The Verse - Isaiah 46:3-4

Listen to me, O house of Jacob,

all the remnant of the house of Israel,

who have been borne by me from before your birth,

carried from the womb;

even to your old age I am he,

and to gray hairs I will carry you.

I have made, and I will bear;

I will carry and will save.

(Isaiah 46:3-4)

My sister-in-law Rebekah sent me this verse the other day, and I liked it so much that I wanted to share it with you. God, speaking to Israel (and subsequently the church, which was grafted into Israel after the new covenant), used the first-person pronoun seven times, showing his deep personal connection with Israel.

I love how this passage conveys the ideas that God knows us so well, that He knew us before we were born, that He formed us in our mothers' wombs and will be with us until our old age. Throughout our life, God our Creator carries us and saves us. What comforting words these are; what profound words these are.

Theologian Mathew Henry comments on this verse: "The history of the life of every believer is a kind of abstract of the history of Israel." Henry alludes to the fact that, like Israel, we are in constant need of God's grace. Also like Israel, God will never leave us, because He is with us from the beginning to the end. And at the end He will carry us home. As Jesus said at the end of the Great Commission: "And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20.)

Why should we Christians be anxious about anything? If we trust in God He will carry our burdens. as Jesus says in Matthew 11:28-30: "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

I hope these words are a comfort to you, as they were to me.