Based on Isaiah 40:1-11
Amidst the chaos and the war of this
world I hear a voice speak tenderly.
It whispers comfort to my broken heart
and tell me I am loved and forgiven,
and in such a fashion as to seem
a double payment in grace for the sin
that should have seen me damned. The Glory of
the LORD has been revealed! The Word
of God has spoken love to wretched me.
This fading flower wilting in the ash
has been replanted and renewed. Behold,
the Mighty God has conquered death with hope.
My Savior-Shepherd guide me home to rest.
dry off my tears and draw me to your breast.
Note: I almost didn’t get a sonnet done today it was such a discouraging and painful day, but as I crawled into bed determined to at least read the passage, I found the hope I needed to lay my head down in peace.
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
Isaiah 40:1-2
Double for her sins? Double what?
Double grace. Double love. More than double. Multiplied a thousand times ten thousand because God LOVES me. Ugly, broken, selfish, foolish, damnable me.
Even if my friends forsake me, God loves me. Even if I do foolish things that cost heavily to repair, God forgives me. I am not whole, but He is whole. And He loves me.
He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
Isaiah 40:11
R. C. Svendsen 
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