"Comfort Ye, Comfort Ye My People,
Saith Your God."
Isaiah 40:1
"There is no peace, saith the Lord,
unto the wicked." If the ungodly and unbelieving find any measure of
comfort anywhere, it is a temporary delusion. There is no peace for the wicked
in this world, or in the world to come. But God commands peace to his saints
and charges his servants to minister comfort to them at all times.
Here is a title of comfort - "MY
PEOPLE!" What an abundance of blessed instruction there is in those two words.
The God of glory calls poor sinners upon the earth "My people."
Imagine that! The whole world belongs to God. Behold, heaven and the heaven of
heavens are his, the earth and all the fulness thereof! All the children of men
are his. He made them. He rules them. He uses them. And he disposes of them as
he will. In him we all live, and move, and have our being. Yet, God almighty
calls some "His people." This is a title of distinction. There is a people scattered among the peoples of the earth whom
God has separated unto himself, whom he calls "My people." He does
for them what he does for no one else. They are God's own peculiar property and
possession by covenant love, eternal election, special purchase, and effectual
grace, his people by a distinct relationship. "Beloved, now are we the
sons of God," his people! What a magnificent title God gives to sinners.
All who trust the Lord Jesus Christ are called by God, "My people!"
Here is a revelation of comfort -
"YOUR GOD!" God Almighty, the great I AM, here declares to every
believer, I am "your God." That very same grace that makes us God's
property makes God himself to be our Property. He is as much your Father as you
are his child!
He is God over the whole universe. But he belongs to you. He is your God! Can
you grasp the meaning of that? His power, his riches, his
goodness, his wisdom, his creation, his grace, all are yours. Indeed, if
we are his people and he is our God, then all things are ours in him (I Cor.
Let these two blessed facts be impressed
upon our hearts and minds by the Spirit of God, and we will have all the
comfort needed to sustain our hearts, even in the most trying circumstances. If
I am his and he is mine, then "it is well with my soul!"
Don Fortner