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.
17 Soon your descendants will come back,
    and all who are trying to destroy you will go away.
18 Look around you and see,
    for all your children will come back to you.
As surely as I live,” says the Lord,
    “they will be like jewels or bridal ornaments for you to display. (NLT).

We have just read a grand, sweeping vision of the future, when people will come streaming into the Kingdom of God (8-13). But, it’s been pointed out, such realities are hard to lay hold of when we are in acute pain. The word ”Yet” in verse 14 (or ”But”) brings us back to the immediate situation of the fall of Jerusalem, and its effects on all those who experienced it. They felt abandoned.

However, the Lord reaffirms His love for His people. It’s almost like He sings over them, ‘Unforgettable, that’s what you are.’ Although, thankfully, not the norm, there is a possibility of some mothers neglecting their children. But God will not stop loving His own. The discipline and chastening of the exile years in Babylon are not to be taken as the withdrawal of His love (see Hebs.12:4-13). Anyway, there will ”Soon” be a major turnaround in their fortunes. In reality the ”Soon” would take 70 years, but in the grand scheme of things that is just the blink of an eyelid (2 Pet.3:8,9).

In the book ‘Spiritual Direction’ Henri Nouwen writes about how in his later years he moved into a community and became a carer for a mentally handicapped young man called Adam, and how He felt more and more in touch with the heart of God because of knowing Him. Writing about what he learned from Adam he said,

”First, he taught me that being is more important than doing, that God wants me to be with him and not do all sorts of things to prove I’m valuable. My life had been doing, doing, doing. I’m a driven person, wanting to do thousands and thousands of things so that I can show – somehow, finally – that I’m worthwhile” (p.44).

He came to see that the deepest truth about His life: he was (is) a beloved son of God.

If God would not forget Israel, how sure we can be that He will not forget those of us who are in His Son Jesus.

‘Unforgettable-that’s what you are.’

Prayer: Lord, help me to really grasp the unalterable truth that I am infinitely and eternally loved by you.