Day 175: Isaiah 40-42, Psalm 46

Here are a few of the verses that really stood out to me today:

First, there's this one that, even though I believe it was written about the end of the captivity that was coming, it sounds almost like a "gospel" message...

Comfort, comfort my people,
   says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
   and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
   that her sin has been paid for... (Isaiah 40:1-2)

Then this beautiful passage has phrases that sound very familiar because they're used in many songs of worship today...

Do you not know?
   Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
   Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
   and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
   and spreads them out like a tent to live in. (Isaiah 40:21-22)

Another powerful verse of God's comfort and help...

So do not fear, for I am with you;
   do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
   I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)

This one is clearly a prophecy of the coming Messiah (see Matthew 12:20)...

“Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
   my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
   and he will bring justice to the nations.
He will not shout or cry out,
   or raise his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed he will not break,
   and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;
   he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
   In his teaching the islands will put their hope.” (Isaiah 42:1-4)

And, continuing the theme of God's protection, one of my favorite Psalms...

God is our refuge and strength,
   an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
   and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
   and the mountains quake with their surging. (Psalm 46:1-3)