Forgiven, Remembered And Watched Over
BRD REFLECTION 2025
(Gordon Tan, Lay Leader Representative)
READ:
Isaiah 49:15, 16
15 “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
I will not forget you!
16 See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are ever before me.
Psalm 130: 3 – 6
3 If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
5 I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
6 I wait for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
OBSERVE:
Isaiah 49 reveals how the Messiah, Jesus, will come from God to redeem Israel, and also be a light to the Gentiles. Through the Messiah, God will comfort and deliver His people. True worship of God will be restored and His people will “find pasture on every barren hill. They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.” (v 9b, 10). The healing words of love in verses 15 and 16 reassure us that each of us is engraved on the palms of God’s hand, recorded on walls that are before Him every moment of every day.
As I read Psalm 130, I observed the lament in verse 1. With the appeal to God’s forgiving love in verses 3 and 4, I join the psalmist in proclaiming that I wait for the Lord with my whole being. And like the psalmist, I eagerly wait for the Lord as a watchman, who has stayed awake the whole night, waits for the morning, to find relief and joy.
APPLY:
My sinful ways are ever before me. I am made aware of them daily and God knows them too. But I am reminded that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9, NIV). Therefore I need to constantly be aware of what I need to confess to God.
Isaiah highlights that I should not forget God’s promises that He will always remember us, despite our sinful nature. As a mother does not forget the love she has for her child, God loves us with great attachment. I am greatly comforted that God is always mindful of me.
DO:
I want to be mindful of all my ways that hurt and grieve my Lord. I want to be able to confess these sinful acts (and omissions to do good) to God, and through accepting God’s forgiveness, to rise up to worship Him for His grace and mercies.
PRAY:
Dear loving and forgiving Father, I want to acknowledge my sinful ways. My sin is ever before me but I want to claim Your promise in 1 John 1:9. I know that You will forgive me of my sins and purify me from all unrighteousness. And as I live each moment of each day, may I always worship You for Your grace, mercy and love. For I know that You love me with an everlasting love, more than a mother loves her child. So teach me patience to wait for You, for Your protection and providence. In Jesus’ precious name I pray, Amen.
