So, what’s your frame of mind as you read these three chapters?

Personally, I am a bit confused.

Is this an exhortation? A plea? A command?

In my mind, I hear the Disney character, Edna Mode, fashion designer to superheroes, as she chastises Helen Parr (aka Elastigirl), wife to Mr. Incredible, for forgetting who she is as she swats her with a rolled-up newspaper.

Then I hear a football coach in a locker room at halftime, pleading with his players to wake up and do better, to play with more heart and urgency.

And I hear a drill sergeant barking orders at his recruits.

A prophet could have employed any of these methods to speak to the Israelites returning from exile. They had forgotten a lot. And Isaiah is reminding them what God has done for them, and what they have accomplished in the past with God’s help.

I get it. Like most of us, I have been down in the dumps, listless, and moping around.

Sometimes an encouraging word is all I need to get myself restarted. Sometimes it takes a direct order. Sometimes it takes a dash of cold water in the face to get me moving.

Listen. Look. Lift. Awake. Rouse. Rise up.

All imperative verbs, words of action a defeated people needed to hear. Isaiah knows that more than these imperative verbs is needed. He knows they need a word of hope, a word of promise. Isaiah reminds the ones in the wilderness of these reassuring words from God. “I, I am the One who comforts you.”

This is unlike most other “I am” statements in the Old Testament. It is a statement not of power but of reassurance. God is both comforting and everlasting, always with God’s people.

The Israelites have forgotten the hope and promises of God.

Listen. Look. Lift up.

Awake. Awake from your slumber.

Remember the promise and steadfastness of God.