Behold Your God (audio only)

Well, we want to say good morning this morning. I've already been very encouraged and blessed by our service so far this morning.

You can turn to Isaiah chapter 40.

The one thing that seems to be somewhat popular today is sort of playing a what-if game. So there's books written, and you sit back and you think, "Well, what would it be like? What if?" And then you fill in the blank. So look back on events in history. What if the United States was still under British rule? What would our lives be like?

What if Germany had won World War II? What would life be like? What if Hitler would have prevailed? And so people sometimes, they'll do that. They'll write a book imagining or account imagining how that would be. I'd like to do that just a little bit this morning. And the reason I'd like to do that is so that we can possibly identify with what we're going to talk about here this morning.

Many of us remember what if many of us remember September 11th, 2001. It's a beautiful, clear, bright blue, sunny day. And most of us remember hearing about a lot of us do. If you're under 20, it's hard to believe it's been that long. But hearing word that there's a plane crashed into one of the twin towers. And then we heard that there's a plane crashed into one of the other towers. And then we heard that there's a plane crashed into the Pentagon.

And then a plane in Pennsylvania there at Somerset that went down. And I think most of us remember kind of the fear, a little bit of fear, like, "What is going on? What's this all mean?" But what if there would have been a September 12th, and there would have been attacks in Philadelphia and Charlotte and Atlanta? What if there would have been a September 13th, and there was more attacks in Los Angeles and Seattle and Portland? What if our law enforcement would have lost control? What if all of a sudden, in place of what we consider normal, secure military, police, we would see people toting machine guns from a foreign country and sort of taking over, taking over our cities, taking over everything?

What if they started loading people by the thousands onto boats and planes and unloaded you in some desert area of the Middle East? And worse than all that, what if you knew that deep down in, the reason for all this you'd been warned about, you've been warned time and time again that because of abortion and injustice and greed and lust and crass materialism, that there was a people have been saying, "This is going to happen. This is going to happen."

The what if in our story today happened, and it could still happen, that scenario could well have been true. And so I just want us to think about that, maybe to capture just a little bit of the emotion of the good news of our story today.

I'm just going to give a real brief review. Isaiah, at this point, takes a there's a sharp distinction. Up until this point, we have Assyria was the enemy. And so just a rough these are some rough dates if you want to just keep Old Testament history in mind. Roughly, 2000 BC was Abraham.

And then around 1500 BC, we had Moses and the Exodus. And then around 1000 BTU BTU, 1000 BC I'm too much work I used to work on appliances. Around 1000 BC, we have David. And it was around 930 BC, just after that, that we have the divided kingdom. So at that point, we have after Solomon, the kingdom's divided. And from about 810 to 750 BC, there was a couple generations there where there was relative peace, prosperity. At the same time, we had Hosea and Amos, the prophets, were warning. Remember Hosea and the story of Gomer and the unfaithfulness and whatever? They were being warned that things are not in a good way.

And so around 720, shortly after Isaiah begins his prophecies, the 10 northern tribes of Israel were conquered by Assyria, and they were taken captive. And basically, they disappeared. They were assimilated into the other cultures. And you hear people talking about the 10 lost tribes of Israel. That's where they get this, this whole thing about these 10 tribes basically disappeared. And so we had Judah that was left. And of course, at the end of our last study, Judah was under threat. Jerusalem was the last holdout, the one city that had not come under the Assyrian. And we had that wonderful story under Hezekiah, where Hezekiah prays to God, asks for help, and God comes in and smites the Assyrian army in a wonderful deliverance.

But remember, at the end of last time, at the end of the last message, Hezekiah, in sort of a moment of maybe pride or whatever, he shows off his treasures, everything that he has, to these people called the Babylonians.

And Isaiah comes to him and said, "What were you doing? Basically, what were you thinking?" And he said, "Well, they came, and I showed them." And then Isaiah gives a prophecy and said, "You're going to come under the rule of the Babylonians. You're going to be taken captive by that." And so there were three different waves where people were held off to Babylon. And it was in 605 and in 597. And finally, 586 BC, Jerusalem fell, and Judah was carried in captivity to Babylon. And of course, it's at that point where we have the stories of Daniel and the three Hebrew children and all. That was during that period of captivity. So up until Isaiah chapter 40, it was the Assyrians.

Now it switches ahead, basically 100 years. And so it's such a drastic contrast. It's been called the first 40 chapters have been called the Old Testament because it was a lot of warning, a lot of doom and gloom in a lot of ways. There's definitely a switch. And chapter 40, we start seeing hope. And some people have compared that to the New Testament or the New Covenant.

