Today I would like to talk about “The Lord who comforts” from this passage of Isaiah 51. We daily have worries and struggles, and we wonder where we can find comfort. In today’s passage the Lord says, “The LORD will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the LORD.” (3) Truly, the Lord comforts. We can discover real comfort here. Today I would like to talk about 3 things concerning the comfort of the Lord.

I. Look to the rock from which you were cut (vs. 1-3)
First please look at verses 1 to 3. The opening statement of verse 1 is “you who pursue righteousness and who seek the LORD.” What kind of person pursues righteousness? In verses 5 to 8 the word “righteousness” appears ever and over again. If you look at this passage the word “righteousness” and the word “salvation” are written as being equaled. For example, verse 5 says, “My righteousness draws near speedily” and then it is followed with “my salvation is on the way.” Verse 6 too says, “My salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail.” Also verse 8 says, “My righteousness will last forever, my salvation through all generations.” In other words, “righteousness” and “salvation are used as having the same meaning. Therefore, “righteousness” is “salvation”. Also “salvation” is “righteousness”. And then if you look at I Cor. 1:30 you will see that this “righteousness” is Jesus Christ. It says, “Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God-that is our righteousness, holiness and redemption.” Therefore those “who pursue righteousness” (1) are ultimately those “who seek the LORD.” As verse 1 says, they “seek the LORD”, Jesus. However, at this time Christ hadn’t come yet so it is said that that those who pursue God’s salvation refers to the Israelites.
To Israel it says,”Listen to me”. (1) “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness
and seek the LORD:
Look to the rock from which you were cut
and the quarry from which you were hewn;
look to Abraham, your father,
and to Sarah, who gave you birth.
When I called him he was but one,
and I blessed him and made him many.
The LORD will surely comfort Zion
and will look with compassion on
all her ruins;
he will make her deserts like Eden,
her wastelands like the garden of
the LORD.
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the sound of singing.” (1-3)
“The rock from which you were cut” (1) and “the quarry from which you were hewn” (1) is the place that Israel came from. In other words, it is their roots. Therefore, this is saying to look carefully at where they came from and how they came to be. Concretely as it says in verse 2 this refers to Abraham and Sarah. The roots of Israel were Abraham and Sarah. Israel came from them. They are told to think about Abraham and Sarah. That was because by thinking of Abraham and Sarah they will be given real comfort and hope. If they think about where they came from and how they were saved, then Gods grace will be seen and they will be full of thankfulness. As I have said many times before, at this time Israel was captive to Babylon and they were forced to live as slaves. In such a hopeless situation, by thinking about where they came from, by seeing the grace of the Lord they could overcome the suffering and live in hope.
Here let’s think about Abraham and Sarah. Abraham and Sarah appear from Genesis 11. They were originally from “Ur of the Chaldeans.” (Genesis 11:28) Ur was most likely a city on the Euphrates in southern Iraq. At that time it was the central area of the Mesopotamian civilization and culture. It was a large prospering city that had reached high levels of civilization and culture. However, they were pagans that worshipped a moon god. In other words, they were completely Gentiles, far from the real God, and they had no hope in this world. Then they were by God’s one way mercy, called out of this world. Genesis 12:1 says, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.”
We don’t know clearly if this was when he was in Ur or when he was in Haram, but either one, when he was still immersed in pagan idol worship, by the one way grace of God he was saved. Then according to the promise it says that all the people on the earth will be blessed by him. In other words, he wasn’t born in the beginning as a people of God. He was completely a Gentile. He had no home in the world. It was by the one way grace of God that he was saved. If you think about this, then you will be thankful.
Paul wrote the following to the Christians in Ephesus, “Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called ‘uncircumcised’ by those who call themselves ‘the circumcision’ (that done in the body by the hands of men)-remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.” (Eph. 2:11-13)

