Morning By Morning #312

See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.

Isaiah 49:16

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

Part of the wonder of today’s verse has to do with the emphatic word See, which is the Lord’s response to Zion’s lamentation of unbelief: “The LORD has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me” (Isa. 49:14). God appears to be amazed at this wicked lack of belief. In fact, what could be more astounding than the Lord’s favored people expressing unfounded doubts and fears! His loving words of rebuke should make us blush, for it is as though He is crying, “How could I have forgotten you when ‘I have engraved you on the palms of my hands’? How dare you doubt my constant remembrance of you when the reminder is etched in my very flesh!”

Oh, unbelief, what a strange phenomenon you are! What is more incredible to us: the faithfulness of God or the unbelief of His people? He keeps His promise to us a thousand times, and yet the very next trial leads us to doubt Him. The Lord never fails, for He is never a dry well, a setting sun, a passing meteor, or a disappearing vapor. In spite of this, however, we are continually troubled with anxieties, obsessed with suspicions, and disturbed with fears as though our God were some mere mirage in the desert.

“See,” in this context, is a word intended to elicit admiration. Especially in this case we have a reason for awe and wonder. Indeed, heaven and earth should be amazed that such rebellious people are so close to the heart of infinite Love that they are written upon the palms of His hands. Notice that the Lord says, “I have engraved you,” not “I have engraved your name.” Yes, your name is there, but that is not all. “I have engraved you.” Notice the completeness of this! “I have engraved your person, your image, your situation, your circumstances, your sins, your temptations, your weaknesses, your wants, your works; I have engraved you, everything about you, and all that concerns you on the palms of my hands.”

In light of this, will you ever say again that your God has forsaken you when He has engraved you on the very palms of His hands?

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

The Lord loves His children so much He has not only engraved Himself with us but has also marked us with His name. In the Old Testament, Isaiah says, “you be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow” (Isa. 62:2). Then in the New Testament we are told:

Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.

Revelation 3:12

As Paul said, our heavenly Father has also “set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (2 Cor. 1:22). In another of his epistles Paul reiterated this truth by saying, “Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance” (Eph. 1:13 – 14).

Lord, how privileged we are to know You, to be Yours, and to be called by Your name! May our lives bring You glory and clearly exhibit we are Yours.