HE Has Not Forgotten

Isaiah 49 (selected)

Restoration of Israel

8 This is what the LORD says:

"In the time of My favor I will answer you,

and in the day of salvation I will help you;

I will keep you and will make you

to be a covenant for the people,

to restore the land

and to reassign its desolate inheritances,
9 to say to the captives, 'Come out,'

and to those in darkness, 'Be free!'

"They will feed beside the roads

and find pasture on every barren hill.
10 They will neither hunger nor thirst,

nor will the desert heat or the sun beat upon them.

He who has compassion on them will guide them

and lead them beside springs of water.
11 I will turn all my mountains into roads,

and my highways will be raised up.
12 See, they will come from afar—

some from the north, some from the west,

some from the region of Aswan. "
13 Shout for joy, O heavens;

rejoice, O earth;

burst into song, O mountains!

For the LORD comforts His people

and will have compassion on His afflicted ones.
14 But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me,

the Lord has forgotten me."
15 "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!
16 See, I have engraved you on the palms of My Hands;

your walls are ever before me.
17 Your sons hasten back,

and those who laid you waste depart from you.
18 Lift up your eyes and look around;

all your sons gather and come to you.

As surely as I live," declares the LORD,

"you will wear them all as ornaments;

you will put them on, like a bride. [all emphasis mine]

May God's Word speak to your heart this day!

Choosing JOY,

Stephanie

[Led Home by the Shepherd]

[Day 7 of 365]