At that time the Ephesian Christians were returning to their lives before they were saved and were living like Gentiles without hope. In order to come to their senses and return to God it was necessary for them to remember how they were saved.
Whenever we are struggling, we often say that the past was good, but before doing so we need to think about what kind of past the past was. We glorify the past, but in reality it was empty. We didn’t know God, and were hopeless, lost like a kite whose string was cut. Without God no matter how many of the things we want, we get, even if we can live how we want to live, only a sense of emptiness is left. No matter how many pleasures we enjoy, each time the aftertaste is bad, emptiness and anxiety that can’t be expressed hover over us. We also have fear that when we die that it is the end. However, we were saved from all of this.
I met Jesus when I was a senior in High School. At that time I was like that. I didn’t know what I should become. When the door to go to college was closed and I was promised a job in a large company, I lived everyday how I wanted to live. I gave up feeling that I could never make anything out of my life so I thought I would live doing what I wanted to do. No matter how much I enjoyed pleasures, I never felt fulfilled, but rather emptiness was left. I lived like my feet weren’t on the ground. At that time I met Jesus. Then I knew clearly where I came from, where I was, and where I was going. I knew for what purpose I was living. Then joy overfilled my heart and I began to desire to live for the Lord. My family was completely uninterested in such things and when I went to church my family said, “Don’t get deeply involved！” My family was completely immersed in worldly culture. I was saved out of it. That was really a miracle. It is grace. Then in the course of time my parents who said, “Don’t get deeply involved！” also were led to a confession of faith and were baptized. There is a saying,”Return to your original intentions.” When I am having a bad time or struggling, I always remember this time in my life. When I remember this, my heart is overflowing with thankfulness, and I become happy.
Among us there are some who were born and raised in Christian homes and as long as they can remember went to church, but this is also grace. To have been given Christian parents also means you have been given the fortune of the Christian faith. Everything was given by God so it is God’s grace. Let’s remember this.
Sarah is also written in this verse. “Look…to Sarah, who gave you birth.” (2) Israel’s ancestor, Jacob’s father was Isaac who was the child born to Abraham when he was 100 years old and Sarah when she was 90 years old. Sarah knew that she was past the age of child bearing and unable to bear children, but she believed that God who made the promise was faithful. For example, no matter how handicapped the situation she was put in, no matter how impossible it seemed, she believed that God had the power to fulfill what he had promised. Then God according to the promise increased their descendants. In other words, Sarah was enabled to bear Isaac because she had the faith that God could do anything. No matter how impossible the situation seemed, it was by faith that Isaac was born, and even now his descendants are increasing throughout the world.
When the Israelites thought about the Lord they were given assurance that God will definitely take notice of Israel. And they were overflowing in joy and thankfulness. It is like as it says in verse 3, “The LORD will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on
all her ruins;
he will make her deserts like Eden,
her wastelands like the garden of the LORD.
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the sound of singing.”
Zion is Jerusalem. Jerusalem was destroyed by Babylon。There is no trace of it and it was reduced to ruins. However, “The LORD will surely comfort Zion…he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the LORD.” (3) Now it is in the condition of being reduced to ruins, like a desert, desolate like wastelands, but “The LORD will surely comfort Zion…he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the LORD.” (3) Even if you see with your eyes how hopeless it is, “with God nothing is impossible”. (Luke 1:37) God who promised this is faithful so no matter how impossible of a situation, according to the promise, God will work. You will know that if you “look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth.” (2) You must “Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn.” (1) If so you will be comforted, have hope, and can regain your footing.
This is not just Israel, but we are the same. Christians too loose their own identity and become anxious. In such difficult situations we soon wail and complain.
However, if you “Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn,” (1) then you will be comforted. If you “look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth,” (2) you will be overflowing with thankfulness for God’s grace of one way salvation. You will be given hope that God will definitely restore the situation you have been placed in.

