Spurgeon Meditations

 

Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.

Isa 49 16

No doubt a part of the wonder which is concentrated in the word "Behold is excited by the unbelieving lamentation ofthe 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 thepalms of my hands? How darest thou doubt my constantremembrance, 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 aword intended to excite admiration. Here, indeed, we have atheme for marvelling. Heaven and earth may well be astonishedthat rebels should obtain so great a nearness to the heart ofinfinite 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?


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