In Isaiah, chapter forty-nine, verses fourteen through seventeen, “But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.”
These are the words of the Israelites, who experienced great adversity and thus felt abandoned and forgotten by God. God’s response gives divine assurance to any believer going through trying times. His love for us is greater than the natural affection of a loving mother for her children; it is therefore unthinkable that He will never forget us, especially in our times of despair and grief. His compassion for us will never fail, regardless of life’s circumstances; He watches over us with great tenderness and love, and we may rest in the conviction that He will never leave us.
The evidence of God’s great love is that He has engraved us on the palms of His own hands, so that He can never forget us; the scars in His hands are ever before His eyes as a reminder of the great love He has showered on us and of His desire to care for us.
In the midst of all that Jehovah was doing for his people, they were still showing their little faith and thinking of themselves as forsaken. The people of God did share the misgivings which were felt even by the Servant, but they did not rise out of them as quickly as He did into the full assurance of faith.