In Isaiah 40, and in the Lord Jesus, we see a God who is mighty enough to overturn the idols of a culture that fails to recognise that life belongs to him. We see a God who is compassionate enough to draw close to those who are deeply suffering. And to draw close to their loved ones. And to see that even in hard situations, his ways are true. His ways are good. His ways are beautiful.

Through the entirety of Isaiah 40, we see that the Lord is utterly sovereign. His power is without limit. He is the King of the entire universe; all that he has made is fully under his control.

He’s so powerful that he’s able to look at Mount Kilimanjaro, then pick it up and pop it on a weighing scale, as easily as you or I could weigh out a hundred and twenty-five grams of self raising flour for a Victoria sponge cake. He’s so mighty that he can bring low the most powerful monarch on the face of the planet, far more easily than we can blow the dust off a table.

Through the entirety of Isaiah 40, we see that the Lord is utterly compassionate and kind. He’s like a shepherd, who tends his flock, paying careful attention to those who are weakest. Indeed, the very reason that this entire chapter is written is out of the Lord’s compassion. That’s stated in verse one: ‘comfort, comfort my people.’ ‘speak tenderly to Jerusalem’. Because he wants his people to have the comfort they need, in order to live the lives he has called them to.

Both his compassion and his power are meant to bring comfort to the people of God. And maybe it’s more obvious that the Lord’s compassion would bring his people comfort. But his almighty power is absolutely essential, too. Because the enemies of God’s people, they seemed far more powerful than the people of Israel. But those seemingly powerful nations—who were they ruled by? Over and above their kings, they were ruled by idols; false gods. And, as verses eighteen to twenty spell out for us, those idols. They’re not powerful! They’re laughable! They are a created thing, reliant on their maker. How can they possibly have any real power? The Lord and idols are not even worth comparing to one another.

Comparing the power of an idol to the power of the Lord: It’s like comparing an ant to an elephant. It’s like wondering who will win a race between a sloth and a cheetah. And comparing an idol’s compassion to the Lord’s compassion is the same, Psalm 115 shows us. They can’t hear us when we pray, because they don’t have ears. They can’t give us wisdom for life, because they don’t have mouths. They can’t do anything for us; they’re totally armless. But the Lord. He can do all these things. He is powerful, and compassionate. And these two truths bring great comfort to the people of God.

Don’t miss out the fact that we find Isaiah 40 so wonderfully fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. Both God’s power, and his compassion, are perfectly seen in our Saviour Jesus. The One who reveals the Father to us. The One who puts his Spirit in us. The One who gives himself for us. You saw verse 3, didn’t you? And the phrases seemed really familiar. Perhaps because you love the words of Isaiah 40. But probably also because you recognise them as the words that we are told when John the Baptist came on the scene, hundreds of years later. In speaking about John the Baptist, Matthew and Mark both reference this verse, and Luke does so most fully. Because John was the one who announced the coming of the King. Who told people that the Lord was on his way, to do his mighty world-overturning work.

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