We all need comfort – comfort in tragedy, crisis, loss, and sickness. Comfort in weariness, sorrow, and depression. Comfort in guilt and punishment. In Isaiah 40:1 we read, “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.” He is speaking to the Judah exiles in Babylon, but there is application for us. And in these first eight verses we see where we can find the comfort we need.

We find comfort in God’s love (v1-2). He calls us his people. He is our God. We have a relationship together. He wants to minister comfort to us. In verse 2, he speaks tenderly to us. He cares about us. He loves us. Despite our past sins and failures, we are his people. In the struggles of life, we need to know that God loves us.

We find comfort in God’s salvation (v2). One day our trials – our warfare or hard service – will be over. Our sins are pardoned in Jesus Christ. In our trials and in sins, we need to know that God saves us.

We find comfort in God’s coming (v3-5). God’s salvation doesn’t come from a distance, but as God comes to us. And so God came to rescue the remnant out of exile. And as the gospel writers make clear by quoting these verses, God came to earth as a man to save us by dying on a cross for our sins. And God comes to us as we repent and believe, and he causes us to be born again and applies the work of Jesus on the cross to our lives. And God will come one day to usher in a new heaven and earth. In our sin and our guilt, we need to know that God comes to save us.

Finally, we find comfort in God’s promises (v6-8). The words of men will fail, for men are like grass that fades away. But God’s Word will stand forever, and so we can trust in his promises to us – promises to be a refuge and strength in our suffering, promises to forgive us of our sins, promises that one day he will wipe away our tears and put an end to all suffering, sickness, sin, and death. In our suffering and sin, we need to know that we can trust God promises to help us.

We all need comfort. And that comfort is found in God – in his love, his salvation, his coming, and his promises. May God comfort you today!