VII.
As we come to the prophet’s words today, notice what is said about “the children.” What was the source of their protection?

VIII.
Isaiah 49:18-23 (New Revised Standard Version)

Lift up your eyes all around and see;
they all gather, they come to you.
As I live, says the Lord,
you shall put all of them on like an ornament,
and like a bride you shall bind them on.

Surely your waste and your desolate places
and your devastated land—
surely now you will be too crowded for your inhabitants,
and those who swallowed you up will be far away.

The children born in the time of your bereavement
will yet say in your hearing:
“The place is too crowded for me;
make room for me to settle.”

Then you will say in your heart,
“Who has borne me these?
I was bereaved and barren,
exiled and put away—
so who has reared these?
I was left all alone—
where then have these come from?”

Thus says the Lord God:
I will soon lift up my hand to the nations,
and raise my signal to the peoples;
and they shall bring your sons in their bosom,
and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.

Kings shall be your foster fathers,
and their queens your nursing mothers.
With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you,
and lick the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;
those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.

IX.
Sometimes protection comes from unlikely sources. Does that seem to be something the prophet wants the people to notice?

This encourages me to look for those times when I was discouraged or fearful and recall how relief came my way.

When have you been surprised by encouragement or relief or maybe even God’s quiet presence from unlikely sources?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}