Isaiah 49:14-20 – Take heart, God will not forget or forsake us

In Isaiah 49:13, God’s people were urged to rejoice and celebrate in the light of what God would do through His Servant. It would be a time for celebration. However, this was not how Zion responded. Instead of rejoicing, she became despondent. It seemed hard for people in captivity to be able to envisage liberty. How could Zion rejoice when she would be in the throes of pains in her Babylonian captivity?  The mindset of people undergoing deep calamity would normally be one of despair and not elation. It is understandable that in captivity, people tend to focus on the pain of calamity rather than the joy of liberty. So from Isaiah 49:14-50:3, we see how Zion entertaining some doubts in her despondency.  

God in His grace would not allow His people to continue to feel that way. So He responded to lift them out of their doldrums. In Isaiah 49:14-20, the people of Zion felt as if God had forgotten them and they felt forsaken. God’s response to them was: like a mother who would not forget her nursing baby neither would He forget His people who needed His care. God assured them that Zion was always on His heart. Like an architect that had a plan for a building all drawn out, He had the plan of Zion sketched on the palms of His hand. This is by way of saying that He would never forget Zion for she would be ever before Him.  

God here is promising the restoration of physical Zion. Her oppressors would leave Zion and the city would be repopulated. It is one thing to talk about the physical Zion that God would restore. But the description of the restoration of Zion speaks to us of what the church would look like. Like Zion, the church being the bride of Christ shall be adorned with glittering jewelry enhancing her beauty. The well-populated Zion speaks of a time when the church would be filled with people streaming from all places.

The church is dear to the Lord. He would never forsake her for He had purchased her with a great price - His precious blood. Referring to the church as Mount Zion, Hebrews 12: 22-24 said that we believers “have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant….” We, believers, are a privileged people. We will be a righteous people made perfect because of Jesus our Mediator. His blood has been shed for us to make us acceptable to God. And remember He said that He will never leave us nor forsake us. He will be with us to the end of the age. What a glorious honor!