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40:1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
40:2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD's hand double for all her sins.
40:3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
40:4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: 40:5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
40:6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: 40:7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
40:8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
40:9 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! 40:10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
40:11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
40:12 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? 40:13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him? 40:14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding? 40:15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
40:16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
40:17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
40:18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? 40:19 The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.
40:20 He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.
40:21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? 40:22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: 40:23 That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.
40:24 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
40:25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.
40:26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.
40:27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God? 40:28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
40:29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
40:30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.


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Everything King James Bible:Isaiah
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
back to: Isaiah
Book: Isaiah
Chapter: 40

Overview:
The preaching of the Gospel, and glad tidings of the coming of
Christ. (1-11) The almighty power of God. (12-17) The folly of
Idolatry. (18-26) Against unbelief. (27-31)

1-11 All human Life is a warfare; the Christian Life is the
most So; but the struggle will not last always. Troubles are
removed in Love, when Sin is pardoned. In the great Atonement of
the Death of Christ, the Mercy of God is exercised to the Glory
of his Justice. In Christ, and his sufferings, true penitents
receive of the Lord's Hand double for all their sins; for the
satisfaction Christ made By his Death was of infinite value. The
Prophet had some reference to the return of the Jews from
Babylon. But this is a small event, compared with that pointed
out By the Holy Ghost in the New Testament, when John the
Baptist proclaimed the approach of Christ. When eastern princes
marched through Desert countries, ways were prepared for them,
and hindrances removed. And may the Lord prepare our hearts By
the teaching of his Word and the convictions of his Spirit, that
high and proud thoughts may be brought down, good desires
planted, crooked and rugged tempers made straight and softened,
and every hinderance removed, that we may be ready for his will
On Earth, and prepared for his heavenly kingdom. What are all
that belongs to fallen Man, or all that he does, but as the
Grass and the flower thereof! And what will all the titles and
possessions of a dying sinner avail, when they leave him under
condemnation! The Word of the Lord can do that for us, which all
Flesh cannot. The glad tidings of the Coming of Christ were to
be sent forth to the ends of the Earth. Satan is the strong Man
armed; but our Lord Jesus is stronger; and he shall proceed, and
do all that he purposes. Christ is the good Shepherd; he shows
tender care for young converts, weak believers, and those of a
sorrowful Spirit. By his Word he requires No more service, and
By his Providence he inflicts No more trouble, than he will
strengthen them for. May we know our Shepherd's voice, and
follow him, proving ourselves his Sheep.

12-17 All created beings shrink to nothing in comparison with
the Creator. When the Lord, By his Spirit, made the world, none
directed his Spirit, or gave advice what to do, or how to do it.
The nations, in comparison of him, are as a drop which remains
in the Bucket, compared with the vast ocean; or as the small
Dust in the Balance, which does not turn it, compared with all
the Earth. This magnifies God's Love to the world, that, though
it is of such small account and value with him, yet, for the
Redemption of it, he gave his only-begotten Son, Joh 3:16. The
services of the Church can make No addition to him. Our souls
must have perished for ever, if the only Son of the Father had
not given himself for us.

18-26 Whatever we esteem or Love, fear or Hope in, more than
God, that Creature we make equal with God, though we do not make
images or Worship them. He that is So Poor, that he has scarcely
a Sacrifice to offer, yet will not be without a God of his own.
They spared No cost upon their idols; we grudge what is spent in
the service of our God. To prove the greatness of God, the
Prophet appeals to all ages and nations. Those who are ignorant
of this, are willingly ignorant. God has the command of all
creatures, and of all created things. The Prophet directs us to
use our reason as Well as our senses; to consider who created
the hosts of Heaven, and to pay our homage to Him. Not one fails
to fulfil his will. And let us not forget, that He spake all the
promises, and engaged to perform them.

27-31 The people of God are reproved for their unbelief and
distrust of God. Let them remember they took the names Jacob and
Israel, from one who found God Faithful to him in all his
straits. And they bore these names as a people in Covenant with
Him. Many foolish frets, and foolish fears, would vanish before
inquiry into the causes. It is bad to have evil thoughts rise in
our minds, but worse to turn them into evil words. What they had
known, and had heard, was sufficient to silence all these fears
and distrusts. Where God had begun the work of Grace, he will
perfect it. He will help those who, in humble dependence On him,
help themselves. As the Day, So shall the strength be. In the
strength of Divine Grace their souls shall ascend above the
world. They shall run the way of God's Commandments cheerfully.
Let us watch against unbelief, pride, and self-confidence. If we
go forth in our own strength, we shall faint, and utterly fall;
but having our hearts and our hopes in Heaven, we shall be
carried above all difficulties, and be enabled to lay Hold of
the prize of our high Calling in Christ Jesus.

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