Comfort Heard in Suffering: The Call of Isaiah 41:10

Stand silent before Me, coastlands,And let nations renew their strength. Let them approach to state their case;Let us come forward together for argument. Who has roused a victor from the East,Summoned him to God’s service?Has delivered up nations to him,And trodden sovereigns down?Has rendered their swords like dust,Their bows like wind-blown straw? He pursues them, he goes on unscathed;No shackle has this meaning in Old Aramaic. is placed on his feet. Who has wrought and achieved this?The One who announced the generations from the start—I, GOD, who was firstAnd will be with the last as well. The coastlands look on in fear,The ends of earth tremble.The craftsmen draw near and come; Each one helps the other,Saying to his fellow, “Take courage!” The woodworker encourages the smith;He who flattens with the hammer[Encourages] him who pounds the anvil.He says of the riveting, “It is good!”And he fixes it with nails,That it may not topple. But you, Israel, My servant,Jacob, whom I have chosen,Seed of Abraham My friend— You whom I drew from the ends of the earthAnd called from its far corners,To whom I said: You are My servant;I chose you, I have not rejected you— Fear not, for I am with you,Be not frightened, for I am your God;I strengthen you and I help you,I uphold you with My victorious right hand. Shamed and chagrined shall beAll who contend with you;They who strive with youShall become as naught and shall perish. You may seek, but shall not findThose who struggle with you;Less than nothing shall beThe men who battle against you. For I the ETERNAL One am your God,Who grasped your right hand,Who say to you: Have no fear;I will be your help. Fear not, O worm Jacob,O men of Israel: I will help you—declares GOD— I your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. I will make of you a threshing board,A new thresher, with many spikes;You shall thresh mountains to dust,And make hills like chaff. You shall winnow themAnd the wind shall carry them off;The whirlwind shall scatter them.But you shall rejoice in GOD,And glory in the Holy One of Israel. The poor and the needySeek water, and there is none;Their tongue is parched with thirst.I GOD will respond to them.I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open up streams on the bare hillsAnd fountains amid the valleys;I will turn the desert into ponds,The arid land into springs of water. I will plant cedars in the wilderness,Acacias and myrtles and oleasters;I will set cypresses in the desert,Box trees and elms as well— That all may see and know,Consider and comprehendThat GOD’s hand has done this,That the Holy One of Israel has wrought it. Submit your case, says GOD;Offer your pleas, says the King of Jacob. Let them approach intransitively; cf. hiqriv in Exod. 14.10. and tell us what will happen.Tell us what has occurred, And we will take note of it;Or announce to us what will occur,That we may know the outcome. Foretell what is yet to happen,That we may know that you are gods!Do anything, good or bad,That we may be awed and see. Why, you are less than nothing,Your effect is less than nullity;One who chooses you is an abomination. I have roused him from the north, and he has come,From the sunrise, one who invokes My name;And he has trampled rulers like mud,Like a potter treading clay. Who foretold this from the start, that we may note it;From aforetime, that we might say, “You are right”?Not one foretold, not one announced;No one has heard your utterance! The things once predicted to Zion—Behold, here they are! And again I send a herald to Jerusalem. But I look and there is no one; Not one of them can predictOr can respond when I question them. See, they are all nothingness,Their works are nullity,Their statues are naught and nil.

Isaiah 41:10 stands as a hinge in the chapter: it pivots from God's courtroom summons of the nations to a tender address to Israel. Five imperatives and five assurances form a compact litany of comfort for a people who feel small, worm-like, and routed.