Isaiah 40:2

Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, literally, "to the heart of Jerusalem," addressing words of consolation to all members of the spiritual Zion, the Church of God, and cry unto her, in a sermon of sweetest assurance, that her warfare is accomplished, that the tribulation to which His people are subjected would soon be ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, namely, in and through the Messiah, whose coming is so clearly foretold in this series of prophecies; for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins, that is, the severe punishment which the Lord's people had to endure for their sins was to be replaced in richest measure by evidences of His grace and mercy. That is the strange and wonderful manner in which the Lord deals with His children always He substitutes acts of love and mercy for the well-merited condemnation. The prophet now shows in what way his threefold message would be realized.