The distress of Zion only makes way for the display of divine love; and if the people of God, in their several exercises (be they what they may) could but be brought to consider the unceasing and everlasting care of the Lord over his people, they would like Paul, take pleasure in infirmities and reproaches for Christ's sake, knowing that when most weak in themselves, those are the very seasons for being strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10. Reader! I pray you take notice, what a very tender and interesting image the Lord here makes use of, to dry up the tears of Zion; and which, I beg the Reader to remember, is as much addressed to mourners in Zion now, as it was then when first delivered: Can a woman forget her sucking child? The figure is carried to the highest pitch of tenderness the imagination can conceive, in order to show the vast superiority of that love which God bears towards his Zion, his people. A woman, the tenderest part of human nature; and a mother also; yea, a nursing mother; and not to a child only, but to a sucking child, who is still hanging to her breasts, and depending upon her for everything; can such a person forget the infant, the son of her womb, which came forth from her own bowels, and is indeed part of herself: and the very fulness of her breasts requiring discharge still urging also to remembrance? Is it possible, saith the Lord, that she can forget either the child or herself? The Lord asketh the question, and answers it himself: Yea, they may forget! Yea her compassion may give way! Sickness, a fever, with loss of senses, death, or dying circumstances, may induce it; yea, some mothers, as hath been known, have destroyed the fruit of their womb, to hide their shame; and some, as the Prophet hath described in a time of famine, have sodden their own children for food, Lamentations 4:10. But, saith the Lord, though all natural feelings may be lost, the tender compassion of God for his Zion shall never give way! And how blessed are the promises that follow, to create faith in the hearts of his people? Set me, saith the Church, as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm. I have, saith the Lord, engraven thee upon the palms of my hands. And how was this fulfilled when the hands and feet of Jesus were bored and fastened to the cross! Surely there can be no remembrance like this; no memento for the believer to look at, as well as his Lord, to ensure an unceasing attention to his wants, and to give every blessing that cross purchased. See Song of Solomon 8:6; Zechariah 12:10. And how blessedly do all the promises follow these divine assurances, that the Lord's mercies upon Zion shall follow every wasting time with tenfold fulness, so as to surprise the people of God with the unexpectedness, as well as the greatness of salvation by Jesus. I beg the Reader not to lose sight, that in those unspeakable blessings, what is said, is spoken, first, to the person of our Lord, as the great Head of his Church; and then to his Zion, his redeemed in him; for such views abundantly heighten every blessing.
Isaiah 49:14-21
14 But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.
15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.
16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.
17 Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.
18 Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.
19 For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.
20 The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.
21 Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?