So there's Isaiah, at this point in fact, it's such a stark difference that there's questions about, "Did Isaiah actually write this?" I believe he did. But he's prophesying about something that was 100 years in the future.

And so Jeremiah had prophesied that the children of Judah was going to be in captivity for about 70 years. Why all this history? I just want us to understand, when we read this, how these people must have felt or how you would have felt if you had just been in captivity for 70 years.

How would you feel if that was the case where September 11th turned into September 13th and 14th, and somehow we all ended up for a whole generation or maybe two generations somewhere else? And now we have this message that comes, a message of hope. The theology of this passage, we could sum up in the children's song, the most popular children's song, "Little ones, to him belong. They are weak, but he is strong."

This prophecy was for them. And it prophesied about the coming of Jesus. It prophesied about their immediate situation. And again, that's often the case with a lot of these prophecies. There's sort of an immediate context, what it means right now. Then many times, in that context, there's this larger picture. And I think even today, there's a message here for us.

So I'm going to have three points today. And this is an outline that I borrowed from someone else. But the first point is God is aware. Then God is able. And then God is available. So I would like to read the first 11 verses.

"Comfort ye, comfort my people," says your God. "Speak comfort to Jerusalem and cry out to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.' Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill brought low. The crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough places smooth. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken." The voice said, "Cry out." And he said, "What shall I cry?

All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades because the breath of the Lord blows upon it. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, and the flower fades. But the word of our God stands forever. O Zion, you who bring good tidings, get up into the high mountain. O Jerusalem, you who bring good tidings, lift up your voice with strength. Lift it up. Be not afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, 'Behold your God. Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand, and his arms shall rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his works before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd.

He will gather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom and gently lead those who are with young.'" He starts out here, and he says, "Comfort ye, comfort ye." And remember, I mentioned before that anytime anything is repeated, it's to give it emphasis.

They didn't have bold face or italics or whatever. So when you repeated it, especially when you repeated it twice, it was to give it added emphasis. And only once do we have it where it's repeated three times. And that's also in Isaiah where he says, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord."

And so he's saying, "Comfort my people." And there's emphasis there.

Verse 2, he says, "Your warfare has ended." And that basically means the ordeal is over.

Imagine how you would have felt in the end of World War II if you were in a concentration camp, and you would have seen the liberators come up over and throw those doors open and say, "Your ordeal is over.

Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people. Your ordeal is over. Your iniquity is pardoned. You've had more than enough now. You've had more than enough." And it's a picture of tenderness. And I thought about this. It's sort of like and we can probably remember this as a child or maybe relate to it as a parent. But we have a child that does something wrong. He misbehaves. And we punish him. And maybe he's sobbing, and he goes off to his bedroom. And he goes to the bedroom. And I remember sort of this happening. And you sort of fall asleep. And then someone comes and shakes you on the shoulder and says, "Wake up. It's done. It's over.

Your iniquity is pardoned. You're free.

You've paid your dues. And now" and the freedom and the wonderful blessing that just washes over you. And that's what he's saying here to the people of Judah. And he's prophesying this in the future. And he said, "You're in captivity for 70 years. And now God is coming and saying, 'Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people. Your iniquity is pardoned. Your sins are forgiven. The ordeal is over.'" And basically, the immediate context here was, "I'm going to make a way for you to return to Zion.

I'm going to make a way for you to return to Zion." But immediately, I think in their minds, the people who were hearing this, there were some questions were raised up. And one of them is, "How do I get from where I'm at back to Zion? There's a desert. There's a wilderness in between that it's hopeless. It's insurmountable. How do I make it there?"

And that's what he says. Then he says, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Make a road.'" And you lift up the valleys, and you level off the hills, and you fill it in, and you make a highway.

Of course, we know that in the New Testament, this is a prophecy about John, John the Baptist. And I'd like to just turn to Luke 3. I think it's worth reading Luke chapter 3.

Now, in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius, Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Tyria and the region of Draconitus, and Lysanius tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Cephas were high priests, the word of the Lord, of God, came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet saying, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill brought low.

The crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough ways smooth. And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'" Then he said to the multitude that came out to be baptized by him, "Brew to vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now, the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?"

He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none. And he who has food, let him do likewise." Then tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Collect no more than is what is appointed for you." Likewise, the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?" So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages."

