But, for all that, most people do not have chair comfort high on their agenda. In today's text, the prophet Isaiah has no interest in high-tech chairs, but he is addressing a people who are in dire need of encouragement and reassurance. It is a sweeping panorama of both time and space. Redemption for God's people involves the past, present and future. It is not simply redemption for one nation or one people of one time.
Salvation is a matter of cosmic dimensions.
The prophet was one who spoke the word of the Lord. In the previous chapter, Isaiah has described Israel's unresponsiveness to God's leading. He describes the people of Israel as blind and deaf in spiritual matters. Even so, God is not blind and deaf, and God has not given up his people. Four verbs in v1 compress a wealth of theological insight and religious sentiment into a few lines, setting the pace and tone for the rich oracle that follows.