In the context of the prophecy about the salvation God will accomplish in Christ, Deutero-Isaiah, the unknown author of the second half of the book of the prophet Isaiah, records these stunning words. They are addressed to everyone and to each person, regardless of anything. How often we fall into despair and complaint, take offense at God, because it appears to us that He has abandoned us to fate. And the issue is not only that...
In the context of the prophecy about the salvation God will accomplish in Christ, Deutero-Isaiah, the unknown author of the second half of the book of the prophet Isaiah, records these stunning words. They are addressed to everyone and to each person, regardless of anything. How often we fall into despair and complaint, take offense at God, because it appears to us that He has abandoned us to fate. And the issue is not only that we fail to notice His blessings, fail to notice all His priceless gifts: light and air, food and work, the powers of life and life itself. They are, of course, given to us, and we are, of course, not grateful enough to God for them.
But we need something far greater: His compassion, His protection, and His deliverance from the grim prospect of death. That is precisely why it is so important for us that the Lord will never forget us, and that His memory and His compassion surpass even a mother's love; in other words, they surpass everything we know in this world as love and memory. It is simply astonishing how secure life becomes if we rely on the truth of this promise of God. Even in the most terrible things, in suffering and death, hope appears if we believe these words. This hope is especially strong on the day of Resurrection.
49 Christ, being sent to the Jews complains of them, Isa 49:1-4.
He is sent to the Gentiles with gracious promises, Isa 49:5-12.
God's love to his church perpetual, Isa 49:13-17.
The ample restoration of the church, and its enlargement, Isa 49:18-23.
Its powerful deliverance out of captivity, Isa 49:24-26.
49:14 But - This is an objection. How can these things be true, when the condition of God's church is now so desperate?