On God's Palms

READ: ISAIAH 49:15-16; ROMANS 8:35-39

Do you ever wonder, Where is God now? Doesn’t He love me?

Isaiah 49:15-16 presents one of the most beautiful expressions—in all of Scripture—of God’s everlasting love for His people.

Here God contrasts His love with perhaps the closest of human bonds: that of a mother with her nursing child. As unlikely as it is, a woman could forget her child. Yet God says He will never forget us.

He has inscribed—some translations even say “tattooed”—us on the palms of His hands!

Why is this significant? Because our palms contain some of the most sensitive areas of skin on our bodies. Getting a tattoo on your palm is not only extremely painful but can also take months to heal.

Yet when God says, “I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands,” He is using figurative language to say He would go to the excruciating pain of having our name tattooed on His palms so that we would ever be before His face. In Christ, we are His people, and He loves us so much that He has literally gone through great pain to be with us (Isaiah 53:5-6; John 3:16).

Your name inscribed on God’s palm represents all of you—your fears, loneliness, circumstances, desires, and dreams. Everything that concerns you is always before Him.

He loves you. •Cheryl Elton

• Our sin separates us from God, but because He loved us, Jesus—who is God—endured pain on the cross so that we could have a relationship with God through faith in Him. How could this truth change your perspective when God’s love feels distant?

• Read Psalm 42. Here David struggles with acknowledging God’s love while feeling far from it, even crying out to God, “Why have You forgotten me?” (verse 9). How can this psalm provide comfort to you?

See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me. Isaiah 49:16 (NKJV)