Isaiah 49:14-16 But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me,
the Lord has forgotten me." Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may
forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my
hands; your walls are ever before me.
Comment
While in most other religions such as Islam God is viewed as relationally
remote, in Christianity we say that eternal life is a relationship with
God. But that expression really doesn't do justice to the intimacy inherent
in that relationship. For you might have "relationships" with friends and
associates, but such does not reflect the depth of relationship that God
desires. As Christians God is our Father. That is not simply a title. It
is a relational role. So also here we see God identifying Himself with
the role of mother in his compassion for his infants.
And yet even as infants today may not be able to conceive of the feelings
of empathy their parents have for them, so also with God's people. We may
often feel that God has forsaken us, but the feeling is not mutual. Even
on the cross while quoting Psalm 22 Jesus expressed such empathy saying,
"My God My God why have you forsaken me?" This again is another difference
between the Bible and Islam. For in Islam to express such things is akin
to sin. Yet we in the Bible we find such godly men as David and Job struggling
with such feelings.
It is because of the intimacy and commitment that God has towards his
children that He takes great offense at whatever damages that relationship.
To be engraved in the palms of his hands reminds of Jesus' wounds which
were even present in his resurrected body. So those born of God are permanently
marked in Christ with eternal security.