Forsaken – Isaiah 49:13-18

I’m on the board of a ministry called The Forsaken Children.  We work to rescue children in Ethiopia who are orphaned or abandoned.  And there are thousands and thousands of them.  Poverty is the cause.  We find many of these children living on the streets of Addis Ababa, the capital city.  They are considered a nuisance by many but we know they are precious to the Lord.  And this describes Israel as well.

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing!  For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.

But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.”

“Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?  Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.  Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.  Your builders make haste; your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you.  Lift up your eyes around and see; they all gather, they come to you.  As I live, declares the LORD, you shall put them all on as an ornament; you shall bind them on as a bride does.  (Isaiah 49:13-18 ESV)

Israel had been experiencing the judgment of God as a nation but was being offered restoration by Yahweh.  It felt like news too good to be true.  God had to convince them of His love.

Sometimes when God promises to comfort us we object because we believe He has abandoned us.  We can’t imagine that He still loves us.  We are errant children, we admit, whom He has surely rejected from His family.

But He makes it very clear that this is not the case.  We are unforgettable to Him.  We are etched into His skin.  He builds up the walls of protection around us and promises us we will see the results of His deliverance.

Discussion Questions

1. What has been your experience of being forsaken?
2. How would you describe the feeling of being forsaken?
3. Why would someone ever be forsaken?
4. Have you, like Israel, ever felt forsaken by God, even for a short time?
5. Can you have confidence that God would never forsake you?  Why or why not?
6. What is your confidence level that God will never forsake you?