Isaiah 38:17

"Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back."

Consider for a moment that which we have as believers in the LORD Jesus Christ. If we take this verse backwards, we can firstly consider that He has cast all our sins behind His back. Sin is that which goes against the ways of the God of the universe. Scripture makes it abundantly clear that there is nobody reading (or writing!) these thoughts that is without sin. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God, says Paul. Consider the standing that each and every one of us has before God. Since sin is against God, since He is almighty, and since He is the judge, we find ourselves in a precarious spot indeed. For His judgment will be right, His ability to mete out His justice is limitless, and it is He that we have offended. The Bible makes it clear that the wages of sin is death. It also makes it clear that death is not just physical, but spiritual, and eternal. So, to find here in Isaiah that God has cast our sins behind His back ought to take our breath away. The almighty God, against Whom we have sinned, has taken the matter into His own hand in an entirely unexpected way.

We must consider, though, that true justice does not just wink at offences. It cannot be true justice if it is not satisfied. A human judge who decides to shrug off some awful offence would be considered to be a poor judge. This is not God, of course. In order to treat our sin so benignly as to simply cast it behind His back, where it cannot be seen, His justice against it must be satisfied. How was His justice against our sin satisfied? In the death of Jesus Christ, His Son. He was judged in the place of sinners. He bore the awful wrath of God’s justice against our sin! He never sinned, neither disobeyed His Father. He was the perfect sacrifice for our sin. Because God’s justice against all sin for all time was satisfied on that wonderful day He can justly cast our sin behind His back. But this is a gift for the asking, not a universally applied remedy. Many refuse to believe what God says about His Son, that He was the sacrifice for all of our sin, and so they vainly try to make up for what they have done. But the application of this great forgiveness before God is simply for the asking!

A little more deep is the next idea in the verse, "... but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption ..." This reveals God’s motivation in casting our sin behind His back. It is an act of love. For love for our souls He has delivered it from the pit of corruption. This a reference to hell, the place of eternal torment. The reason God provided such a great salvation was because of His love for His creation. In great mercy He chased Adam and Eve out of the garden so that they would not eat of the tree of life and live forever in sin. And scripture makes it clear that He planned the death of His Son for sin before He even made the world! There are great mysteries in that statement, but the fact of His love for us cannot be denied. He paid an awful price out of love for our souls. And out of that great love He delivered them from the pit of corruption.

But this life remains hard. "... Behold, for peace I had great bitterness ..." says the writer. No matter your relationship with the God of the Universe there are things in life that are painful and sad. Daily we are reminded of this truth either in our own lives or in the lives of others. And it is so because of the fall of Adam and Eve. Don’t we all wish that we never did know good and evil? Before the fall all Adam and Eve knew was good. Afterwards mostly evil. Within a short time of their fall they knew the sorrow of death as one son murdered another. Even as they were being questioned by God about what had happened (of course, God knew all along) Adam tried to blame his wife and God Himself for his own failure. And this is what was passed along onto all of mankind.

Considering this verse in the printed direction (instead of backwards) we find that the writer speaks firstly of the sorrow, secondly of God’s love, and finally of God’s satisfied justice. Taken in this order, the sorrows and heartaches pale in comparison to God’s great love and great salvation. The sorrows of this life end at death. God’s love and salvation last forever. What a great and loving God He is! And what a wonderful thing He has done for us! So even in the heartaches we can say, God is good.

All the way my Savior leads me
O the fullness of His love!
Perfect rest to me is promised
In my Father’s house above.
When my spirit, clothed immortal,
Wings its flight to realms of day
This my song through endless ages:
Jesus led me all the way;
This my song through endless ages:
Jesus led me all the way.

HJK