I have here a bottle filled with water. To make a point, I need someone to help me. Can you hold it? Okay, how much water can you hold (pour into hands)? Oh, you can't hold all of it in your hands without the bottle? So, I suppose you wouldn't be able to hold all the water on earth in those hands either – all the rivers, lakes, little creeks and streams, the oceans. How much of it could you hold? Probably, just a cup-full at most! Not much at all, is it?
Could those hands measure how broad the sky is? How much of earth's dust could you scoop up with a shovel? Could you lift a mountain and weigh it? I don't think so. It's beyond you; it's beyond any of us. But, our limitations are not God's limitations.
To make that point, God said in the verse after our text (Is.40:12): “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?”
“Who has done this?” God asks. Obviously no one but Him! He measured the waters with His palm; He laid out the universe with His hands; He formed the whole earth, established the size of each mountain, and put every drop of water into the sea. He, the Creator, the Almighty God has done it. He has no limitations.
We need to know that because we sinners place ourselves in situations beyond our control. In our disobedience we make a mess out of things. We have doomed ourselves to hell, and there's no way out. But God has no limitations. He can help us. But His divine ability will do us no good unless He is present to do it. We need the limitless God here, at our side, to get us through. So did Israel . That's why Isaiah joyfully cried: Look, Here Is Your God.
I. Comfort us.
You see, Old Testament Israel had made a mess out of things, and their situation seemed out of control. In fact, they had a hard time accepting that God even cared about them - not because He had abandoned them, but because they had abandoned Him. How many times can a person abandon God and turn away from Him; how many times can a person neglect God and fail to worship Him; how many times can a person disobey God and continue to live in sin apart from Him; how many times can a person oppose God with the way he acts before God's patience runs out?
In our Epistle Lesson this morning (2Pt.3:9) Peter said something very important when our disobedience marks us for His judgment. Peter wrote, “God is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
Those words explain why the end of the world hasn't come yet. It hasn't come because God is here patiently waiting for people to repent of their sin and return to Him in Christ. It's a good thing He is patient because we stubbornly continue to sin against Him. But how long will His patience last if we go on opposing Him?
It seemed like His patience with the people in Isaiah's day had run its course. Within years He would send the oppressive Babylonian army into their land to destroy it and to take them into captivity. It was divine chastisement falling on people who failed to wake up and stop living in sin.
You see, dear friends, God does not take sin lightly. Oh, He may not act upon it immediately. We might seem to get by with it for a time. He doesn't agree in any way, but He patiently waits for us to put it aside and return to Him. He doesn't want to lose us.
But to continue living in such a way is nothing short of testing Him to see what He'll do. True, He is patient. But don't take advantage of His patience by continuing in sin, for He will chasten like He did Israel in Isaiah's day. It was a horrible time for them. It led them to fear that He was no longer there for God hates sin.
Will God abandon us like we abandon Him? The Bible says He is faithful as well as patient. Faithfulness led Him to address Israel : “Comfort, comfort my people. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sin.”
What is this message? It's the opposite of that which should be expected. After all their unfaithfulness, all their rebellion, all their sins, He was still there ; He was still their God, and they were still His people.
God remains God - faithful, gracious, in spite of us. Long ago He promised, “The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin”(Ex.34:6f). Although Israel did not deserve it, He would take care of their sin by sending a Savior to pay for it. He would place them again at His side. But perhaps the most uncanny part of His promise is found in the phrase: “You will receive from the Lord's hand double for all your sins.”
Usually saying something like, “You're going to receive double for what you've done,” has a threat to it; but not here. This is a promise of good to undeserving people. Think of it this way.
A boy stomped into the kitchen of his home one day, slamming the door behind him. His father turned to ask what was wrong. As he looked at him, the father noticed a welt under his son's eye. It was red and swelling rapidly. Have you been in a fight?” he asked. The son replied, “One of the bigger boys jumped me on the way home. But don't worry; I'm going to get him back. I'll double what he's done to me. I'll give him two black eyes.”
That's how we normally take the sense of doubling the payback. They are words spoken in anger and reflect a spirit of revenge. “I'll double what they've done to me.” Is that what God meant?
What if God paid you back double for your sins against Him? Remember, He is the One who laid out the heavens, measured the waters, and holds the mountains in His hand. If just His breath would blow on us, we'd wither away like a flower in the heat of a desert. We couldn't survive. But thank goodness in the mouth of God such words are gracious words, meaning the opposite.
Instead of double punishment God means He is going to pay back good, double good for the wrongs done against Him. In other words, He's not going to give us two black eyes; He's not even going to give us one black eye. Rather, He forgives twice over, lifts us up, and makes us whole again – doubly whole. How is that possible if sin must be paid for? One word – Christ; Christ would take the punishment on Himself and die for it. For that reason the prophet proclaims for all time, “Comfort, comfort, my people, says your God. Proclaim that your hard service has been completed, your sin paid for, and you have received double for all your sins.”
This is a God we want; a God we want to flee to. And as we do, He is there , for He is faithful and patient, not wanting any to perish.
Lord, You Are Here. Comfort us. And as You comfort us, help us prepare a way for you in our hearts.
II. Prepare Us.
Prepare for me! It's what God called Israel to do in our text. He described it as though Israel was to build a highway straight through the desert so that God could come to them. The mountains that got in the way were to be taken done, and the gullies were to be filled in so that God could easily come. What does this mean?
This is nothing short of a call to repentance. But we said that God had already promised to forgive Israel . True, He had. But for that promise to have an effect on them, they still had to have a change of mind and heart towards what they had done. Forgiveness is there because God has done it in Christ. But repentance is still necessary for the forgiveness to have any benefit.
It means tearing down the mountains of pride in the desert of our hearts that oppose God's will, for when we continue to sin we raise ourselves above God, telling Him that it's our will not His that we are going to follow. We don't care what He has to say; we are going to continue living our way. Such living without repentance grieves the Holy Spirit (Ep.4:30). Think of it this way.
A child once asked her mother, “Mother, when I sin, am I still a child of God?” “Why do you ask?” the mother said. “Because I made up my mind never to get angry again, but I get angry at my brother. I don't do what's right.”
“Honey,” her mother replied, “You have the same trouble I have. I want to obey God all the time, but I find that I don't always do it. Then I must ask for forgiveness and try again.”
“But are you God's child even when you sin?” the girl asked. What do you think, dear friends? How would you answer her?
God always forgives us when we are sorry for what we do wrong. Our sins are forgiven because the Savior already paid for them. But when you fall to temptation are you still God's child? You are always His, as long as you want Jesus for your Savior. But the truth is your sin grieved the Holy Spirit. It made God sad.
You see, dear friends, God the Holy Spirit lives in the hearts of those who believe in Him. We are His dwelling. When we sin He doesn't move out right away. But how sad and uncomfortable we make it for Him. And if we keep on making Him sad and show that we don't care and don't want Him to stay, then He may leave. But as often as we repent and turn from sin, He will return to us to dwell in us. You have His word on it, and His Word stands forever.
Lord, You Are Here. Prepare us in repentance and faith that You may dwell happily in our hearts; for Jesus' sake. Amen.