Loneliness....Abandoned.... Forgotten.... Sadly, while most of us have experienced these emotions in our lives for a period of time; a rare few, seem to have these emotions stamped throughout their lifetimes. We seem them around us each day- often trying to fill the void with other things. Some may fill it with success, some may fill it with food, some may fill it with beauty products, some may fill it with sex, and some ultimately fill it with bitterness. The feeling that they were never good or special enough to be valued and appreciated plagues them and affects most areas of their life. We all want to know that we are valued and important to someone.... to be esteemed. Too often, we try to seek this value through earthly things, but those things fail. The value we seek is found through our relationship with Christ that leads us to God.
Today, I read a scripture in Isaiah 49:14-16. It said, "But Zion said,'The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.' Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me." NIV
I also love the wording from the NLT version for verse 16 and it says, "See I have written your name on my hand. Ever before me is a picture of Jerusalem's walls in ruins."
In these scriptures, God's chosen people (the Israelites) had not been honoring their God... in many ways they had walked away from Him. The feelings of being forsaken and forgotten came from their seeking to live lives away from God. They, for a time, tried to find fulfillment through the pagan world, but it left them feeling empty and crying out to God. I just love God's response to them as He reassures them that He never forgot them. He compares it to a mother forgetting a child nursing in her arms- could she forget her child? Never! And, he says, even if that did happen- I would never forget you- see you are written on my hands! As a child, I would often write down things I really needed to remember on my hands because while I might forget other things, my hand would always be with me as a constant reminder. I almost had to chuckle as I thought of God writing my name on His hands- a constant reminder of His love for me.
As I researched this verse more, I found something interesting. The word "engraved" is used similarly in two other passages in the Old Testament. First, it is found in Genesis 38:18 in place of the "seal" that Judah left with a temple prostitute in promise of a payment who turned out to be his former daughter-in-law. (And you thought scriptures were boring!) Tamar, his daughter-in-law, had been mistreated by Judah and took matters in her own hand. She collected his "seal" which was his identifying mark for documents and such- literally, it was like his signature on things- until a payment was brought to her. A few months later she used his seal to prove to him and everyone around her that he was the Father of the children she was carrying. In a way, she was saying you signed this act-now accept the outcome.
The second place where "engraved" is found is in Exodus 28:9 when God is describing how Aaron and the priests were to be adorned and He had them carve the names of the twelve tribes of Israel on stones to be put on the outfit to be worn by the priests. This was a way of marking the priests with the heritage and history that God had with Israel, his chosen people.
So, basically God says to Israel, your seal and engraved name is on my hand- how could I forget you? Glory! That blesses me so much because when Christ died on the cross, He made a way for anyone to become God's chosen children. If you have accepted Christ, God made you part of His chosen family and your name, too, was sealed and engraved on His hand. You cannot be forgotten- you are a part of Him.
The other wonderful thought in this verse is that Christ is marked by a scar on the palm of His hand that bought my freedom from sin. When Christ died on the cross, He was nailed on the cross by his palms. In a way, Isaiah 49:16 foreshadows that event. I even have to ponder and think that every time Christ looks upon his scars, He thinks of us- the redeemed in the Lord who He died to save. Glory!
Do you need to know that you are loved, my friend? Do you need to know that your life has value and importance when all else leaves you longing for something more? All you have to do is look upon His hands, and see your name in the scars....my friend, you are loved so much more than you can imagine and will never be forgotten!
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