Yet I Will Not Forget

Uplook – March 2016 — Grace & Truth Magazine

Yet I Will Not Forget

“Sing, O heavens! Be joyful, O earth! And break out in singing, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted His people, and will have mercy on His afflicted. But Zion said, ‘The LORD has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me. ’” —Isaiah 49:13-14 NKJV
“Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you.” —Isaiah 49:15

Challenges In Isaiah’s Days
The times during which Isaiah lived were very troublesome. The people of Israel had turned away from the living God and were serving idols. From the beginning of his prophecy, Isaiah warned the people about their rebellion and wickedness. They had provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger and the multitude of their sacrifices had become an abomination to the L ORD . Therefore God, in His governmental ways, raised up the Chaldeans to invade the land, and they carried away many captives. The land was polluted and the name of the L ORD was trampled upon. How could God turn such a gloomy picture around and draw out hearts in songs of praise? The people were downcast and had given up any hope for recovery. They thought that God had forgotten them. Had He?

No, God will not forget His people whom He has redeemed. Again and again He entreated them to return. Isaiah said, “Let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Isa. 55:7). “‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the LORD, ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool’” (1:18).

Challenges In Peter’s Days
It is humbling to realize that God does not deal with us according to what we deserve. If He did, we would be in despair! In His grace and tenderness He draws us back to Himself. Simon Peter is a good example of this. Boastfully, he had denied the Lord with an oath (Mt. 26:69-75). But even before it happened, the Lord had told Peter that he would do so. Later when we see Jesus, the Man of Sorrows, standing before the tribunal of this world to be condemned and crucified, we read: “The Lord turned, and looked upon Peter” (Lk. 22:61).

How this must have torn Peter’s heart, for he went out and wept bitterly! Those three days while Christ was dead were ones of soul-searching for him. But Jesus knew Peter’s need. We read: “He [Jesus] rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas [Peter], then by the twelve” (1 Cor. 15:4-5). This was a private meeting between Peter and the Lord. Peter’s conscience was now at ease, but his heart still needed to be won and his confidence restored.

This restoration took place at the Sea of Tiberias (Jn. 21). Peter said that he would go fishing, and other disciples followed. They toiled all night but caught nothing. That was unusual for these seven, highly qualified fishermen. There is nothing wrong with fishing, but when done in self-will and the energy of the flesh, there is no fruit for God. Is this not our experience at times?

The morning dawned and, unknown to the disciples, Jesus stood on the shore and invited them to “come and eat breakfast” (Jn. 21:12). The Lord, in His tender love, fed them before He reached out to fully restore Peter in the presence of these other six disciples. When they had eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” (v.15). After asking the question three times, Peter responded, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” (v.17). Thereupon Jesus gave Peter the commission to feed the lambs and tend the sheep.

Challenges In Our Day
The questions for us include:

• Are we feeding in the green pastures and following the Good Shepherd?
• Are we content to abide in His love as He abides in the Father’s love?
• Are we willing to serve unnoticed simply because we love the sheep and seek their well-being since they belong to the Shepherd who gave His life for them?

The Lord Jesus loves His sheep, all His sheep. He does not drive them away, but goes before them, and they follow Him because they know the Shepherd’s voice (Jn. 10:4).

There are many sheep that are weak and sick, broken and driven away. Why? Because there is no shepherd – no one seeking or searching for them. The LORD said this to the shepherds of Israel by the words of the prophet Ezekiel: “There was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search for My flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock ... Thus says the Lord GOD: Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day” (Ezek. 34:8,11-12). True to His promise, He does not forget! Is this a word for us today?

By Jacob Redekop

Debtors To Mercy As debtors to mercy alone, of heavenly mercy we sing;
Nor fear to draw near to the throne, our praise and our worship to bring:
The wrath of a sin-hating God with us can have nothing to do;
The Saviour’s obedience and blood hide all our transgressions from view.

The work which His goodness began, the arm of His strength will complete:His promise is Yea and Amen, and never was forfeited yet:Things future, nor things that are now, nor all things below or above,Can make Him His purpose forgo, or sever our souls from His love.
Our names from the palms of His hands eternity will not erase:
Impressed on His heart they remain in marks of indelible grace:
And we to the end shall endure, as sure as the earnest is given;
More happy, but not more secure, the spirits departed to heaven. —Augustus M. Toplady (1740-1778)