II. Listen to me (Vs. 4-8)
Next let’s look at verses 4 to 8. Verse 4 says, “Listen to me, my people;
Hear me, my nation.”
What they had to listen to and hear was that “the law will go out from” (4) God. He “will become a light to the nations” (4) and show them the way.
Verse 5 says, “My righteousness draws near speedily, my salvation is on the way.” I talked about that this “righteousness” and “salvation” is Jesus Christ. The time of the coming of Jesus Christ is near. This is 2000 years ago when Christ came and at the same time it is at the end of the world when Christ will come again to this world. When we look at verses 6 to 8, it is truly the scene of the end of the world.
Verse 6 says, “Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
look at the earth beneath;
the heavens will vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment
and its inhabitants die like flies.
But my salvation will last forever,
my righteousness will never fail.”
This heaven and earth will not continue forever. They in the course of time will come to an end. “The heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment.” (6) The people that live there will “die like flies.” (6) If you give our whole life to such things, there is nothing more futile. That is because there is no comfort. However if we listen to God’s “salvation” and God’s “righteousness”, then we will receive comfort. That is because God’s “salvation will last forever.” (6) God’s “righteousness will never fail.” (6) God will never change, and his “years will never end.” (Psalm 102:27)
What do you listen to? What do you hear? What we need to listen to is the words of God’s salvation. That is because it “will last forever…through all generations.” (8)
Please open you Bibles to Isaiah 40:6-8. It says,”All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them, Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”
This is the message of the prophet. The prophet cried out,”All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field… The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” This is hope.
In I Thess. 4:18 Paul advises, “encourage each other with these words.” “These words” (I Thess. 4:18) is the message that the Lord is coming again. At that time “the dead in Christ will rise first. After that we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.” (I Thess. 4: 16, 17) The message that we must listen to and hear is truly that the Lord is coming. If we listen and hear this message, we can be comforted.
Jesus said, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matt. 28:20) Jesus will always be with us “to the very end of the age.” (Matt. 28:20)No matter what, he will always be with us. No matter how large an earthquake comes, no matter

if you lose everything in a tidal wave, even if you are told that you are sick and only have a short time to live, God is always with us. There is no greater comfort than this: God is always with us “to the very end of the age.” (Matt. 28:20)

III. God has his timing (Vs. 9-11)
One thing that is necessary to receive God’s comfort is to know that God has his timing. Please look at verses 9 to 11. Verse 9 says, “Awake, awake! Clothe yourself with
strength,
O arm of the LORD;
awake, as in the days gone by,
as in generations of old.
Was it not you who cut Rahab to pieces,
who pierced that monster through?”
“Awake, awake!” (9) is a prayer to the Lord. It is calling out to God. He is calling out, “Awake, awake! Clothe yourself with strength,” (9) and without regret demonstrate the powerful “arm of the LORD.” (9) Their prayer is like “In the past I know the wonderful acts you performed to Abraham and Sarah. Also in the future I know you will perform the acts of salvation. However, look at the present. We are in a terrible situation. We were captured by Babylon and we are struggling being used as slaves. Therefore, save us from this situation.” For them it seemed just like God was sleeping. They felt like God didn’t do anything for them. Therefore, they are calling out to God saying, “Awake, awake!” (9)
“Generations of old” means “long ago”. Rahab is a symbolic expression for Egypt. Also “that monster” (9) is the devil, Satan who is behind Egypt. If you look at verse 10, this is the event of the Exodus so it is clear that Rahab refers to Egypt. They are saying, “in the generations of old” (9)God destroyed Egypt, which was thought to be the great world power, performed miracles, divided the Red Sea, and “made a road in the depths of the sea so that” (10) Israel “might cross over.” (10) God showed wonderful miracles to their ancestors. Please show the same miracles to us now.
If God in the past performed such great acts, the same God is now living and so God can do the same things or even greater things now so asking for that is natural. However, what they have to remember is that God has his timing. God had the power to save them. However, God’s timing to work is different from our timing. We want solutions as soon as possible, as soon as possible we want to prepare what is needed, and as soon as possible we want to be relieved. God’s timing is different. God really works at the latest possible time. One reason is so that we don’t fall into unbelief. If he

