SUMMARY
Contrary to the exiles’ fear, God has not forsaken them. God could no more do that than a mother could forsake her child–indeed, even less so.
ANALYSIS
Here we hear ZionZion originally referred to a mountain near Jerusalem where David conquered a Jebusite stronghold. Later the term came to mean a number of other things like the Temple, Jerusalem, and even the Promised Land. lament that God has forsaken the people. The prayer sounds exactly like the voice of PsalmA psalm is a song of praise. In the Old Testament 150 psalms comprise the psalter, although some of the psalms are laments and thanksgivings. In the New Testament early Christians gathered to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. 22:1. In this case, however, God responds with a counterclaim. No, says God, I have not forgotten, and I will not forget. In Second IsaiahSecond Isaiah refers chapters 40-55 of the book of Isaiah. This work was likely written during Israel's exile in Babylon (597-538 B.C.E.). Second Isaiah includes poetic passages of hope as well as descriptions of the Suffering Servant., God often responds to Israel’s laments positively and tenderly; but sometimes, when needed, God calls the lament into question, disputing its validity (see also 40:27).
The prophet uses the image of the nursing mother to describe God’s compassion for Israel. How could a mother possibly forget the child at her breast? Yet, even if she could, God could not. God is a mother and more than a mother, just as God, in other texts, is a father and more than a father (HoseaProphet to the northern kingdom who married a prostitute to show God's relationship to a faithless Israel. 11:9). Parental images are used often in the Bible to describe God’s relation to Israel, because they work well to speak both of the constant love and occasional discipline that a parent must exercise. Still, the human images are never perfect. Humans may fail; God will not.
In one of the book’s pictures of surprising intimacy, God claims to have “inscribed” Israel “on the palms of my hands.” Elsewhere the reverse is true: Israel writes on its hand God’s name (44:5). God and Israel are like two teenage lovers who have written each other’s names on their hands–all the more surprising since such tattoos were forbidden in Israel (Leviticus 19:28). Here, love breaks the constraints of law
