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. (Isaiah 40:1-2)
We come before you now, El Roi, the God who sees us. You see our sufferings. You see the difficult trials we have endured. You see, and you care! You see, and you comfort! You see, you walk with us through the trials, and you rescue. You see, and you hold out your hand with double blessing to those who have endured to the end. Ah, Gracious God, thank you for being our comfort in every difficult situation. Enable us, Father, to comfort others with the comfort you have given.[1]
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.” (Isaiah 40:3-5)
Compassionate and Gracious God, we are humbled that you have come to us. We are humbled that you want to have a relationship with us. We are humbled at the lengths to which you have gone in order to clear a way between us, breaking down those barriers by sending your one and only Son, Jesus Christ to die in our place, so that we would not perish, but have eternal life with you. That you would make Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might have your righteousness. You have broken down mountains, filled in valleys, smoothed rough paths, and restored righteousness, all so that we could be welcomed into your present and see your glory revealed.[2]
6 A voice says, “Cry out.”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
“All people are like grass,
and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
7 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the Lord blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever.” (Isaiah 40:6-8)
Great and Awesome God, we use that voice you have given us to cry out to a searching world the wonder of who and what you are! We are humbled by how unlike you we are. We are temporal, you are eternal. We are unfaithful, but you always remain faithful, since you cannot deny your own nature. We are weak, but you are strong. In fact, when we are at our weakest, that is when you, by your grace, empower us to do what you ask. We fail, oh, how we fail. But you, oh God, you endure forever. Your love endures forever. Your mercy endures forever. And by your word, you have assured us that we will endure forever with you in the new heaven and the new earth.[3]
9 You who bring good news to Zion,
go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good news to Jerusalem,
lift up your voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
say to the towns of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
10 See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power,
and he rules with a mighty arm.
See, his reward is with him,
and his recompense accompanies him.
11 He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young. (Isaiah 40:9-11)
Oh, Sovereign Lord, we are compelled by your goodness, your love, your mercy, your grace to share the good news about you to everyone around us. We speak of your power to rule. We speak of your power to save. We speak of your power to overcome our enemies. We speak of your power to tend—gently, like a shepherd, but compassionately, as a father.
As we think of all you are, of all you have done, we respond, as Isaiah did, by falling on our faces before you, crying out, “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips,… and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” We fall before you, the one who is the First and the Last, the Living One who was dead, but is now alive for ever and ever!
Oh, Lord, in light of your gracious gift, we ask that you give us boldness to declare your gospel message as fearlessly as we can. You have given us a message for everyone who comes into our lives—a message of good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. Give us, by your Holy Spirit, the courage and the power to be your witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth—even in our own neighborhoods, in our own families, among our friends.
Grant us holy boldness to declare the message of that one who was given the name Jesus because He will save His people from their sins.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.[4]
[1] 2 Corinthians 1:3-5.
[2] John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 5:21.
[3] 2 Timothy 2:13; 2 Corinthians 12:8-10; Psalm 136; Psalm 118.
[4] Isaiah 6:5; Ephesians 6:20; Revelation 1:17-18; Matthew 1:21; John 3:16-18.