God Redeems us by His Loving-Kindness and Mercy ~ The Heart of a Woman Bible Study Week 6

The Heart of A Woman Bible study, based off of the promises found in Isaiah 54, is for every woman who has a place of barrenness, emptiness, lack of faith, or fear keeping her from experiencing fruitfulness in her life. If this is you, won’t you join us as we journey to a deeper more abundant life of faith together? The Heart of a Woman is all about finding the heart of the Father towards the daughters He lovingly calls His own.

©dawnboyer 2014 Journeys In Grace www.journeysingrace.com

Originally published on Soli Deo Gloria Sisterhood www.solideogloriasisterhood.com.

God Redeems us by Loving-Kindness and Tender Mercy

I am so excited to walk with you through the next 3 verses of Isaiah 54 this week because I truly think they are the heart of this chapter written directly to the heart of a woman. So many times we can find ourselves despondent and lonely in this life, even when we are fully surrounded by people who love us. There is a reason that we don’t ‘fit’ in with the world and why we find ourselves longing for that intimacy that can only come in a deep binding covenant relationship which we were made for.

Ultimately, my hope through this study of God’s Word and His glorious promises towards you is that you will find the ‘aha’ moment and realize the manifestation of His beautiful grace in your life. This week we will look at the beauty of His loving-kindness and mercy towards you. Micah 6:8 tells us of his character and how we are to reflect it by exhibiting mercy and loving-kindness walking with humility in our hearts. Without a knowledge and understanding of his perfect precept,s we are unable to live this life of mercy-walking and humble love simply because we have not first received it from our Father. We have to know how to receive love, in order to give it away.

Lamentations 3:22 – It is because of the LORD’S mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions fail not.

Psalm 119:103-105 – How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through your precepts I get understanding … Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. ~ Psalm 119:103-105

Mercy and Loving-Kindness, Compassion and Grace, Love and Redemption all are found in the Father.

When the Lord brought me to this chapter in Isaiah years ago it was because I had found myself, literally, in what I call a ‘pit of despair’. I needed a word of hope and promise to cling to. Even though I was reading His Word and praying every day, my circumstances were not changing. Consequently,my hope in the future was fading as I watched my young daughter progressively get worse daily with the seizures that wracked her little body. Though that was not all that consumed my heart at this time, it is just a minor glimpse of those dark moments where I cried out to my God and He answered me in a real and tangible way. I literally felt forsaken, and grieved in spirit, forgotten and unheard.

{Have you ever had moments like this?}

These 3 verses, I believe, hold the key that each of us need to use to open the door of our hearts to the healing touch God longs to bring into our lives. The fact is this, friends, we live in a fallen world and people disappoint us, life can disappoint us, WE disappoint ourselves. Living in disappointment is an area where hurt can run deep and pain can be felt beyond the immediate hurt. It is here, that I am learning as I walk with God, that He meets us and tenderly displays His love for us. It is here in this place where we feel forsaken and forgotten, this place where our unrealistic and unmet expectations loom large over our destiny, ultimately becoming peace-stealers, that Isaiah 54:6-8 beautifully addresses. This second section of Isaiah 54 is where we start to really dig in and find Hope. The first 4 verses are addressing our action, the next 5 are going to set the direction we will be actively moving towards.

Let’s get started in the Word of God:

For the Lord has called you like a woman forsaken, grieved in spirit, and heartsore – even a wife [wooed and won] in youth, when she is [later] refused and scorned, says your God. For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion and mercy I will gather you [to Me} again. In a little burst of wrath I hid My face from you for a moment, but with age-enduring love and kindness I will have compassion and mercy on you, says the Lord, your Redeemer. – Isaiah 54:6-8 (amplified version)

Verses 6-8 remind us that those moments when we feel forsaken, we can have hope because we are completely remembered by God. There is miracle hope hidden in the words here.

God calls us back. As our redeemer, he stands in the gap to meet all our needs
He comforts us, in the moments of lack and desperation. He comforts us, in the moments of lack and desperation. When those we love turn away, our God is faithful to care tenderly for our needs. Like a bridegroom who sees beauty and the way he woos the rejected on with words of love and endearment.
Though you feel forsaken, He has never left you. ( Isaiah 41:10)

David Guzik points out in his commentary on the book of Isaiah, that the usage of the verbs in this passage reflect their meaning. If you are a grammar elitist, you will understand what I say when I suggest that if we look at the tense, mood, and voice of the words in scripture, then we will begin to truly understand how they should be read.

The word forsake in this scripture, is used in the present tense, which usually describes how we ‘feel’ in the moment. While great mercies are a future tense verb, and thus is written towards the future but also with no expected ending. Comparing the two verbs we can see the contrasting picture Isaiah is painting for us:

the present is momentary, not eternal but temporal.
the future points to resurrection life, which is eternal and everlasting.

