“Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.” (Isaiah 49:16)
Have you ever written something on your hand because you didn’t want to forget it? I know I have several times. Maybe it was a phone number, a name, or something you needed to pick up on the way home. You wrote it there because every time you looked at your hand, you would be reminded of it. But, in our verse for today, God uses a much stronger word than “written.” He says, “I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.” Not written…GRAVEN. Something written can be washed away, but something engraved is cut into the surface. It leaves a permanent mark.
GOD HAS NOT FORGOTTEN YOU.
The people of God Isaiah was writing to were going through very difficult days, and they felt forgotten. It’s important to note in the previous verse the nation of Judah had said, “The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.” Have you ever felt that way? Maybe you’ve prayed and nothing seems to be happening. You’ve waited, but nothing seems to be changing. You know God loves you, but your circumstances make you wonder if He has forgotten where you are.
God answered their fear with one of the most loving pictures in the Bible. In verse 15 He said that even if a mother could forget her nursing child, “yet will I not forget thee.” Then He said, “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.” In other words, God was saying, “You may feel forgotten, but I have not forgotten you!”
LOOK AT THE HANDS OF JESUS.
Isaiah’s words were spoken about God’s unfailing love for His people, but as believers they give us a beautiful picture that turns our hearts toward Jesus. This is, without a doubt, one of the most unnoticed prophecies of Jesus in the Old Testament. Centuries later, Jesus stretched out His hands on a cross, and nails were driven through them. After His resurrection, Jesus said to Thomas in John 20:27, “Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands…” Think about that! The resurrected Jesus still bore the marks of Calvary. Those scars were evidence of how much He loved us and what He was willing to endure to save us. When you begin to wonder whether God loves you, LOOK AT HIS HANDS!
When you wonder whether God has forgotten you, LOOK AT HIS HANDS! When you wonder whether you matter to Him, LOOK AT HIS HANDS! When you wonder whether He will ever give up on you, LOOK AT HIS HANDS!
THE SCARS TELL THE STORY.
I had a friend in high school named Danny Walters who accidentally cut my wrist one day while playing around with his knife. It left a scar that I still have today, and every time I notice it, I think about Danny and what happened that day. Scars have a way of telling a story. Usually, they remind us of something painful that happened TO us. But the scars in the hands of Jesus tell a different story. They remind us of something painful that happened TO Him…but something wonderful that happened FOR us.
His scars are the everlasting reminder of how much He loved us and what He was willing to suffer to save us. They remind us that He was “wounded for our transgressions” and “bruised for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5).
You may forget Him at times, but He will never forget you. You may lose sight of Him, but He never loses sight of you. Your circumstances may change, your feelings may change, and people around you may change, but His love for you has not changed. So when life gets hard and the devil whispers, “God has forgotten you,” remember Isaiah 49:16: “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.” Then remember the nail-scarred hands of Jesus.
Join me in this prayer…
Lord, thank You that Your love for me is greater than my circumstances and stronger than my doubts. When I feel forgotten, help me remember the hands of Jesus and what those scars say about Your love for me. Amen! Hallelujah! When you wonder if God has forgotten you, look at the hands of Jesus. Those engraved scars in His hands say He hasn’t!
Think it over…
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