OUR COMFORTER

“I am He that comforteth you.” Isaiah 51:12

As day breaks this morning I am thinking of many dear loved ones who are going through trials, facing uncertainties, and are gripped by fear. Their plight is my pain. They long for a ray of hope, a promise of help, some assurance that things will get better. They need comfort! And they are not alone. You too have troubles of your own and are in need of consolation. You need more than a shoulder to cry on, you need a strong arm to hold you up, an encouraging word to keep you going. I find just that in this text and these comments from the able pen of the late James Smith:

“The Lord’s people are often low and desponding; they do not live up to their privileges; the things of time make too deep an impression, because they do not sufficiently realize eternal things. But Jehovah is their COMFORTER; as such He presents Himself unto us this morning. He is the God of all comfort. He comforteth those who are cast down. To Him alone we must look for comfort. Looking to creatures for what God promises, dishonours Him; and at such times the creature may well ask, “AM I IN GOD’S STEAD?” Our God comforts us by His Son, whom He hath given to us; by the Spirit, which He pours out upon us; by His word, in which He speaks to us: by His ordinances, in which He meets with us; and by His providence, when He appears for us. Let us look unto God as the Author and giver of all comfort, let us plead with Him to comfort us according to His word, and let us be suspicious of all comfort which does not come from Him, and lead to Him. He must be the centre to which we always tend, and the circumference within which we move.”

Jesus, all our consolations
Flow from Thee, the sovereign good;
Love, and faith, and hope, and patience,
All are purchased by Thy blood;
Now Thy riches grace impart,
Sanctify and fill my heart.