Comfort
You hear a lot this time of year about “comfort and joy,” but the emphasis is very much on the “joy” part. This may be the year to be most grateful for the comfort our Savior brought when He came down from Heaven and gave us a pathway out of sin and misery.
The first thing to sit and really think about today is the name He allowed Himself to be called. Here is what He told Paul to share with you in 2 Corinthians 1:3:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,”
I can barely grasp that He wants us to know Him as “the God of all comfort.” That is the reputation and identity He desired and intentionally passed down through the generations to you, so you would know how encompassing His comfort can be.
This is the time of year when people are often beset with regrets of things not accomplished or of mistakes of the past. Our enemy, The Accuser, would love to distract our worshipful thoughts about the coming of Jesus Christ into this world. He wants us to dwell on our adversity instead of Advent. He would rather we become more introspective instead of focusing our minds and hearts outward and upward toward our Heavenly Father and the gift of His Son, Immanuel. And He wants us to shy away from the greatest gift of comfort on this earth, the Holy Spirit.
“Look inward,” our enemy says. “Look at me,” says Jesus. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
Part of the reason the 23rd Psalm is so dear to the hearts of many is the claim it makes on God’s comfort for us all:
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
His rod, His staff, and all of His power and sovereignty are there for us and will bring us comfort if we turn our eyes from our circumstances and self-absorbed thoughts and look to Him with intentional trust.
Psalm 94:19 KJV says, “In the multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my soul.”
Some versions call these swirling, multiplying thoughts anxieties or cares. We have all been there. Sometimes it is late at night when we can’t stop thinking of what might happen in our future or we rehearse futilely the hurts of the past, planted in our minds by our enemy.
I am going to leave you with a remedy. First, invite the Holy Spirit to overtake your heart. I acknowledge Him every morning in my prayer time. I pause and thank Him every day for being willing to walk through my day with me, so closely aligned with my heart that we are shoulder to shoulder walking out of my bedroom door together to face whatever that day is about to bring. He goes before me to lead, guide, and comfort me, come what may.
And the second remedy is a Psalm to pray to the God of All Comfort this week. Before I give you the prayer, I am going to give you His answer to that prayer. It is in Isaiah 40: 1:
“ ‘Comfort, comfort my people,’ says your God.” Can’t you just hear God broadcasting His comfort in streams of Glory from Him to you?
I also highly recommend singing “Joy to the World,” “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” or some other song that acknowledges with gratitude the great gift of comfort and joy our Savior was and is to each of us. Rejoice because when you pray for His comfort, it is a done deal. Our changeless God said this in Isaiah 49:13:
13 Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.
As you pray Psalm 86:16-17 below to the God of All Comfort, rejoice that you already know the answer.
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me;
give your strength to your servant,
and save the son of your maidservant.
17 Show me a sign of your favor,
that those who hate me may see and be put to shame
because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
Note for another day: Another wonderful Psalm to pray is 119, particularly verse 41-47.
Psalm 119
Let your steadfast love come to me, O Lord,
your salvation according to your promise;
42 then shall I have an answer for him who taunts me,
for I trust in your word.
43 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth,
for my hope is in your rules.
44 I will keep your law continually,
forever and ever,
45 and I shall walk in a wide place,
for I have sought your precepts.
46 I will also speak of your testimonies before kings.
and shall not be put to shame,
47 for I find my delight in your commandments,
which I love.
48 I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love,
and I will meditate on your statutes.