My Devotional this morning...beauty.

MORNING:

"Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands."

-- Isaiah 49:16

No doubt a part of the wonder which is concentrated in the word"Behold," is excited by the unbelieving lamentation of the precedingsentence. Zion said, "The Lord hath forsaken me, and my God hathforgotten me." How amazed the divine mind seems to be at this wickedunbelief! What can be more astounding than the unfounded doubts andfears of God's favoured people? The Lord's loving word of rebuke shouldmake us blush; he cries, "How can I have forgotten thee, when I havegraven thee upon the palms of my hands? How darest thou doubt myconstant remembrance, when the memorial is set upon my very flesh?" Ounbelief, how strange a marvel thou art! We know not which most towonder at, the faithfulness of God or the unbelief of his people. Hekeeps his promise a thousand times, and yet the next trial makes usdoubt him. He never faileth; he is never a dry well; he is never as asetting sun, a passing meteor, or a melting vapour; and yet we are ascontinually vexed with anxieties, molested with suspicions, anddisturbed with fears, as if our God were the mirage of the desert."Behold," is a word intended to excite admiration. Here, indeed, wehave a theme for marvelling. Heaven and earth may well be astonishedthat rebels should obtain so great a nearness to the heart of infinitelove as to be written upon the palms of his hands. "I have graventhee."It does not say, "Thy name." The name is there, but that is notall: "I have graven thee." See the fulness of this! I have graven thyperson, thine image, thy case, thy circumstances, thy sins, thy temptations, thy weaknesses, thy wants, thy works; I have graven thee,everything about thee, all that concerns thee; I have put theealtogether there. Wilt thou ever say again that thy God hath forsakenthee when he has graven thee upon his own palms?