Christ’s Word of Comfort

God’s Word here reveals Christ as the great Preacher of comfort, but consideration must also be given as to whom these words of comfort are proclaimed. Comfort is a very blessed experience, whether by common grace or by saving grace. In our deep fall in Adam we have sinned away all true comfort. However, even after the fall the Lord has preserved some comfort for man in the way of common grace.

What a blessed experience it is, even outwardly, when a person may experience a little comfort in this life, a life which is filled with misery on account of sin. But the outward comfort is a comfort which will not remain. In considering the comfort spoken of in our text, it far exceeds all natural comforts. It is not a comfort outwardly, but is a comfort inwardly, having an eternal value. It is a comfort which can only be received in the heart through the work of the triune God. Oh, may the Lord give those true comforts to young and old, comforts which are founded upon the eternal good pleasure of the Lord.

That comfort consists in the salvation of the soul, and of it Mary testified in Luke 1:46, 47, “My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.”

The text speaks about the rich proclamation of the great Preacher of righteousness. “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek.” In Matthew 3:16 we read how the dove, a type of the Holy Spirit, rested upon Christ. He was anointed by the Holy Spirit without measure. The anointing work of the Holy Spirit is so important, also for all God’s servants, and especially in our days. For Christ, who took upon Him the human nature, it was His human nature which was anointed by the Holy Spirit since this was not possible for His divine nature. What a clear light the prophet Isaiah had of the Lord Jesus Christ as the anointed preacher of good tidings! He could speak of Him as the One called and sent by His Father to proclaim the blessed gospel in a dark world to a people who have sinned everything away.

But notice to whom He would preach the words of comfort. The text in the first place speaks of “the meek.” We would be inclined to say that this is a great mystery because the text is not speaking of preaching repentance, but of applying the balm of Gilead. In short, we hear that Christ was sent as the Preacher of deliverance. However, room must first be made for this preaching because by nature we are not meek and we are not brokenhearted. Here we see described a people who are regenerated by the grace of God and are convinced of sin, righteousness, and judgment. It is a people who have experienced that which we read in Isaiah 1:18, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” They have also experienced the need of the psalmist, as we sing in Psalter 142, “God be merciful to me, on Thy grace I rest my plea; plenteous in compassion Thou, blot out my transgressions now; wash me, make me pure within, cleanse, O cleanse me from my sin.”

The text speaks especially about the offices of the Lord Jesus Christ unto which He was anointed, namely, prophet, priest, and king. In His prophetical office He came to preach good tidings to the meek. Matthew 5 tells us very clearly who the meek are. The Lord Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” It means that they shall receive all things from the Lord. The meek are a people who are humbled by the Lord. They experience that because of sin they are not worthy of the least blessings and can never earn salvation by their works. It is a people who become silent in love through the true regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.

The brothers of Joseph received their money back in their sacks. Did you ever receive your purchase money back, so that you have to confess, “Humbled low I make confession; for my folly now I mourn”? It is that people to whom Christ came to preach good tidings. The tidings are a way of deliverance outside of themselves, as we find declared in Matthew 11:28–30, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”

There then follows, “to bind up the broken-hearted,” which points to the priestly office of Christ. He came to bind up the broken-hearted ones; He is able to save to the uttermost, having paid the full price for sin. He was broken under the holy justice of God and therein He became the surety for His people. Through Christ the brokenhearted may be bound up by the high-priestly robe of Christ’s righteousness, wherein the soul may experience the true justification in the court of conscience. My readers, what an eternal wonder it is when the broken-hearted may experience peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ! Words fail us to explain that eternal wonder.

Next, He came “to proclaim liberty to the captives.” There is a people who learn by grace their inability, and they become dependent people. Many times they must experience their old corrupt nature. How many times they are taken captive by unbelief, by the onslaughts of the prince of darkness, and by the temptations of the world. The captivity of that true people is experienced with bitter grief in their souls. David said, “My soul cleaveth to the dust,” and we have to experience that we are of the earth earthy. Paul said that the desire was with him to do good, but how to perform it he could not find.

Wherein then lies the liberty of the captives? In themselves? No, never and never. It lies in the kingship of that blessed Mediator who is the great Captain of His people. He subdues the power of sin and unbelief, gives that people liberty to His eternal victory, and gives the opening of the prison to the prisoners that are bound. He never will forsake the work of His hands, no matter how dark and trying their ways may be, no matter how long that they lie bound in prison. There shall come a deliverance for the people of God.

In the second verse of Isaiah 61 we read, “To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn,” and in the third verse, “To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.” Blessed is the people whose God is the Lord.

Young and old, may we examine our hearts. For what are we truly seeking? The Bible says that where our treasure is, there will our heart be also. May the Lord pour out His Holy Spirit to convince of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, applying these great blessings to the comfort of His people, and then shall all redound to the honor and glory of a triune God.

Rev. J. Spaans is pastor of the Netherlands Reformed Congregation of Norwich, Ontario.

Memorials

“Thou tellest my wanderings: put Thou my tears into Thy bottle: are they not in Thy book?” (Psalm 56:8)

David named this Psalm “a precious jewel.” He valued it so highly that he called it a gem. Thus this poem was composed by God’s servant as a memorial or monument. It reminded him of the support he had experienced, of his safekeeping and deliverance, and also of the inner strength of faith which, by grace, had enabled him to be strong in his God.

It is noteworthy that those Psalms of David which were written while in his deepest afflictions are called, “precious jewels of David.” These Psalms are as the Mizpah-stones and Ebenezers which the fathers of faith erected to remember and honor their God, and as the altars which Abraham built to praise and honor his covenant God. When father Abraham traveled farther, these altars remained behind as monuments in remembrance of the acts of faith between the Lord and himself. Well then, these Psalms of David are called “precious jewels” for the same reason. God-fearing people, let me ask you now, “Where are your Psalms, your precious jewels and altars? Did you ever erect an altar for the Lord? What and where are your memorials honoring God’s faithfulness towards you?

Rev. Hendrik van Lis

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