Now, as the people were in expectation, all reasoned in their heart about John, whether he was the Christ or not. John answered, saying to all, "I indeed baptize you with water, but one mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to lose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor and gather the wheat into his barns. But the chaff, he will burn with unquenchable fire."

So how do we prepare that way? How is the way, that gulf that's between where we need to be and where we're at now? How is that? And John said the way is prepared by repentance. It's a repentance of our sins. He who has two tunics, give one of them away. I mean, very practical.

And so I think the way back to God, the back to where we want to be, begins with repentance, that gulf, that wilderness of sin that's in between us. Repentance is the first step there. Another obstacle that I think immediately came up into their mind is their own weakness.

The voice said, "Cry out." And he said, "What shall I cry?" And he said, "All flesh is grass and all its loveliness like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades because the breath of the Lord blows upon it. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, and the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever."

So we're weak. How are we ever going to get back when we're weak? We're like grass. And we had a good illustration of that this past week. Some areas got rain, and the grass is still nice and green. But boy, it doesn't take long. Just a week without and back towards Newville, some places where they didn't, and the grass is brown. It's withered.

And that's just the way we are. We are very weak.

But the point I want to make here is that God is aware. God knows all this about us. I'd like to read Psalm 103. It's a parallel passage in a lot of ways to Isaiah here.

Psalm 103. God is aware. God knows our situation. He knows our hearts. He knows that we're weak. And so just listen to the words of this psalm.

Psalm of David. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Who forgives all your iniquities" that's the good news that we just heard. Your iniquities are forgiven. "Who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. The Lord executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the children of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in mercy.

He will not always strive with us, nor will he keep his anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear him. For he knows our frame, and he remembers that we're dust." God's aware of our predicament.

"As for man, his days are like grass. As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it, and it is gone. And in its place, remembers it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him. And his righteousness to children's children, to such as keep his covenant, and to those who remember his commandments to do them. The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. Bless the Lord, you his angels who excel in strength, who do his word, heeding the voice of his word. Bless the Lord, all you his host, you ministers of his who do his pleasure.

Bless the Lord, all his works in the place of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul." I'm just really, really encouraged by that. God knows our frame. He knows that we're dust. He knows that we're like the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is not.

He knows our frame. And so what does he tell us to do?

He says, "O Zion, you who bring good tidings," in verse 9, "get up into a high mountain, O Jerusalem." And we talked this morning a little bit about perspective. And I think that's what he's saying. When we're down in the valley, and all we can see is the things above us, it's very sometimes disheartening. It's kind of dark there. "Get up into the mountain and behold your God." And our perspective changes.

It's amazing. You just get up just a little bit, and how your perspective changes. I was reading about a fellow who lived in Wales. And he said there's a particular mountain there. And when you climb up on that mountain, all of a sudden, you can see almost the whole of England. I mean, it's such a dramatic difference. And that's what he said.

We're weak. But he knows we're weak. And so what are we to do? Get up into the high mountain and change our perspective. And let's see things the way God wants us to see them.

And what really stands out to me here is the tenderness of God in all this. I mean, he could I mean, we're weak. He's strong. He could treat us that way. He could treat us like an authoritarian sort of some figure who and that would even be good. But what does he say here?

He says, "Lift up your voice with strength. Lift it up. Don't be afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, 'Behold your God.' Look at your God. Look at who he is. He comes with a strong hand, and his arms shall rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his works before him." But listen to this.

He's a good shepherd. "He will feed his flock like a shepherd.

He will gather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom and gently lead those who are with Yahweh." And again, I just want you to think about put yourself in the position that these people would have found themselves.

After knowing that they were experiencing what they were experiencing for the wrong that they did, after suffering all the inequities and whatever that being in captivity brings, and now he says, "God knows who we are," get a picture of God. He's like a shepherd. He's like a good shepherd who is just so tender. And he wants to lead us. And the ones that are vulnerable, the people that are vulnerable, the lambs, the ewes that are carrying little young ones, he's going to gently lead them along. "Behold your God." And that's the title of the message this morning. "Behold your God."

God is aware. And we can take comfort in that. We can take comfort in the fact that God knows our frame. He knows that we're weak. And he wants to lead us along just like a shepherd wants to lead the weak and vulnerable in his flock.

That's his heart. And he says, "Comfort. Take comfort in that. Comfort ye. Comfort ye, my people." Brings us to the second part. God is able. Let's read verses 12 to 26.

"Behold your God." Okay. So this is the God that we're supposed to get up on the mountain and think about and get this perspective.

"Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, measured heaven with a span and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure, weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord or as his counselor has taught him? With whom did he take counsel, and who instructed him and taught him in the path of justice? Who taught him knowledge and showed him the way of understanding?

Behold, the nations are as a drop in the bucket and are counted as the small dust on the scales. Look, he lifts up the owls as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor is beast sufficient for a burnt offering.

All nations before him are as nothing. And they are counted by him less than nothing and worthless. To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness will you compare to him? The workman molds an image. The goldsmith overspreads it with gold. And the silversmith casts silver chains.

Whoever is too impoverished for such a contribution chooses a tree that will not rot. He seeks for himself a skilled workman to prepare a carved image that will not totter. Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth. And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He brings the princes to nothing. He makes the judges of the earth useless. Scarcely shall they be planted. Scarcely shall they be sown. Scarcely shall their stalk take root in the earth.

When he will also blow on them, and they will wither. And the whirlwind will take them away like stubble. To whom then will you liken me, or to whom shall I be equal," says the Holy One.

"Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these things. Who brings out their host by number? He calls them all by name. By the greatness of his might and the strength of his power, not one is missing."

God is able. So we find ourselves like these people found themselves. There they were in captivity. There's this great golf betwixt, this wilderness that we know is we bridge that through repentance. But we have a shepherd who wants to help us, an aidist, and he is able.

Look at our great God. He's the Lord of all creation in 12 through 14. He said, "Who's measured the water in the hollow of his hands? Take all the oceans." And we could spend all morning here today talking about the marvels of creation, the things that he's created, his power, his might. Calculated the dust of the earth in a measure, weighed the mountains in scales, Mount Everest, and the hills in a balance.

Who directed the Spirit of the Lord, or who taught God? Who was his counselor?

Who instructed him and taught him the path of justice and showed him knowledge and showed him the way of understanding? So God is Lord of creation. He's Lord of the nations, verses 15 through 17. The nations are as a drop in a bucket and are counted as the small dust on the scales, a little speck of dust on a balance scale. You couldn't even measure it. Look, he lifts up the owls as a very little thing. There's the Hawaiian Islands. He picks them up, all the islands that are just a little thing to him.

He said, "You could take all the trees in Lebanon and burn them for a burnt offering. And it wouldn't even come close if you were trying to have a burnt sacrifice to do justice to what God is like." Or all its beast, all the animals. All nations before him are as nothing.

He's Lord of all the nations. And again, we're in kind of a very unsettling time. Sometimes we look around us, and things seem to shake. And then you see these nations, and you see governments.

And remember here once and for all today that he's Lord of all the nations. If he can pick the owls up in his hand, and the nations are counted as small dust on the scales, the comparison is so vast that we can't even comprehend how great God is. And that's the God who knows our frame and who wants to lead us tenderly like a shepherd.

18 to 20, he's beyond all comparing. There's that song that we sing, "Beyond all comparing, my Savior art thou." He says, "To who will you liken God, or what likeness will you compare him to?" People do foolish things. They carve something and make an image. And then they get a goldsmith to pat a little gold on the outside of it or make a few silver chains.

And most people can't afford that, so they go out and find some wood that doesn't rot, maybe get some good solid hardwood there, something that's going to last. And they carve themselves out a little image and make sure that they get the base good and proper so it doesn't totter over. In comparison to a God who's beyond all comparing, the whole universe is at his control.

And because of all that, that means that God is in control. If we can't compare him to anything else, there's nothing that we can compare him to. Then verses 21 through 26 basically encourage us and let us know that he said, "Haven't you" I think it's almost like he's frustrated. "You're making these little statues, and you're putting gold on them. And you're somehow trying to make a comparison to the God of the universe. Have you not known? Have you not heard? Hasn't been told you from the beginning?

Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth that it's he who sits above the circle of the earth? The world's in his hand," the little song we sing. "He got the whole world in his hand. And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He brings princes to nothing, and he makes the judge of the earth useless." Make no mistake about it this morning. God is in control. No matter what we see around us happening today, the leaders, despots, dictators, nations, terrorists, they're just minute.

And they're totally under God's control.

They only can do what he allows them. "Scarcely shall they be planted. Scarcely shall they be sown. Scarcely shall their stalk take root in the earth. When he will also blow on them, and they will wither." The breath of God. The breath of God is powerful. Remember that army of the Assyrians? All it took was the breath of God, and they were all dead.

"And the whirlwind will take them away like stubble. To whom then will you liken me, or to whom shall I be equal," says the Holy One. "Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these things, who brings them out their host by number, who calls them all by name, by the greatness of his might and the strength of his power. Not one is missing."

