Wait for Me (Isaiah 49:19-26)
1.[v.19-21] Then you will say: “The children of your bereavement will yet say in your ears… Then you will say in your heart…”
   1A.[v.19-20] Our narrow minds: “surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants… make room for me to dwell in”
    1B.[v.21] His Amazing Answer: “Who has borne me these?... Who has brought up these?... From where have these come?
2.[v.22-23] Then you shall not be put to shame: “they shall bow down to you”
3.[v.24-26] Then all flesh shall know: “that I am the LORD you Savior”


 
Wait for Me
(ISAIAH 49:19-26)
 
Pause & Reflect
 

1. What has God been teaching you through last week’s message? Read the texts once more and discern what the holy Spirit is desiring to say through it.

 
19 “Surely your waste and your desolate places and your devastated land—surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants, and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20 The children of your bereavement will yet say in your ears: ‘The place is too narrow for me; make room for me to dwell in.’
21 Then you will say in your heart: ‘Who has borne me these? I was bereaved and barren, exiled and put away, but who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; from where have these come?’”
 

1. [v.19-21] *Biblical principle – As we wait, surely the LORD also waits. He waits for you to say His amazing answer in your heart. God had made an unbreakable promise (His covenant) with His people – to comfort them, forgive them, be with them, deliver them from their abductors, multiply His image through them. Yet instead of trusting, hoping, and waiting for these promises to be fulfilled, they doubted Him, thinking He had forsaken and forgotten them. Yet the LORD says surely their homeland He will bring them back to will be too narrow for all their descendants. One day, they will see this and say in their heart – who did this? Where did this come from? Often, we think we are waiting on God. But it’s really the other way around – God is waiting on us. He could not bring all of His covenant promises for the people at once because they were not ready for it. Just as He waited then, He waits for you today. We are in a season of Advent, which means “Coming.” The first coming of Christ was some 2000 years ago. The second coming is still yet to arrive. In both cases, waiting is required. His people then waited for the promised Savior. His people today wait for His promised return. As we live in-between these times, the amazing thing is that the LORD assures us His promise of Jesus is guaranteed. Like He assured His people then of their return to their homeland from captivity that will become too narrow for them due to the LORD multiplying His people, how is the LORD assuring you that He will restore all that is lost, multiply His image in all that is lacking, make fruitful all that is sparse? We want all of it now, but the LORD asks us to wait because we are not ready to receive it yet. How is the LORD preparing you and waiting for you to receive His promise? Is the “promise” the resolutions and solutions of what we wait for, or the one who gives them – our promise keeper? How is the LORD Jesus Christ becoming your promise in your waiting, despite the circumstances and situations surrounding you? How is the LORD waiting for you?

 
22 Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and raise my signal to the peoples; and they shall bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
23 Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.”
 

1. [v.22-23] *Biblical principle – Waiting awakens hoping. We wait to align our hope again on the LORD, who does not put us to shame. God is reminding His people that His answer is not far away. At His “signal” all their oppressors will not only be overthrown, the very kings and queens they feared will carry on their shoulders their sons and daughters, bowing before them. In other words, God is the LORD of every crisis, situation, circumstance, oppression. At His signal, He flips the entirety of it around. What overwhelms you will now bow down to you. What oppressed you will now serve you. All God’s children will be vindicated, in this life and surely in the life to come. It is not hopeless to wait. Faith is learning to strengthen hope as we wait. Just as they waited for Jesus to arrive some 700 years later, so also we wait with ever living and strengthening hope for Jesus to return at His second coming. The ultimate “signal” that the LORD God raised was the cross of Christ – when Jesus was lifted up on the cross, He drew all His sons and daughters to Himself by forgiving them in His shed blood, gifting them with a freed life in Him, and adopting them into a new family as brothers and sisters in Christ, as spiritual fathers and mothers who nurture and care for those younger in the faith. At the dinner table of this family, once foes are now friends (Psalm 23:5, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”). What wounds us will now heal us. What overwhelms us will now bow down to us. What oppresses us will now serve us. Everything is flipped right-side up. Is our waiting for this blessed promise awakening greater hope or greater frustration? How is our waiting strengthening our hoping on the LORD again? Hope not only is something to look for in the future, but to live out in the present. Are you living out the hope of Jesus’ return, when He will flip the tables right-side up, and make all things new? How can you live out the hope of the gospel in your waiting?

