12/1 Life

---

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)