answers too fast, we are really stupid and forget that God did it and are prideful like we did it ourselves. We assume that we did it by our own merit, by our own faith, and by our own power. .
Therefore, God ventures to make us powerless, and works when we are unable to do anything. By doing that it becomes clear in everyone’s eyes that only God can do it. And then all glory is given to God.
We have to remember this. When our prayers aren’t answered, we soon become irritated and demand. We call out, “Awake, awake! Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the LORD.” (9) However, not like this, but we must put the whole breadth of our faith on the “arm of the LORD.” (9)
When I was in Fukushima the church tackled the construction of a church. There was a piece of land in a good place that was 600 tsubo (坪). (1 tsubo is equal to 2 tatami mats so 600 tsubo is a piece of land the size of 1,200 tatami mats, a very large piece of land!) However, the land was in an area zoned for farming only so it could not be built on, but there is a clause that says that religious groups can build on farming land. To build on it you need permission from the prefecture. In Fukushima prefecture there had never been a religious group that had received such permission so it was thought to be a very difficult thing to do. However, I believed that “with God nothing is impossible”. (Luke 1:37) and that if it was the Lord’s will that it would be given so I went to the person in charge of it at the Prefectural office many, many times. Sometimes I went with a cake that my wife had made, but there was no progress at all. I gave up a couple times, but each time the Lord encouraged me with His Word.
One such time I talked to a person that was studying in an English class at the church. He said that it would be good to talk to a member of the prefectural council who was a qualified real estate dealer. That councilman lived near us and he had come to our house many times to greet us so I knew him very well. Immediately I went and talked to him about the situation. He said that he would talk to the appropriate person and he did. Then amazingly it progressed and in November 1997 the permission to build was granted. In Fukushima Prefecture that was the first time it had ever been granted. That was 4 and a half years after I first went to visit the man in charge at the Prefectural office, but in reality it was at the best timing. We had a plan for everyone to give and to pay for the land in cash and then borrow the money from the bank for the building. However, we still didn’t have all the money for the land. The final amount of the money needed for the land was given in the same month that the permission was given to build. Therefore, when we got the permission we were able to pay and buy the land. It was the best time to have received the permission. Until then I had prayed wondering why the Lord wasn’t answering, but in reality that was the best timing.

God “has made everything beautiful in its time.” (Eccl. 3:11) God leads us at the best time, in the best way. Therefore, we must pray depending on the “arm of the LORD” (9) that leads us the best way.
If we look at the Gospel of Mark, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” (Mark 4:35) The disciples jumped into the boat and started out. However suddenly “a furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat so that it was nearly swamped.” (Mark 4:37) However, Jesus was sleeping in the stern. This upset the disciples and they woke him up saying, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drowned?” (Mark 4:38) In the words of Isaiah it would be, “Awake, awake! Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the LORD.” (9) They are asking Jesus to do something. Then Jesus got up and rebuked the wind saying, “Quiet! Be still!” (Mark 4:39) Then the wind stopped and it became completely calm.
Jesus can rebuke the wind, and even the lake obeys him. Jesus is that powerful. However, God works at the latest possible time. He is “in the stern, sleeping on a cushion.” (Mark 4:38) However, the Lord does not slumber, or sleep. There isn’t a time when he doesn’t know our prayers. At the necessary time God will work immediately. God really works at the latest possible time not to give us a bad time, but so that we will put the whole breadth of our faith on the “arm of the LORD.” (9) That is so we won’t depend upon our own strength, but depend on the “arm of the LORD.” (9) He does this so we will see what God is like.
We tend to cry out, “Awake, awake! Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the LORD.” (9) However, more importantly is to believe that God can do anything and then to leave everything to the “arm of the LORD.” (9) Then we will see God’s great works and be comforted, and praise the Lord. Such a person will have an experience like verse 11. “The ransomed of the LORD will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
Let’s put all in the hands of the Lord who controls all things. Let’s wait upon the Lord. Let’s listen to the Lord. May we receive real encouragement from the Lord. May we “enter Zion with singing.” (11) May everlasting joy crown our heads. This will be brought about by depending upon the “arm of the LORD” (9) at all times.