Spurgeon: November AM
* 11/07/AM
"Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands."
--Isaiah 49:16
No doubt a part of the wonder which is concentrated in the
word " Behold ," is excited by the unbelieving lamentation of
the preceding sentence. Zion said, "The Lord hath forsaken me,
and my God hath forgotten me." How amazed the divine mind seems
to be at this wicked unbelief! What can be more astounding than
the unfounded doubts and fears of God's favoured people? The
Lord's loving word of rebuke should make us blush; He cries,
"How can I have forgotten thee, when I have graven thee upon the
palms of my hands? How darest thou doubt my constant
remembrance, when the memorial is set upon my very flesh?" O
unbelief, how strange a marvel thou art! We know not which most
to wonder at, the faithfulness of God or the unbelief of His
people. He keeps His promise a thousand times, and yet the next
trial makes us doubt Him. He never faileth; He is never a dry
well; He is never as a setting sun, a passing meteor, or a
melting vapour; and yet we are as continually vexed with
anxieties, molested with suspicions, and disturbed with fears,
as if our God were the mirage of the desert. "Behold," is a
word intended to excite admiration . Here, indeed, we have a
theme for marvelling. Heaven and earth may well be astonished
that rebels should obtain so great a nearness to the heart of
infinite love as to be written upon the palms of His hands. "I
have graven thee ."It does not say, "Thy name." The name is
there, but that is not all: "I have graven thee ." See the
fulness of this! I have graven thy person, thine image, thy
case, thy circumstances, thy sins, thy temptations, thy
weaknesses, thy wants, thy works; I have graven thee, everything
about thee, all that concerns thee; I have put thee altogether
there. Wilt thou ever say again that thy God hath forsaken thee
when He has graven thee upon His own palms?