NOTES for Isa 46:1-47:15

We often turn to God with requests for help and support, or with gratitude for one event or another. Yet in doing so we frequently forget that His plan for us (“counsel” in the language of the Bible) extends to absolutely every moment of our life, from beginning to end.

The prophet says that God carried Israel “from the womb.” In the same way, He is present at every event in a person's life — from conception until God's plan for that person is fully accomplished.

God is near even when we do not think of His presence; He remembers us when we do not remember Him. He carries out His plan even when we resist His will. Here lies one of the most astonishing revelations of the prophetic message: God is utterly incomprehensible and transcendent, yet He is also closest of all to our heart; He knows us far more deeply than we know ourselves...