The Mother Love of God

8 This is what the Lord says:

“At just the right time, I will respond to you.
On the day of salvation I will help you.
I will protect you and give you to the people
as my covenant with them.
Through you I will reestablish the land of Israel
and assign it to its own people again.
9 I will say to the prisoners, ‘Come out in freedom,’
and to those in darkness, ‘Come into the light.’
They will be my sheep, grazing in green pastures
and on hills that were previously bare.
10 They will neither hunger nor thirst.
The searing sun will not reach them anymore.
For the Lord in his mercy will lead them;
he will lead them beside cool waters.
11 And I will make my mountains into level paths for them.
The highways will be raised above the valleys.
12 See, my people will return from far away,
from lands to the north and west,
and from as far south as Egypt.”

13 Sing for joy, O heavens!
Rejoice, O earth!
Burst into song, O mountains!
For the Lord has comforted his people
and will have compassion on them in their suffering.

14 Yet Jerusalem says, “The Lord has deserted us;
the Lord has forgotten us.”

15 “Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child?
Can she feel no love for the child she has borne?
But even if that were possible,
I would not forget you!
16 See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands.
Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem’s walls in ruins.

There was a couple whose son had just been sentenced to five years in prison. The father was deeply disappointed; his son was a lost cause in his eyes. The mother wept. Her son was a good boy who had made a mistake. She had hope for his future.

There is often a tenderness in a mother’s love that is sometimes missing from a father’s. As Israel was serving hard time in exile, they needed to know that God’s love has a tender side. They thought God had forsaken them. God responded by using the image of a mother nursing her infant. “Though she may forget, I will not forget you!” declared the Lord. It is outrageous to imagine a caring mother forgetting her own newborn child. It is even more unthinkable to imagine God forgetting his own children.

In fact, we are engraved onto God’s hands. We are like an open wound on the hand of God, unforgettable, always before his eyes. Surely this is a picture of what Jesus endured for our sake. After dying on the cross and rising on Easter, Jesus showed his followers the nail holes in his hands as evidence of who he is and of the love he has given (Luke 24:37-39; John 20:26-29). We are engraved as scars on Jesus’ hands. The scars are a reminder of God’s incredible love for us, more tender than even a mother’s love for her nursing baby.

We are comforted by your tender love, Lord, knowing that you will never leave or forsake us. May we celebrate your faithful care and loving nurture today. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.