 
24 Can the prey be taken from the mighty, or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?
25 For thus says the Lord: “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken, and the prey of the tyrant be rescued, for I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children.
26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine. Then all flesh shall know that I am the Lord your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
 

1. [v.24-26] *Biblical principle – If we do not learn to wait, staying awake in hope, we will not be prepared to know the LORD. Our flesh will continue to die instead of live by the Spirit. The LORD promised that those who wait on Him will be justified. The people will experience powerfully the intervention of God and His promises. God will take the prey from the mighty. He will rescue the captive from the tyrant. Both prey and predator, captive and captor – all flesh – will know He is the only Savior. Our flesh can give way to two directions: self-destruction in sin or Christ-renewing to glory. We can continue to die (spiritually and physically) in the flesh or be renewed daily in the Spirit. Jesus is the Word who became flesh, so that our flesh can be saved by His flesh. Learn to awaken hopeful waiting upon Jesus, coming again to redeem this flesh to know the LORD. The LORD will deliver us from a world that operates on predatory tyranny. This world operates on a predator-prey ideology, a survival of the fittest philosophy, where the strong consume and eliminate the weak. Yet the Word of God says when we are weak, then we are strong (2 Corinthians 12:10). The Word of God says that self-centeredness will be our self-destruction (v.26). In our waiting, we must not wait upon our flesh and the things of our flesh. All flesh is going away one day, buried under six feet of dirt. This body of flesh yearns for redemption even from birth, as once smooth and unblemished skin of a baby slowly but surely becomes old, wrinkled, and spotted. How are you chasing after your flesh? Are you staying awake to live for the desires of the Spirit instead of your flesh? What are the things of your flesh that you are living for and waiting for? How can we long for a better flesh – one that does not depreciate with time, illness, addictions, and death but is renewed with life, holiness, hope, and Christ’s glory? Read the following Scriptures and take a moment to mediate on waiting on the LORD while we still live in our fallen flesh:

 

1. For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. (2 Corinthians 5:1-5)
2. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)
3. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! (Psalm 27:14)
4. But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. (Micah 7:7)
5. Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him. (Isaiah 30:18)
6. Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. (James 5:7-8)
7. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. (Psalm 130:5-6)
8. He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:20)

 
The central truth of this word was –
In our waiting for the LORD, surely the LORD is waiting on us too. He grants us time to wait now to realign our hope for tomorrow. Just as Good Friday didn’t turn into Easter Sunday at once, we learn to wait, to stay awake to how He is preparing us from Friday to Sunday. The people had forgotten and forsaken the LORD, so they were not ready to hope nor receive His covenant promise of restoration. Yet that time would come and has come in Jesus Christ, who is God’s signal for His people. Let us stop living in the flesh, in this predator-prey world of the flesh. Let us not consume each other or our circumstances, but have compassion on each other and what the sovereign LORD does in giving and taking away. As we wait together for the living hope to come, being prepared to meet our risen Lord at His return, may all our flesh be redeemed to say, “Come, Lord Jesus, come!” (Revelation 22:20).
– *How has the LORD spoken to you today through this?
 

Holy Spirit Moment
Take a moment to invite the Holy Spirit to fill you, and pray.
 
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-18)
 
…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7)

The LORD has Comforted His People
1.[v.8-12] His Covenant People: “I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people”
    A.[v.8-9a] Comfort through Freedom: “saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear’
    B.[v.9b-12] Comfort through Provision and Providence: “they shall not hunger or thirst… for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them. And I will make all my mountains a road, and my highways shall be raised up”
2.[v.13-14] His Doubting People: “The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me”
3.[v.15-18] His Beloved People: “Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands”



 
The LORD has Comforted His People
(ISAIAH 49:8-18)
 
Pause & Reflect

1. What has God been teaching you through last week’s message? Read the texts once more and discern what the holy Spirit is desiring to say through it.

 
8 Thus says the Lord: “In a time of favor I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you; I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages, 9 saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’  to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’ They shall feed along the ways; on all bare heights shall be their pasture; 10 they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them. 11 And I will make all my mountains a road, and my highways shall be raised up. 12 Behold, these shall come from afar, and behold, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Syene.”

1. [v.8-12] *Biblical principle – The LORD comforts us by declaring we are His covenant people: Jesus was comforted by the LORD’s timely answer and help during His short ministry on earth as He fulfilled the role of being the servant of God’s salvation to us, setting us free from the bondage of our sins, darkness of our addictions and even death itself. With the comfort He was comforted by, Jesus channels down to us daily by feeding us and guiding us. With this compassion and comfort from Jesus, every mountain to climb becomes a highway to glide across. This comfort from Jesus is available to everyone in every corner of the earth, just as it was for God’s people held captive so long ago. This is because we are His covenant people. He will carry us through it all. It all depends on Him – not us. His covenant is our comfort. His covenant is an unbreakable promise – the unending and never-forsaking presence of Jesus Christ. The LORD has a way of always referring to something in the future as if it has already been completed in the present. Turning to Jesus, the Father God says, “… I have answered you… I have helped you; I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people… saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’” Jesus would not appear on earth until some 700 years later, but the LORD God declares His covenant promises to His only Son. What an encouragement and assurance Jesus would have had in heaven! This already-but-not-yet promise is the heart of God’s covenant with us too. As He did for Jesus, what is the LORD promising to answer, to help, to keep, to give in your future? Like He did for His people, will you ever hunger or thirst although you may not have much? Is the valley the end when He promises to guide you to the springs of water? Will your mountain be a forever obstacle when He says that He will make all mountains a road, a highway to be raised up to be with Him? Will His gospel only remain with us, when He declares that all people from the four corners of the earth shall be affected by our small faithfulness to His Kingdom work?

