Isaiah warned the unrepentant people of Judah that God would exile them to Babylon because of their covenantal unfaithfulness (Isaiah 1-39). But after disciplining them, God would bring them back to the promised land and bless them (chs. 40-66). Comforting a discouraged Judah (40:1-2), Isaiah assured them that God wouldn’t abandon them and that He had the power to bless them. He reminded them that Yahweh alone, “the Holy One” (v. 25), is their everlasting, omnipotent, sovereign “Creator” (v. 28). Speaking tenderly of God as a loving and caring shepherd, Isaiah said that God “gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart” (v. 11) to bring them home. The tired, weary, and weak would find new strength (vv. 28-31) as they journeyed back to the promised land with God. In our journey of faith, God will provide strength as well. We affirm with the psalmist, “Blessed are those whose hope . . . is in the Lord their God” (Psalm 146:5).