On The Palms Of God’s Hands

Our Bible passage, introduction to Sunday 14th January service and hymns are below.

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Our principal verses are:

Isa 49:13  Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.

Isa 49:14  But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.

Isa 49:15  Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.

Isa 49:16  Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

 On The Palms Of God’s Hands

If the Holy Spirit enables us to read this chapter as a conversation between the Father and His Son, and Christ and His people, we shall discover a deep well of spiritual truth and wisdom. We have seen previously how references to islands, or isles, in the prophecy of Isaiah are suggestive of gospel expansion and the enlargement of Christ’s kingdom amongst the nations. Here the whole world is called to listen as the Lord Jesus reveals His own personal undertaking of covenant duty as the Substitute and Surety of His people. The Lord declares the terms of His Messianic role and His offices of Prophet, Priest, King, Redeemer and Saviour.

The womb of eternity

John Gill speaks of this call to covenant service, by the Father to the Son, as having been made in eternity. Christ was called, says Gill, ‘not only from the womb of his mother Mary, … but from the womb of eternity, from the womb of eternal purposes and decrees; for he was set forth, or foreordained in the purposes of God, to be the propitiation for sin; and was predestinated to be the Redeemer before the foundation of the world, even before he had a being in this world as man’.

A body thou hast prepared me

Christ’s covenant duties required a human body which the Father prepared. However, human nature would entail weakness and Christ would face hostility throughout His earthly life. His ministry to His own nation, the Jews, largely fell on deaf ears. As Christ anticipated His earthly duties His Father gave Him promises of divine help against the great army of foes; spiritual and physical, who would contend against Jesus and try to destroy Him. The Son accepted and cherished these promises of support saying, ‘my God shall be my strength’.

Christ will have the glory

Strengthened thus, the Lord Jesus successfully bore His people’s sin and carried their sorrow. He endured God’s wrath against the sins of the elect and His prize is commensurate with His grief and suffering. Kings and princes bow to the One they once despised. In this gospel age Christ raises up and restores the remnant from amongst the Jews. He also reaps a great harvest amongst the Gentile nations to whom He is Light, being God’s ‘salvation unto the end of the earth’.

Christ our covenant

This calling of Christ to the work of saving His people is a covenant agreement; the covenant of grace and peace. The Lord Jesus is a party to the agreement. He is the Representative of His people in it and Surety for them of it. He is the Mediator and Messenger to them concerning it. He is its Ratifier and Confirmer. Indeed, Christ is the entire blessing in the covenant for His people. Every promise, every benefit, every good and perfect gift secured in the covenant comes to the elect by Jesus Christ. ‘For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen’ (2 Corinthians 1:20). Examples of these blessings are listed in vv. 9-13.

But what if …

In v.14 the fears of the remnant people of Judah in Isaiah’s day are acknowledged and addressed. How hard it is even for the Lord’s people to trust the Lord! At the time Assyria was still a present threat. The destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian exile lay ahead. What if the Lord forgets mercy? He cannot. The covenant is the ground of our confidence. It is everlasting, certain, fixed and sure. A woman may forget her own suckling child but the Lord will not forget His people. The names of the elect are written on the palms of Christ’s hands; the very palms that were pierced for us.

The Lord watches over us

Furthermore, ‘thy walls are continually before me’. The walls of the houses of God’s people, wherever they may be, are under the watchful eye and continuing care of the Lord. The elect, being typically stones in Christ’s spiritual temple, are always guarded by the protecting hand of God. Whatever we lose by trial will be compensated in blessing. What greater loss in nature than a child? Nevertheless, ‘Thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me’ (v. 23)

No reason for doubt

Can those who have sinned and are slaves to Satan, captive to the lusts of the flesh and condemned under the law, can such ones truly be delivered? Yes, they can! ‘Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.’ Let us all take note of the Lord’s final remark that we may not doubt or be afraid. ‘All flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob’.

Amen

Our hymns are below.

Hymn 1

Gadsby selection 330

Weak Believers Encouraged. Ps. 27. 14; Isa. 49. 23

A. M. Toplady          S.M.

1
Your harps, ye trembling saints,
Down from the willows take;
Loud to the praise of Christ our Lord,
Bid every string awake.

2
Though in a foreign land,
We are not far from home;
And nearer to our house above,
We every moment come.

3
His grace shall to the end,
Stronger and brighter shine;
Nor present things, nor things to come,
Shall quench the spark divine.

4
The time of love will come,
When we shall clearly see,
Not only that he shed his blood,
But each shall say, “For me.”

5
Tarry his leisure, then;
Wait the appointed hour;
Wait till the Bridegroom of your souls
Reveal his love with power.

6
Blest is the man, O God,
Whose mind is stayed on thee;
Who waits for thy salvation, Lord,
Shall thy salvation see.

Hymn 2

Gadsby selection 340 

Saints’ Final Perseverance. Rom. 8. 33-39; Isa. 49. 15

A. M. Toplady                        8s

1
A debtor to mercy alone,
Of covenant mercy I sing;
Nor fear, with thy righteousness on,
My person and offerings to bring.
The terrors of law and of God
With me can have nothing to do;
My Saviour’s obedience and blood
Hide all my transgressions from view.

2
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,
Not all things below nor above,
Can make him his purpose forego,
Or sever my soul from his love.

3
My name from the palms of his hands
Eternity will not erase,
Impressed on his heart it remains,
In marks of indelible grace;
Yes, I to the end shall endure,
As sure as the earnest is given;
More happy, but not more secure,
The glorified spirits in heaven.

In the covenant of grace our Lord Jesus Christ undertook to redeem His people from their sins. The Father undertook to uphold the GodMan and sustain Him in His task. The Holy Spirit promised to gather in every soul for whom Christ died.

14 January 2024