Look!

“Look, Lord! I’m a hundred years old! I’m barren,” cries Sarah.

“I know,” Yahweh says.

“Look, Lord! I’m thrown in a pit, I’m sold as slave, I’m in prison!” despairs Jospeh.

“I know.”

“Look, Lord! We’re wandering shepherds, and Jericho is big!”groans Joshua.

“I know.”

“Look, Lord! Saul is trying to kill me!”stammers David.

“I know.”

“Look, Lord! We’re in exile! Jerusalem is in ruins!” bemoan the Jews.

“I know.  

In a time of favor I have answered you;

    in a day of salvation I have helped you…. (8)

And I will make all my mountains a road,

    and my highways shall be raised up. (11)

For the Lord has comforted his people

    and will have compassion on his afflicted. (13b)

Your builders make haste;

    your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you. (17)

As I live, declares the Lord,

    you shall put them all on as an ornament;

    you shall bind them on as a bride does. (18)

Surely your waste and your desolate places

    and your devastated land—

surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants (19)

Then you will say in your heart:

    ‘Who has borne me these?

I was bereaved and barren,

    exiled and put away,

    but who has brought up these?

Behold, I was left alone;

    from where have these come?’” (21)

(Isaiah 49).

“Look!”

“I know. I, your Savior, know. Even in this situation, I say, wait on me and renew your strength. Even in this situation, I say, don’t be afraid.”

But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me;

    my Lord has forgotten me.” (14)

“Look! We’re alone among enemies, living in Babylon! The time has come and passed for salvation! Years stretch on! All promises seem dim. It seems like you've more than delayed but forgotten! And now, to make our anguish worse, there is a new threat on the horizon--a new bird of prey is rising up and threatening to sweep us away, the Persians. You won’t look. We’re forsaken and forgotten.”

“In a time of favor, I have answered, I have helped”—so certain is my help, it is a perfect tense. It has not happened yet, but I declare it and it will happen. Wait. I look. I do not delay. I have not forgotten or forsaken you.

“I will make all my mountains a road,” what you see as those big obstacles—the barren years, the pits and prisons, the enemies, the exile, the bankruptcy, the exile, the divorce, the nagging boss—I am so eager to come to your salvation that I will remove all obstacles. Nothing will hinder my coming to you.Look for me, wait for me. I am looking after you. I come!

“Your builders make haste... As I live, declares the LORD, you shall put them on as an ornament; you shall bind them on as a bride does…Surely now you will be too narrow...” Haste, haste! I am eager to build you up again. Do you see them coming? No, not yet, but they come in haste, in my time. Do not fear! I am as eager for your salvation as you are! And not only for salvation, but for your restoration! To rebuild, to decorate and adorn you with joy!These light and momentary years of anguish and travail, those gray hairs of worry, those countless meetings with the lawyer, the hours spent in the doctor's office, these light and momentary troubles are building blocks for restored walls, for a great joy!

“Then you will say in your heart: ‘Who has borne me these? I was bereaved and barren, exiled and put away,” you will say ‘I was sick and ailing, I was abused, I was in financial straits, I was divorced, I was unemployed, I was manic-depressive.’ You will say this, ‘Behold, I was left alone; where have these [children and blessings] come from?’ My people, my children, it is I, I who have done this. You need only to wait, and I will do this. I am eager to do so.

“But, look! Look, the time is pressing! The situation dire!”

I know, I know. I care. I have comforted my people, I will have compassion on my afflicted (v. 13). It is so certain, you can speak of it as already having happened, I have comforted you. But yet, it is to come, I will have compassion. I know your situation, and I still say do not be afraid; I still say wait. 

Look, my beloved, I have a Servant, I have made his mouth like a sharpened sword, equipping him for this task, I have made him a polished arrow, effective for his task, I have called him from his mother’s womb and formed him specifically for your salvation (2, 5). You have seen this. Do not be afraid; wait. I know, I know. I go before you. Wait, I know. See my love in my Servant, see my salvation in my Servant, do not fear that the rest will be taken care of. I know, I love.