Comfort for God's People

One of my favorite passages is Isaiah 40:31.  I do love to think about running and not growing weary, walking without fainting, and renewed strength. My daughter tells me I should not run because of my age; that walking is much preferred.

Isaiah 40:30-31

30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;31 but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Earlier in the same chapter, Isaiah is bringing God’s words of comfort to the Israelites who have been in captivity in Babylon for many years. The Israelites have suffered because they forgot their LORD for a time, but have now paid for their sins. The prophet reminds them of God’s covenant; they will return from exile to their promised land. Isaiah also includes in verse 5 a prophecy that the glory of the LORD will be revealed and all people will see it together:

Isaiah 40:1-5 NIV

1 Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.2 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 sins.

3 A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
the way for the Lord,[
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.4 Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,

the rugged places a plain.5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

This poetic language has been made even  more familiar to the world as Part 1of George Frideric Handel's Messiah, written in 1741.  I have enjoyed listening to Handel’s oratorio multiple times during my life but did not recognize the opening section of the piece as these same verses from Isaiah 40. Charles Jennens, a friend of Handel, selected a compilation of verses from the scriptures he believed would tell the story of the Messiah. Within 24 days Handel had composed this beloved music generally performed during the Christmas holiday season.

Excerpt from Handel’s Messiah (based on the KJV):

Messiah, George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Words compiled from the Holy Scriptures by Charles Jennens (1700-1773)

Part One

1. Sinfonia (Overture)
2. Tenor Recitative. — Isaiah 40:1-3
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
3. Tenor Air — Isaiah 40:4
Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill made low, the crooked straight, and the rough places plain.
4. Chorus — Isaiah 40:5
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

Here is another interesting item of note.  At the end of his manuscript Handel wrote the letters "SDG"—Soli Deo Gloria, "To God alone the glory.”

Dear God: Help me to remember your comfort in difficult times.  You are never weary; you help me to be strong. To God alone shall be the glory.

Sherilyn Svien

Stephenville, TX