Reflections

Graven on His Hands

What are the possibilities that God will ever forget about us, and lose His loving concern for our eternal destiny? Isaiah lays to rest any doubt that may arise in what must be considered as one of the most fascinating texts in the whole of the Old Testament ( Is. 49:16). God cannot forget His people because He has "graven" them on the palms of  both His hands, and as they are indelibly  marked there where they cannot be overlooked, we need never fear that that we will be forgotten.

Tattooing is a custom that is known the world over, and most people who allow themselves to be tattooed have it done in places which are not open to common sight. But the "graving" of which Isaiah speaks is not  in some hidden part of God's great being, but "upon the palms of His hands". It is carried where all may see, and none can overlook. The "palm of our hand" has passed into common usage to symbolise familiarity, such as when we say, "I know it like the palm of my hand'. And that, says Isaiah, is where God carries the reminder of His people's Salvation: where it cannot be overlooked. It is not a note passed on to an Angel, or written down in a scrapbook :it is graven on the palms of God's hands.