Isaiah 49:1-16
Never Forgotten

Listen to me, O coastlands, pay attention, you peoples from far away! The LORD called me before I was born, while I was in my mother's womb he named me. He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away. And he said to me, "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified." But I said, "I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my cause is with the LORD, and my reward with my God." And now the LORD says, who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the sight of the LORD, and my God has become my strength--he says, "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth."

Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations, the slave of rulers, "Kings shall see and stand up, princes, and they shall prostrate themselves, because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you." Thus says the LORD: In a time of favor I have answered you, on a day of salvation I have helped you; I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages; saying to the prisoners, "Come out," to those who are in darkness, "Show yourselves." They shall feed along the ways, on all the bare heights shall be their pasture; they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them down, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them. And I will turn all my mountains into a road, and my highways shall be raised up. Lo, these shall come from far away, and lo, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Syene.

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his suffering ones. But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me." Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.

New Revised Standard Version

The last part of this selected passion is dramatic! Isaiah tells us our names are written on the palm of God's hand, because God constantly thinks about us. It is easier for a mother to forget about the child she raised that it is for God to forget about us. Isaiah wrote these words from God addressed to the nation of Israel, but God's promises of bringing back the dispersed, freeing the prisoners, and comforting those in hiding shows God knows every person's situation and needs, and God always notices.

The first part of this passage tells us that God's agent for bring about this restoration is the Messiah. This meaning isn't as clear to us as it is in passages where Isaiah writes of the miracle of the virgin birth, or of the perfect Lamb to be our sacrifice. What Isaiah does identify is the New Covenant, a perfect covenant, in how he carefully used the names Jacob and Israel. Genesis 32 tells the story of Jacob wrestling all night with God until God changed his name to Israel, a final gesture of the changes that God had been making to transform him from a cheater and liar into a patriarch of God's people. The Messiah is the perfect leader for God's people, the shepherd for God's sheep, bringing them back after their sinfulness separated them from God, just like Jacob came back to the land God had promised to Abraham and Isaac.

The scriptures remind us that God's ways are not our ways, and we even see that wisdom in the surprising words Isaiah attributes to the Messiah: "I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity." Isaiah assured us that God's power uses what appears to be foolish actions to transform not just the nation of Israel but the world. Faith is expressed beautifully in the rest of the Messiah's statement, "yet surely my cause is with the LORD, and my reward with my God."

Look what God's power does! It builds boulevards where there once were high mountains, it feeds multitudes with abundance, it tames the burning sun and scorching winds, and it urges all creation to sing--but still, some people won't notice what God has done! How can that be?

Look at the loneliness expressed in words of Zion to see one answer to this fundamental spiritual question. The feeling of being alone most often is not caused by lack of proximity to other people. If that were true, the telephones in our houses would have banished loneliness just like vaccines eradicated smallpox. Loneliness comes to us only after we have pulled away from others by choices that exclude others, by secrets we hide from others, or by other seemingly "harmless" actions that add cracks to the foundations of our relationships. It is the same with our relationship to God, whether it is our selfishness like the conniving Jacob that separates us, or our impatience that causes us to miss what God is doing, or our insistent rebellion that holds onto sinful behavior, and the list goes on.

We never have to be lonely. God is always attentive to us, eager to resume a relationship wit us. There is no barrier we can erect between ourselves and God that Jesus will not enthusiastically rip apart, if we allow it. This is the promise in Isaiah's prophesy, in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and in the constant, attentive presence of God's love through the Holy Spirit.