Never Forsaken or Forgotten
Isaiah 49:13-18 “Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted. 14 But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. 15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. 16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. 17 Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee. 18 Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.”
Israel has been severely punished by the Lord for her sins and for her idolatry. Her cities have been ransacked and her sons and daughters have been carried off into captivity. In this chapter, God promises to restore His people (v 13).
There seems to be no cause for rejoicing in Jerusalem. The people feel as though they have been forsaken and forgotten by the Lord (v 14). From Israel’s perspective, God had abandoned and ignored their plight. Their nation had been destroyed; their capital lay in ruins; their precious Temple had been utterly demolished. They were a broken people. God speaks to them in these verses and He lets them know that He has not forsaken, nor forgotten them.
This passage reminds us that God’s people are unforgettable to Him. In these verses, God gives His people some wonderful reasons for hope. He lets them know that He has not abandoned them and He cannot forget about them. God uses four vivid word pictures to give assurance to His people.
You may not want to admit it, but there are probably times when you have felt abandoned and forsaken by the Lord. We wonder why the circumstances in our lives are like they are. We wonder why it seems like life is one trial after another. We wonder where God is in the world and why things appear to be out of control. Sometimes we feel like we have been forgotten!
These verses are designed to teach us that God is faithfull. God cannot and will not forget about you. God cannot and will not forsake you. We are given four proofs of God’s devotion to us.
#1. GOD’S IMMUTABILITY – v 15. “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.”
God’s compassion is greater than a mother’s love for their child. Nothing in this world can compare to the love of a mother for her children.
A mother’s love can fail (Andrea Yates, Susan Smith, abortion, children forced into prostitution).
God’s love is perfect and will never fail. His love is perfect, permanent, unconditional and eternal.
Ephesians 3:18-19 “May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”
God’s love is amazing!
• He loved us first.
1 John 4:19 “We love him, because he first loved us.”
• He loved us when we were unlovable.
Ephesians 2:4 “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:”
1 John 4:10 “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
• He loved so much that He gave His Son to save us.
Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
• He loves us eternally.
Jeremiah 31:3 “The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: there-fore with loving kindness have I drawn thee.”
• Nothing can diminish, destroy or defeat His love for us!
Romans 8:35-39 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
#2. GOD’S INCARNATION – v 16a. “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands;..”
God doesn’t have hands. This is a figure of speech known as an anthropo-morphism. That is when human features are used to describe the character-istics of God. It is a human attempt to describe God in ways we can compre-hend. In our relationship with God it has become a reality.
When Jesus took on a human body, God literally had hands. When He died on the cross, the nails that were driven through His hands left scares as a permanent reminder of His love for and relationship to His redeemed people.
John 20:27-28 “Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.”
Revelation 5:6 “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain,…”
He will not deny us; the proof of our relationship is ever before His face! We enjoy absolute, eternal security in our salvation.
John 6:37-40 “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39 And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
John 10:28 “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”
#3. GOD’S PROVIDENCE – v 16b. “Thy walls are continually before me.”
Here God is described as a watchman. He had not forsaken or forgotten Zion, but her walls were ever on His mind and in His vision. Like a watchman, God would be vigilant and diligent to look after the needs and the welfare of His people. The nation of Israel and His promises to her were always on His heart.
Many of the Jews feared that God had forgotten His promises to them. They could not see that God was working even in what appeared to be a disaster to bring about His perfect will for His people. He had His eye on every detail of their existence.
He does the same for us! It may appear that God has abandoned you. It may appear that God has forgotten you. That is merely how things appear. The truth is, God never fails and God never forgets. That is His guarantee!
Romans 4:20-21. “Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.”
What kind of promises are we talking about? All of them!
• His Presence. Hebrews 13:5 “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
• His Provision. Philippians 4:19 “My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
• His Peace. Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
• His Power. Philippians 4:13.
• His Purpose. Job 23:10 “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”
God has His eye on our life and He has a plan to take care of you!
#4. GOD’S PROPHETIC TRUTH – v 17-18. “Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee. 18 Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.”
Israel’s enemies have left and her children are coming home. This promise looks ahead to a future time when the nation will be fully restored.
Israel’s future is brighter than her past. God has a plan for Israel.
God has a plan for His church! In fact, we have an even brighter future than Israel does! Consider this…
• Our Saviour has promised to return to claim us for Himself.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
• Our Saviour has gone to prepare a place for us. John 14:2
• Our Saviour has promised to wipe away our tears. Revelation 21:4
• Our Saviour has promised to take us to a wedding in the clouds.
Revelation 19:7-9 “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.”
• Our Saviour has promised us a honeymoon that is out of this world.
Revelation 22:1-6 “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. 5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. 6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. 7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.”
CONCLUSION: When things look bleak and dark, just remember who God is!
Philippians 1:6 Be confident of this, “that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”
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Pastor Kevin W. Burden
CARTER CREEK BAPTIST CHURCH
Greenville, Kentucky
