Isaiah 49:15
“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.”
King James Version (KJV)
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Zion has just complained that the LORD has forsaken and forgotten her, and these verses are God's answer, affirming His unfailing remembrance of His people.
What Does Isaiah 49:15 Mean?
Isaiah 49:15 declares that God's love for His people is greater even than a nursing mother's love for her child. Zion had complained that the LORD had forsaken and forgotten her, and God answers with one of the tenderest images in all of Scripture. He points to the bond between a mother and the infant at her breast -- a love so instinctive it seems impossible to break.
Then the LORD presses further: even if such a mother could forget, "yet will I not forget thee." The verse acknowledges that human love, however deep, can fail; but God's commitment cannot. He measures His faithfulness against the strongest natural affection humans know and declares His own to be stronger still. This is a profound comfort for any reader who feels overlooked or abandoned by God. The feeling of being forgotten is met not with rebuke but with reassurance rooted in God's own character. His remembrance of His people is not casual but maternal in its tenderness and unbreakable in its constancy. Where every other bond may fray, the LORD's hold on His own remains sure -- not because they are unforgettable, but because He is faithful.
In the Original Language
The Hebrew racham, related to the word for womb, means to have deep compassion or motherly mercy; shakach means to forget or neglect, which God denies of Himself.
Cross References
“Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.”
- Isaiah 49:16
“When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.”
- Psalm 27:10
“As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.”
- Isaiah 66:13
Application
When you feel forgotten or abandoned, remember that God's care for you exceeds even a mother's love and that He will never let you slip from His mind.