Comforting others with "the comfort

"The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should
know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth
morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned."
(Isaiah 50:4)

The prophetic words of our text were spoken by the Lord Jesus in the
context of His suffering: "I gave my back to the smiters . . . I hid
not my face from shame and spitting" and His attentiveness to
the will of His Father despite the suffering--"The Lord GOD hath
opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back"
. The amazing love of Christ is seen in the fact that, in the
midst of His intense personal pain, He could still continue, even on
the cross, "to speak a word in season to him that is weary," as He
comforted His mother, spoke salvation to the dying thief, and even
sought forgiveness for His executioners.

In all this, He was "leaving us an example, that ye should follow his
steps" (1 Peter 2:21). How easy and natural it is to complain and
rebel when we are suffering. We seek comfort and counsel from others,
when we (like our Exemplar) should be comforting others with "the
comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God" (2 Corinthians
1:4).

Though we cannot comprehend it fully, we must simply believe the
mystery of the incarnation. God became man in Jesus Christ, and the
omnipotent One "learned . . . obedience" (Hebrews 5:8). He was
omniscient, yet somehow He "increased in wisdom" (Luke 2:52), as well
as stature, and as He studied God's Word, wakening "morning by
morning," He learned to hear the voice of the Father, thus receiving
"the tongue of the learned," that "gracious words" might proceed out
of His mouth (Luke 4:22).

May the Lord grant each of His younger sons and daughters this
gracious "tongue of the learned," as we, like His Firstborn, awaken
each morning to hear His voice.