We are weak, but he is strong.

God is in control. Not only is God aware of our problems, not only does he know that we're dust, not only is he able to do all this, but he's available. He makes himself available to us. Let's read the end of the chapter, verse 27. "Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, 'My way is hidden from the Lord, and my just claim passed over by my God'? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. But listen, he's available. He gives power to the weak. And to those who have no might, he increases strength.

Even the youths shall faint and be weary. And the young men shall utterly fall. But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary.

They shall walk and not faint."

The everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, he never faints. His understanding is unsearchable. And he wants to help us. He makes himself available to give us power and give us strength, give us what we need for those who wait on him.

It says, "Even the strong" I think of a young person in the prime of health, a lot of energy, and they're very strong. It says, "Even the youths shall faint and be weary. And the young men shall utterly fall. But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength, mount up with wings as eagles."

The world over, the eagle is a symbol of power, majesty.

An eagle can soar up to 10,000 feet. And an eagle just holds his wings. They don't do a lot of flapping. Their wings, they hold straight out. And they ride the currents, very, very majestic. Imagine it, 10,000 feet over two miles. And think about, again, from their situation, that was just mind-boggling for something to go that high. I mean, they didn't have airplanes and things like that.

I mean, the eagle, to them, was the height. An eagle can swoop at speeds of over 100 miles an hour after prey.

An eagle has talons that has the ability to grasp prey. And those talons have sort of a ratchet in them where they can lock. So when that eagle swoops down, and he grabs that, and he grabs a hold of that, and it clamps onto it, there's little ratchets in there that just hold that steady. And he doesn't have to think about dropping it because of the way his talons are made.

Wonderful, wonderful creature that God and this imagery of an eagle bringing deliverance, Exodus, God told him that when he brought them out of Egypt on eagle's wings so we have an Exodus from Egypt. Now he's promising an Exodus from Babylon.

And the most amazing part and the part that we can be grateful for today is he's offering an Exodus from the wilderness of sin.

The whole point was Jesus is coming. "Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people." I sometimes still get this picture of Adam and Eve after they sin and that great separation and that picture of them being forced out of the garden and looking back and seeing that angel there with that flaming sword. It's barred.

And for thousands of years, the hope was there was a promise that someday someone's going to come and take that barrier away. God is going to bruise Satan's heel. And finally, the time came. And God said in the fullness of time, "It's enough. The time is now." And he sent Jesus.

And John was preparing the way, leveling out the field, the valleys, and making a highway through repentance. And God is available. And the question, I guess, this morning is, are we thankful for that? Are we availing ourselves of the great gift?

It was a message of hope for those in captivity in Babylon.

And it's a message of hope for us today. Jesus has come. The prophecies have been fulfilled. We're living under the grace of God. God has not changed. And sin still separates us from God. And so it's very important that the way of repentance to come back. Wait on the Lord.

So often we take our own way. We don't wait on the Lord. But he says if we wait on the Lord, he's going to give us exactly what we need for the moment that we're in. There's some times when an eagle is the only thing that I mean, it's so hopeless that the only way we can do it is just fly, soar.

Anyone who's ever read Tolkien, there was a situation where these people were on a quest, and they were in a terrible situation. And the eagles came. And they got on the backs of the eagles, and they were brought to safety. That picture has been around for a long time. And there's some times where if that's what we need, he'll give us the ability and the strength to soar with wings as eagles.

Sometimes we need to run. And he said, "We're going to be able to run and not be weary." And then there's some times where it's just we need to walk. We need to be able to walk and walk and walk and not faint.

It's not always a sprint. It's not always on wings of eagles. Sometimes we need to walk. And I'm just so grateful here that God made himself available for whatever we need.

This is the gospel this morning, the good news. And Jesus is coming again. There was another promise that said, "Jesus is coming again." And I guess I was challenged.

Do the people around us, are they hearing that message, "Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people"? I have made a way for you to escape this terrible situation you're in, captivity, people captive in sin. And there's a way. There's a way that God abundantly provided through Christ. And we bridge that gap through repentance. And then God wants just to pour out all of his resources. And he wants to do it tenderly as a shepherd.

And I'm just overwhelmed this morning. And I just felt like cranking up the handles of Messiah early because a lot of this was these are direct quotes from that beautiful piece of music.

But I just want us to be challenged. Let's not be sidetracked. And it's already been talked about this morning. But we tend to sometimes get fearful. Things around us look big. But let's get up onto the high mountain and behold our God.