 
13 Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.
14 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.”

1. [v.13-14] *Biblical principle – Instead of being comforted by the LORD’s covenant, we often seek comfort by our own doubts: Although God had promised so much to His people in the giving of His covenant – His servant Jesus – to free them, lead them, guide them, feed them, love them, forgiven them, comfort them, restore them – the people still turned to their own doubts and unbelief. They could not trust God to truly deliver all these covenant promises in future time. Their current circumstances blinded them from the God who was present in all circumstances, saying, “The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.” If our comfort rests on changing our circumstances instead of seeking God’s covenant, we will never be comforted but always be anxious, misusing God’s promises and misreading God’s character. It is strange how different the LORD’s thoughts and perspectives are from ours. The LORD says we are to be dancing, while the people were doubting. The LORD says we should be singing for joy, while the people were staggering in sorrow. It was strange then, and it is strange now – God’s covenant promises have been fulfilled – He has sent He only Son who died and rose again. The gift of the holy Spirit has been poured out. The new life has begun. Now, we await His second coming again for the renewal of all things in this fallen world. Yet even all these covenant promises still grows the fruit of our conditional demands. Even His compassion still results in gazing upon our circumstances. How have you lost the joy to sing, to break forth in pursuing comfort from the LORD? How are you living by contract instead of covenant with God? How are you living by circumstances instead of covenant with God? Like His people questioned then, what comfort from the world brings us to the point of saying now, “The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me”? How is the LORD calling you to turn from doubting into dancing?

 
15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.
16 Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.
17 Your builders make haste; your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you.
18 Lift up your eyes around and see; they all gather, they come to you. As I live, declares the Lord, you shall put them all on as an ornament; you shall bind them on as a bride does.

1. [v.15-18] *Biblical principle – Even in our doubts, the LORD loves us to His comfort with a covenant-keeping love that can never forsake us nor forget us: Even the best of parents can forget to care for their child time to time. Yet the LORD can never forget us, nor can He ever forsake us. Although the people doubted, the LORD still reminded them of His covenant – He has engraved them on the palms of His hands and He gives victory over those who seek to destroy them, victory that is to be worn like an ornament, like prized jewels on a bride’s dress. As He said to His people long ago, let us hear the voice of the LORD again today, “Lift up your eyes around and see!” See your name engraved on the palm of His hands. Whatever trial, confusion, doubt or despair comes to find you, remember Jesus in whom you are already found in His covenant love for you. Be comforted by this covenant love that can never be broken. Although we fail to find comfort in pursuing the LORD’s covenant, the LORD will remain faithful to pursue us. This is a one-party agreement. In the end, only He acts in good faith towards us. This goodness is so deep, attentive, affectionate. This goodness goes beyond the care of a woman for her nursing mother. Even the best of mothers can forget. Even the worst of mothers can forsake. Yet, the agape love of Father God can never forget nor forsake – He has written your name on the palms of his hands. Your name is forever tattooed permanently on the nail-pierced scars of Jesus’ hands, showing you how much He loves you. Jesus says, “Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (LUKE 10:20) and “The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels” (REVELATION 3:5). Therefore, are you living boldly, confidently, courageously, bravely, proudly in His covenant love for you? Like a bride on her wedding day wears her dress with the most prized ornaments and jewels, are you wearing His comfort daily as your ornament to show-off His glory and goodness to a self-glorified and totally depraved world? Read the following Scriptures and take a moment to mediate on the comfort – the very power – that God gives you to empower His covenant in all circumstances:

 
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. (Psalm 23:4)

This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life. (Psalm 119:50)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. (2 Corinthians 1:3-7)

Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. (John 16:32-33)

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. (1 Peter 4:12-13)

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)

​The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. (Psalm 34:18-19) 

 
The central truth of this word was –
We are a people of the LORD’s covenant – not of our changing circumstances. When we look to God’s unbreakable unchanging covenant promise of Jesus Christ and what He did to achieve our comfort, we too can be comforted as Jesus was to finish the will of the LORD as servants of the LORD. Although we are prone to doubt, God rescues us from our confusion by showing us the palms of His engraved hands with our name – the nail-scared hands of Jesus as a reminder that our names are forever in the Lamb’s book of life (Revelation 3:5; 21:27; Luke 10:20) and He is forever with us. His compassion and comfort cannot compare with the attention of a mother nursing her child. Son/daughter of God, the LORD has comforted you! Wear the ornament of His comfort daily. Lift up your eyes, sing for joy, because your mountain is becoming a highway into His comfort! He has not forsaken you, nor forgotten you!
– *How has the LORD spoken to you today through this?
 

Holy Spirit Moment
Take a moment to invite the Holy Spirit to fill you, and pray.
 
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-18)
 
…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7)