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The Comforter of My Soul
(Is61:1-3; 2Co1:1-4)

God is the God of all comfort (2Co1:3).
He comforts His people (Is49:13) and
By His word He comforts those in distress (Ps119:52).
 
Faith is being comforted by the fact that God is my Comforter and by His word (Is51:3).
Faith life is a life of encouraging one another with words (1Th4:18).
 
As humans seek comfort, especially in suffering, sadness, poverty, illness etc,
They long to be comforted by the words of the king, of those in power (2Sa14:17).
 
However, since Adam broke the commandment regarding the forbidden fruit
The souls of all men became hell-bound with the devil (Mt25:41),
While the flesh toils all its life, only to return to dust in the end—nothing but futile labor (Ge3:16-19)—
The man now “became like one of us," that is, one of the Trinity, knowing good and evil—
To experience death and life, thus, done according to God’s plan (Ge3:22).
 
While the slavery of Israel was toil without gain, when they cried out,
God remembered His covenant with their ancestors and set them free (Ex2:23-25).
Jehovah is the God of Israel’s comfort.
He commanded them to not make for themselves an image in the form of anything (Ex20:4),
For idolatry is an act of comforting oneself, invoking a blessing on themselves (Dt29:19)—
The act of rejecting God’s comfort.
 
The history of Israel is a history of suffering as the story of Job illustrates:
Even Job—blameless, righteous and distinguished by his fear of God—was tested by God.
He comforted himself amidst his pain and took pride in not having denied God's word (Job6:10).
Although his suffering continued because he deemed himself righteous,
In response to God's word that revealed that he is merely a creature, a handful of dust
He repented and humbled himself—ultimately receiving God’s comfort (Job42:12-13).
 
Israel took pride in being God’s chosen people and their righteousness by the Law.
So God led them to look only to His comfort by
Commanding their neighbors on every side to become their foes (La1:17).
Yet the prophecy was that Jehovah would comfort His people by redeeming Jerusalem (Is52:9) and
That the Messiah on whom the Spirit of the LORD comes,
He who will comfort all those who mourn and grieve, will come to Jerusalem (Is61:1-3).
 
Yeshua said, “Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days,” because
Through the death and the resurrection of the temple of His body, He would reform (He7:12):
Jehovah—the God of Israel’s comfort—the Law—comfort—flesh/ prosperity and growth;
Yeshua—the God of all nations—the truth—comfort—souls/ the Son of Man’s redemption (Mt20:28).
 
The rich man—died—in Hades—in the flame—agony;
Lazarus—died—to Abraham’s bosom—comforted (Lk16:19-25).
Being rich or poor is not, in itself, the criteria for one's fate in the afterlife;
The rich man had already received comfort and did not seek God’s comfort (Lk6:24; 16:24–25),
Whereas those who mourn—contrite over their sins—are blessed
To meet Yeshua, the Comforter (Mt5:4).
 
With no one comforting Him, not even His disciples (Ps77:2; La1:2, 21),
He died but said, “It is finished” (Jn19:30), declaring that He:
1)    Died according to the Father’s command and received the Father’s comfort (Jn10:18);
2)    Condemned the devil who attempted to comfort himself (Is14:12-15); and
3)    Death—redeemed all mankind—comforted Adam’s descendants used for God’s plan (Is63:16)
      Blood—for souls—eternal comfort—the forgiveness of sin and God’s children (Jn1:12; Eph1:7).
 
He resurrected and ascended to heaven.
He is the Lamb on the throne who is eternally comforted for His suffering and work.
The Holy Spirit is the Comforter (paraklatos) who came
To comfort the Church and the saints (Jn14:16), and speaks the words of encouragement (Ac20:2).
The letters of the apostles greatly comforted the saints (Ac15:30-32; Rm15:4-5; 2Co7:4-10),
While the pastor encourages, comforts and urges the saints (1Th2:11-12).
 
The Christian knows that Yeshua alone is the Comforter of his soul:
He is the broken-hearted and contrite who confesses and mourns (Ps51:17; Mt5:4; 1Jn1:8-9);
He gave up the dreams, pleasures and hopes in the world because of Yeshua (Mk10:29-30); and
Comforts those in trouble with the words of encouragement (2Co1:3-4; 1Th4:18).
 
O Lord,
Since I have been comforted by Yeshua Christ, the King of kings,
Enable me to comfort those in distress and speak words of encouragement. Amen.