In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them.  In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

Isaiah 63:9

I see this wonderful vision – me being carried as a needy one for all my days.  I never become self-sufficient.  I live my entire lifetime in the knowledge that I need daily help!

In Isaiah 63 we see the situation as it actually is: God’s people are in distress.  Where is God?  Behold, He too was distressed.  God is no stranger to distress. There are times when I feel like I must bear my stress alone – forgetting the most important thing, God is right there with me in my distress.

I think it would be nice if I never experience distress, but that is not the ways of the Lord.  He was distressed more that I can possibly know, to work out my salvation.

The Bible is full of God meeting his people in their distress.  This did not come to an end when Jesus appeared.  God’s people experience distress, that we know.  The difference is that now Jesus, the distressed one, is there with us.

So the sacred writer paints a picture – God in his love and mercy redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.  This is pure love, undeserved but poured out for us. Is this me?  Is it you?  Do I see myself carried as a child?  If so, I am living by the grace of God the way that is prepared for me.  I rest on that eternal reality.  Praise God.