Read Isaiah 40:1
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Isaiah 40:1
“Isaiah is great for two reasons,” wrote William Sanford LaSor in his fascinating book Great Personalities of the Old Testament: “He lived in momentous days, in critical days of international upheaval, and he wrote what many consider to be the greatest book in the Old Testament.”5 Isaiah is the prophet we need to hear today as he cries out God’s message above the din of world upheaval, “Comfort, comfort my people.”

The English word comfort comes from two Latin words that together mean “with strength.” When Isaiah says to us, “Be comforted!” it is not a word of pity, but of power. God’s comfort does not weaken us; it strengthens us.
God is not indulging us, but empowering us. “In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength” (30:15 KJV).

Something to Ponder
Think back to a time when God’s comfort gave you much strength. What did you learn from that experience?

5 William Sanford LaSor, Great Personalities of the Old Testament (Old Tappan, NJ: Revell, 1959),
136.