Isaiah 40:1

Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. 

It is the identity of God that brings comfort in the crises of humanity.

Isaiah 40:12–13

Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale? Who is able to advise the Spirit of the Lord? Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him?     

• God is not small.
• I am not big.

Isaiah 40:18–19

To whom can you compare God? What image can you find to resemble him? Can he be compared to an idol formed in a mold, overlaid with gold, and decorated with silver chains? 

• God is incomparable.

Romans 1:21–23

Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. 

Isaiah 40:21–22

Haven’t you heard? Don’t you understand? Are you deaf to the words of God— the words he gave before the world began? Are you so ignorant? God sits above the circle of the earth. The people below seem like grasshoppers to him! He spreads out the heavens like a curtain and makes his tent from them. 

• God is in control
• God is upholding and sustaining that which he has made.

Colossians 1:17

He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.

Isaiah 45:5

I am the Lord; there is no other God. I have equipped you for battle, though you don’t even know me…

Isaiah 45:6

…so all the world from east to west will know there is no other God. I am the Lord, and there is no other. 

The will and purpose of God stand behind everything and have since the beginning of time.  

Psalm 23:1–4

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even 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. 

Romans 8:35–39

Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? . . . No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Isaiah 40:27–28

O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles? O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights? Have you never heard? Have you never understood?

• God is a comforting God.

Isaiah 40:28 

The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding.

Isaiah 40:31

But those who trust (wait, hope) in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.