For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour.
God claims His people as His own truthful children whom He expects to be faithful and true to Him, and on that ground He becomes their Saviour in loving-kindness, mercy and care. This is remembered with praise for His great goodness and multitude of loving-kindnesses bestowed on the house of Israel. His saving care meant that in all their affliction He was afflicted, and in love and pity He redeemed them by the angel of His presence and bore and carried them all the days of old as in the wilderness. Even when they afterward rebelled and grieved His Spirit He still held out salvation and restoration, so the word is full of comfort and large with promise. Therefore His people are to put away complaint and evil, repent and be reformed, and trust the Redeemer with certain confidence of victory, for He alone is God with infinite power to save all who come to Him.
God's Claim as Saviour
God claimed Israel as His own people, as children who would not lie — that is, truthful children whom He regarded as bound to be faithful and true to Him. He looked upon them as His people and upon their children as those who would not prove false, but would answer His expectation with loyalty. Because He so regarded them, He became their Saviour. That saving office rested in His acknowledged relationship to them and in His loving-kindness and care for them, in His mercy and in the multitude of His loving-kindnesses.
The saying stands within a remembrance and praise of the Lord's loving-kindnesses for all He had bestowed, His great goodness toward the house of Israel according to His mercies and according to the multitude of His loving-kindnesses. His salvation was made manifest in that in all their affliction He was afflicted, the angel of His presence saved them, and in His love and in His pity He redeemed them and bore and carried them all the days of old. That bearing and carrying was shown in the wilderness, where He shared their affliction, redeemed them in love and pity, and carried them onward. Though Israel afterward rebelled and grieved His Spirit, He in mercy still continued to hold out salvation and restoration to them.
The word is therefore full of comfort and large with promise.
Heeding Call With Confidence
Isaiah 63 stands among chapters that speak decisively to God's people. It calls them to cease complaining and doing evil, to repent and be converted as part of a needed reformation. Chapters 62 through 65 together are to be heeded as a decisive appeal. Receiving those words and abandoning complaint and evil work brings a showing of the Lord's power in the conviction and conversion of souls.
Remembering the Lord's loving-kindness, goodness and mercy toward Israel is fitting matter for conversation. That remembrance calls for more confidence in the Redeemer now. Trustful dependence on Jesus makes victory not only possible but certain. Even when multitudes press on in the wrong way and the outlook is discouraging, there can be full assurance in the Leader. That assurance rests on His being God and there being none else, infinite in power and able to save all who come to Him, so there is no other in whom it is safe to trust instead of turning to broken cisterns that can hold no water.
God claims His people as His own truthful children whom He expects to be faithful and true to Him, and on that ground He becomes their Saviour in loving-kindness, mercy and care. This is remembered with praise for His great goodness and multitude of loving-kindnesses bestowed on the house of Israel. His saving care meant that in all their affliction He was afflicted, and in love and pity He redeemed them by the angel of His presence and bore and carried them all the days of old as in the wilderness. Even when they afterward rebelled and grieved His Spirit He still held out salvation and restoration, so the word is full of comfort and large with promise. Therefore His people are to put away complaint and evil, repent and be reformed, and trust the Redeemer with certain confidence of victory, for He alone is God with infinite power to save all who come to Him.
God's Claim as Saviour
God claimed Israel as His own people, as children who would not lie — that is, truthful children whom He regarded as bound to be faithful and true to Him. He looked upon them as His people and upon their children as those who would not prove false, but would answer His expectation with loyalty. Because He so regarded them, He became their Saviour. That saving office rested in His acknowledged relationship to them and in His loving-kindness and care for them, in His mercy and in the multitude of His loving-kindnesses.
The saying stands within a remembrance and praise of the Lord's loving-kindnesses for all He had bestowed, His great goodness toward the house of Israel according to His mercies and according to the multitude of His loving-kindnesses. His salvation was made manifest in that in all their affliction He was afflicted, the angel of His presence saved them, and in His love and in His pity He redeemed them and bore and carried them all the days of old. That bearing and carrying was shown in the wilderness, where He shared their affliction, redeemed them in love and pity, and carried them onward. Though Israel afterward rebelled and grieved His Spirit, He in mercy still continued to hold out salvation and restoration to them.
The word is therefore full of comfort and large with promise.
Heeding Call With Confidence
Isaiah 63 stands among chapters that speak decisively to God's people. It calls them to cease complaining and doing evil, to repent and be converted as part of a needed reformation. Chapters 62 through 65 together are to be heeded as a decisive appeal. Receiving those words and abandoning complaint and evil work brings a showing of the Lord's power in the conviction and conversion of souls.
Remembering the Lord's loving-kindness, goodness and mercy toward Israel is fitting matter for conversation. That remembrance calls for more confidence in the Redeemer now. Trustful dependence on Jesus makes victory not only possible but certain. Even when multitudes press on in the wrong way and the outlook is discouraging, there can be full assurance in the Leader. That assurance rests on His being God and there being none else, infinite in power and able to save all who come to Him, so there is no other in whom it is safe to trust instead of turning to broken cisterns that can hold no water.