Morning & Evening Devotional Reading–

November 7– Morning

 by C. H. Spurgeon, revised and edited by W. C. Neff

“Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.” 

—Isaiah 49:16

The word “behold” sets this statement apart from the previous sentence where the people of God cried out in unbelief, saying, “The Lord has forsaken me, and my God has forgotten me.” How amazed God seems to be at this wicked unbelief! What can be more astounding than the unfounded 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 you, when I have engraved you on the palms of my hands? How dare you doubt my thoughts for you when I have placed your memory on my very flesh?”

Unbelief is a very strange thing! We don’t know which to wonder at the most– 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 as a setting sun, a passing meteor, or a melting vapor; and yet we are as continually troubled with anxieties and disturbed with fears as if our God were a mirage in the desert.

We ought to “behold” with admiration the very thought that rebels like ourselves should have a place so near the heart of infinite love as to be written upon the palms of his hands. God doesn’t merely say, “I have engraved your name,” but, “I have engraved you”– your very person, your image, your circumstances, your sins– everything about you, all that concerns you. Will you ever say again that your God has forsaken you when he has engraved you on the palms of his own hands? [M&E]