website.

 

DETAILS

  • If you missed our Christmas celebration, Share the Joy, please enjoy the video, “Fix Your Eyes,” that Gay Haugen created for the event. It is a wonderful way to reflect upon 2020 and begin 2021.

  • We have memorized Isaiah 40:1-11 thus far. Learn verses 12-14 in January and verses 15-17 in February.

  • Let the Women’s Ministry Leadership Team know how we can pray for you by filling out the form at bit.ly/NewLifeWomenSignUp.

 

LINKS

Below are links to articles, books, podcasts, and music that might be of interest or help on various topics. Resources are curated but may not always reflect the views of New Life Church. Enjoy!

Marcia ReavelyComment