What divine comfort there is in these gracious words! Nothwithstanding all their wanderings and sins, the Chosen People were Jehovah’s elect race. Nothing could make him forget them; he had redeemed them with the saving strength of his right hand. He could never forget them, but he would forget their sins. Their transgressions had melted into the blue azure of his love. If sought for, they could not be found. Nature was asked to be one great orchestra of praise. And notice that our redemption brings more glory to Jehovah than our undoing would.

In the following chapter the people are assured that they would return from captivity, to rebuild Jerusalem and re-inhabit the cities of Judah. They probably expected that their return would be marked by miracles as marvelous as those through which their fathers emerged from Egyption bondage. But God never repeats himself ; and his purposes would work out through a heathen monarch, Cyrus, whom God was preparing as the executor of his purpose, v. 28. “Deep in unfathomable mines of never-failing skill, he treasures up his bright designs, and works his sovereign will.”