Bailey Methodist Church
Isaiah 40:1-31

  • I. Introduction

    II. Key Themes and Structure

    Comfort and Forgiveness (vs. 1-2)
    God’s word opens with tenderness - “Comfort, comfort my people”
    The exiles’ punishment is not forever - “her hard service has been completed”
    Application: God disciplines, but His heart is always for restoration, not abandonment
    Isaiah 40:1–2 ESV
    1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
    2. The Way of the Lord (vs. 3-5)
    A voice cries: “Prepare the way for the Lord” in the wilderness
    Fulfilled in John the Baptist’s ministry (Matt. 3:3; Mark 1:3; John 1:23)
    The message: God Himself will come to rescue His people; His glory will be revealed.
    Application: Believers are called to prepare their hearts and communities for the Lord’s work.
    Isaiah 40:3–4 ESV
    3 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.
    Matthew 3:1–3 ESV
    1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’ ”
    Mark 1:3–4 ESV
    3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’ ” 4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
    John 1:23 ESV
    23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
    Isaiah 40:5 ESV
    5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
    3. The Word of God Endures (vv. 6–8)
    Human life is fragile like grass, but “the word of our God endures forever.”
    Contrast between human frailty and divine permanence.
    Cross-reference: 1 Peter 1:24–25 quotes this passage to affirm the reliability of the gospel.
    Application: In uncertain times, God’s word is the only lasting foundation.
    Isaiah 40:6–8 ESV
    6 A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. 7 The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
    1 Peter 1:24–25 ESV
    24 for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
    4. The Good News of God’s Reign (vv. 9–11)
    Jerusalem is called to proclaim the “good news” (gospel).
    God comes with power yet also with gentleness, like a shepherd gathering lambs.
    Application: God’s strength and tenderness meet perfectly in Christ.
    Isaiah 40:9–11 ESV
    9 Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” 10 Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. 11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
    5. The Greatness of God (vv. 12–26)
    A series of rhetorical questions magnify God’s wisdom, power, and sovereignty:
    Who measured the waters in His hand?
    Who taught the Lord knowledge?
    Nations are like a drop in the bucket before Him.
    God cannot be compared to idols. He alone sustains creation.
    Application: When overwhelmed, lift your eyes to the God who created and sustains the universe.
    Isaiah 40:12–14 ESV
    12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? 13 Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him his counsel? 14 Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?
    Isaiah 40:15–17 ESV
    15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust. 16 Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering. 17 All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
    Isaiah 40:18–20 ESV
    18 To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him? 19 An idol! A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts for it silver chains. 20 He who is too impoverished for an offering chooses wood that will not rot; he seeks out a skillful craftsman to set up an idol that will not move.
    Isaiah 40:21–24 ESV
    21 Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 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 like a tent to dwell in; 23 who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. 24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows on them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
    Isaiah 40:25–26 ESV
    25 To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might and because he is strong in power, not one is missing.
    6. Strength for the Weary (vv. 27–31)
    Israel complains, “My way is hidden from the Lord.”
    God responds: He never grows tired; His understanding is unsearchable.
    Famous promise: “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength… they will soar on wings like eagles.”
    Application: God supplies strength for endurance, especially in times of discouragement and waiting.
    Isaiah 40:27 ESV
    27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God”?
    Isaiah 40:28 ESV
    28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
    Isaiah 40:29 ESV
    29 He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.
    Isaiah 40:30–31 ESV
    30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 31 but they who wait for 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.

    III. Theological Implications

    IV. Conclusion

      • Isaiah 40:1–2ESV

      • Matthew 3:3ESV

      • Mark 1:3ESV

      • John 1:23ESV

      • Isaiah 40:3–4ESV

      • Matthew 3:1–3ESV

      • Mark 1:3–4ESV

      • John 1:23ESV

      • Isaiah 40:5ESV

      • Isaiah 40:6–8ESV

      • 1 Peter 1:24–25ESV

      • Isaiah 40:9–11ESV

      • Isaiah 40:12–14ESV

      • Isaiah 40:15–17ESV

      • Isaiah 40:18–20ESV

      • Isaiah 40:21–24ESV

      • Isaiah 40:25–26ESV

      • Isaiah 40:27ESV

      • Isaiah 40:28ESV

      • Isaiah 40:29ESV

      • Isaiah 40:30–31ESV

Bailey Methodist Church
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