I have suggested through our study that we consider the fact that our time and God’s timeline are not always symbiotic. That is not to suggest in any way that God is not on time, on the contrary, He is always on time. However, when I am missing the tempo and rhythm life is beating out for me to march alongside of it is because I am the one who is out-of-step. Scripture reminds us that our ways are not like His ways, neither are our thoughts like His.(Isaiah 55:8) He is transcendent. Our infinite minds cannot wholly understand His ways. Yet, what these verses show us is a contrast of little moments , the times we feel forsaken, and His compassion and loving-kindness, the moments we long for. The Lord redeems our brokenness when He displays His everlasting covenant of grace and mercy.

Bad things are not a result of being forgotten by God, but a reminder we live in a fallen world that NEEDS compassion.

Often we assume that when bad things happen, they are a result of God’s anger towards us. The reality is that His anger is slow and His mercy is great. He is compassionate and full of mercy. We can’t always explain the bad that occurs, but we know the source of all that is good and right and true. Jesus also told us that his entrance was to bring abundant life, while the adversary who is roaming like a lion in search of prey longs to steal, kill, and destroy any good that is in our lives. (John 10:10) Don’t let the enemy distract you with feelings of inadequacy, depression, defeat, or loneliness which is meant to steal the good things that God has done or is already doing in your life.

His love is an eternal covenant based on reconciliation.

The word hesed olam is used in verse 7-8 to express the concept of the eternal love of God. It is a Hebrew phrase that reveals that Christ’s sacrifice was the full redemption for the chasm that separated man from God. It fixed the gulf. The principle we need to grasp is that those moments we feel forsaken are like the river to the sea of his deliverance and grace.

The following Hebrew Words are significant for this study:

ga’al =(Redeemer, to redeem, buy back, to free, the next of kin ) In this verse it is the same term used in the Book of Ruth with regards to Boaz as a kinsman redeemer who comes in to rescue, redeem and restore.
olam = (everlasting, eternal, or forever)> In this verse it is used as a hyperbole which means it is an exclamatory use or an exaggerated use of the word eternal, meaning there is no end to this covenant of mercy between ourselves and our compassionate God.
chesed or hesed = (loving-kindness, pity, favor, compassion) In this section of scripture it is meant to convey the loving-kindness and deep compassion of the LORD upon those who He has a covenant relationship with.

Isaiah is using the schemes and tropes of a skilled writer, here in this chapter. The verses are written specifically to draw our eyes from something we know directing them to something God wants us to see. The literary device of comparison gives us something to refer to when trying to process the depth of the message here. In verse 5 God is referred to as our Maker in order to show us He is fully capable to control His creation, it reveals sovereignty. As we discussed in verse 6, He is the husband-redeemer (ga’al). The intimacy of our marriage to Christ implies that we are securely connected, related by covenant, to the God of the whole earth.

I want to draw your attention back to term olam hesed (chesed), which is translated as eternal compassion and loving-kindness. This term for loving-kindness refers to the reciprocal rights granted to those who are actively involved in relationship. We have established that there is an eternal marriage covenant between the LORD and His Bride, and this relationship is based on generosity, loyalty and mercy. Consequently, the implications of this hesed-covenant is grounded only in Truth, truth being, of course, Jesus Christ. ( John 14:16)

In this covenant, the weaker partner seeks the protection and blessing of the one who is strong and capable, while the stronger partner commits to keep the promise to protect. However there is a unique paradigm that is hidden in this Hebraic model: it is all based in freedom. Isn’t that just like God? The one who needs help must come to the one who is able to give it, but the one who is qualified, and quantified, to do so has the freedom to manifest that help in their own wisdom and time.

God in His infinite Wisdom is speaking directly to our hearts ladies! We need to remember that when we feel forsaken, lonely, and refused, God our Maker, Husband and Covenant keeper takes our relationship seriously. He always meets our needs, abundantly, in a timely and definite way, often knowing what we have need of, long before we do.

Hesed is personal, and goes beyond the rule of law that a binding marriage contract usually implies. It transcends material and physical laws by making it possible for this union to fully complete the relationship. (Malachi 2:14-16)God, who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond all we think or understand comes in and meets us where we are personally, deeply, intimately, and completely.

Trials are momentary but Redemption is eternal.

It is easy to allow our momentary weakness to take our eyes off of the truth that is right in front of us. Trials are always temporary. His wrath will not last forever. We can trust in His goodness. Often it is our sin that causes his temporary ‘hiding, but it is in His Mercy that he tenderly gathers us near, drawing us in, and healing the broken pieces of our lives.

Psalm 30:5,11 – For his anger endures but a moment: in his favor is life: weeping endures for a night, but joy comes in the morning. (Because of his Mercy) You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have put of my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness.

Remember, dear woman of God, that though there are times we may feel forsaken, God has never left us. Joy will come in the morning and we will be dancing and singing with the song our heart was meant to play. We can trust in the promises of the covenant He keeps with us as our redeeming hope.

Blessings In Christ,

Author, writer and speaker, Dawn is passionate about many things: God, Family, Prayer, Food, and the Word. You can find her writing about those hard questions, reasoning and rejoicing in God’s grace and mercy for those who are walking this journey to grace on her website, Journeys In Grace.(www.journeysingrace.com)