\\INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 40\\

This chapter treats of the comforts of God's people; of the forerunner
and coming of the Messiah; of his work, and the dignity of his person;
of the folly of making idols, and of the groundless complaints of the
church of God. The consolations of God's people, by whom to be
administered, and the matter, ground, and reason of them, \\#Isa 40:1,2\\.
John the Baptist, the harbinger of Christ, is described by his work and
office, and the effects of it; it issuing in the humiliation of some,
and the exaltation of others, and in the revelation of the glory of
Christ, \\#Isa 40:3-5\\, then follows an order to every minister of the
Gospel what he should preach and publish; the weakness and insufficiency
of men to anything that is spiritually good; their fading and withering
goodliness, which is to be ascribed to the blowing of the Spirit of God
upon it; and the firmness and constancy of the word of God is declared,
\\#Isa 40:6-8\\, next the apostles of Christ in Jerusalem are particularly
exhorted to publish fervently and openly the good tidings of the Gospel;
to proclaim the coming of Christ, the manner of it, and the work he came
about; and to signify his faithful discharge of his office as a shepherd,
\\#Isa 40:9-11\\, the dignity of whose person is set forth by his almighty
power, by his infinite wisdom, and by the greatness of his majesty, in
comparison of which all nations and things are as nothing, \\#Isa 40:12-17\\
and then the vanity of framing any likeness to God, and of forming idols
for worship, is observed, \\#Isa 40:18-25\\, and from the consideration of
the divine power in creation and upholding all things, the church of God
is encouraged to expect renewed strength and persevering grace, and is
blamed for giving way to a distrustful and murmuring spirit,
\\#Isa 40:26-31\\.