Morning and Evening

November 7, Morning

C. H. Spurgeon · Modern retelling

"Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands." — Isaiah 49:16 · KJV

No doubt part of the wonder concentrated in the word "Behold" is stirred by the unbelieving lament of the preceding sentence. Zion said, "The Lord hath forsaken me, and my God hath forgotten me." How amazed the divine mind seems at this wicked unbelief! What can be more astounding than the groundless doubts and fears of God's favored 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 the palms of My hands? How dare you doubt My constant remembrance, when the memorial is set upon My very flesh?" O unbelief, how strange a marvel you are! We know not which more 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 fails; He is never a dry well; He is never a setting sun, a passing meteor, or a melting vapor; and yet we are as continually vexed with anxieties, harassed with suspicions, and disturbed with fears, as if our God were the mirage of the desert. "Behold" is a word meant to stir admiration. Here indeed we have a theme for marveling: heaven and earth may well be astonished that rebels should gain so great a nearness to the heart of infinite love as to be written on 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 fullness of this! I have graven your person, your image, your case, your circumstances, your sins, your temptations, your weaknesses, your wants, your works; I have graven you — everything about you, all that concerns you — I have put you altogether there. Will you ever again say that your God has forsaken you, when He has graven you on His own palms?

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