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“…Thine anger is turned away, and Thou dost comfort me...”
God’s comfort is never far from His children. Even though He pours out His promise of judgment in the beginning of Isaiah, He drops in this promise of comfort and salvation in today’s text (Thou dost comfort me...). He also calls out in comfort in Isaiah 40:1 where He says, "Comfort, O comfort my people."
God is the God of all comfort, and His comfort comes many times when we are in the midst of struggles and even when we are being disciplined and judged by the Lord. Listen to David as he struggles with His sin and seeks God’s cleansing:
Against You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is evil in Your sight,
So that You are justified when You speak
And blameless when You judge….Psalm 51:4
Now listen to David as realizes the comfort there is when God not only forgives but puts our sin far away and does not remember it any longer:
I waited patiently for the LORD;
And He reached down to me and heard my cry.
He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the mud;
And He set my feet on a rock, making my footsteps firm.
He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear
And will trust in the LORD.
How blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust…Psalm 40:1—4
Even in the midst of God’s discipline and judgment, we find God’s comfort through forgiveness and repentance. When God forgives, His comfort is glaring, He blots out our sin, His unmerited grace shines with a golden brilliance of peace, and His redemption and forgiveness comforts our hearts and minds. And all of this comfort is of God.
Whether it is sin that you are struggling with, depression, or some other quandary in your life that is causing mental, emotional, or physical misery, look to the God of all comfort, and He will meet you right in the center of your misery and show you the pathway for forgiveness and renewal.
I acknowledged my sin to You,
And I did not hide my guilt;
I said, “I will confess my wrongdoings to the LORD”;
And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah
Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found;
Certainly in a flood of great waters, they will not reach him.
You are my hiding place; You keep me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah
Psalm 32:1—7
— David Gundrum
Reprinted with permission from the April 5, 2024, edition of the Antiochan, a publication of Church Extension Ministries