Engraved on His Palms

(Today I would like to share an entry from 3-Minute Devotions with Charles Spurgeon¹ that has meant a lot to me.)

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

No doubt a part of the wonder which is concentrated in the word “Behold,” is excited by the unbelieving lamentation of the preceding sentence.

Zion said, “The Lord hath forsaken me, and my God hath forgotten me.” How amazed the divine mind 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 thee, when I have graven you upon the palms of my hands?”

We know not which most 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, yet we are as continually vexed with anxieties, molested with suspicions, and disturbed with fears.

“Behold,” is a word intended to excite admiration. Here, indeed, we have a theme for marveling. Heaven and earth may well be astonished that rebels should obtain so great a nearness to the heart of infinite love as to be written upon the palms of his hands.

The name is there, but that is not all: “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 say again that God has forsaken you when he has graven you upon his own palms?

Lord, You have written my very existence on the palms of Your hands. I am forever grateful for Your love. I will trust in, rely on, and lean into You today—and always! Amen.

(A full sermon by Spurgeon on this topic can be read here Neither Forsaken Nor Forgotten)

¹ Published by Barbour Publishing Inc. Used by permission. Copyright 2015.

Photo by Jack Bair 2019, all rights reserved.