The King's Highway

Isaiah 40:1-5 (KJV)
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. [2] Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. [3] The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. [4] Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: [5] And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

(Read alongside Psalm 137, and Luke 3: 2-6)

Isaiah wrote his comfort oracles to the Jews living in exile in Babylon. Their holy city (Jerusalem) had been burned to the ground, their nation was destroyed, and so were their hopes for the future. As far as they knew, their God had left them. As I read Psalm 137, I feel their agony as their captors taunted them to sing joyous songs of Zion. There is no more Zion. There is no more joy. All is lost.

When I glance back over my shoulder into what was my "Babylon" experience, I still see the embers of a burning rage once hot with a hatred so intense I could barely function. Don't make me sing songs of joy for the good times leading up to that. Don’t make me look back there.

The term used by Isaiah for comfort means both to "repent" and to "console". As we approach Holy Week, I hear this passage as it is woven in with the images and music of Easter. Handel's librettist chose this passage for the opening chorus of The Messiah. And, of course, we hear the words of John the Baptist announcing the arrival of our King in all four Gospels.

The path from my Babylon to where I am now is like the King's Highway. When a King was being carried from place to place on the shoulders of his bearers, they traveled along the King's Highway (see Numbers 20:17) — a road straight, flat and smooth from Egypt through the wilderness all the way to Damascus. I can hear the heralds out in front announcing, "Make way for the King! Make way for the King!" The people step aside and bow in reverence. The goats scatter.

So when we turn from our Babylon's, the comfort of the Lord is there. The valleys are filled, the mountains brought low, the crooked paths straightened, and the rough places made smooth. The King's Highway leads from our Babylon straight into our hearts. And there, our Lord shall reign for ever and ever. Sing Hallelujah! Amen!