For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not remembered the rock of your refuge.
– Isaiah 17:10
Wow, what an indictment of God’s people that they have forgotten God. The God who saved them, the God who delivered them, the God who has provided for them, they have forgotten God and not remembered. Listen to this phrase, they have not remembered the rock of refuge. They didn’t remember where the firm foundation is upon which they can stand, the fortress in which they can find refuge amidst all kinds of challenges and trials and circumstances and letdowns and valleys in this world, they forgot the rock of their refuge.
Isaiah 17:10 invites us to remember who God is.
And I just want to encourage you today based on Isaiah 17:10, don’t forget. Especially when, well, one, when you’re tempted to disobey God, to trust in yourself or the things of this world to satisfy you instead of God.
When you’re tempted to run from God, don’t forget, he is your deliverer. He is your savior. He is your sustainer. God is your provider. He is the rock upon whom you stand. Don’t forget Him. And then also when you go through hard days in this world, when you are wondering why this or that is happening and where God is, or how you can go on in those moments, remember. Don’t forget, God is your salvation. He loves you so much.
If you can trust Him to give you eternal life for the next 10 trillion years and beyond, then surely you can trust Him today, this week, this month, this year, in this trial that you are facing. He is the God of your salvation. Don’t forget, He is the rock upon whom you can stand. He is the refuge in whom you can hide amidst whatever you’re walking through. And the adversary would love to whisper, maybe even shout in your ear, “You can’t trust in God. Just forget about God. Don’t listen to his voice.”
Listen to the voice of the God of your salvation. Listen to the rock of your refuge whose promises will not fail you, whose purposes, good purposes for your life, will be carried out. Trust in Him. Don’t forget Him.
Isaiah 17:10 invites us to remember God’s loving care for us.
God, I pray for all of us amidst whatever we’re walking through, whether it’s temptations to disobey you, to wander from you, to run from you in any kind of way, or trials that we’re walking through that are hard.
God, I pray that you’d help all of us to not forget who you are, not forget how much you have loved, and how much you love, and how much you promise to love us as we continue trusting in you that you will provide for us, that you are the God of our salvation. Help us to remember that you are our rock. Help us to remember that you are a refuge, an ever-present help in trouble for us. You are our strength. Lord, you are our joy. You are our hope. You are our life. You’re everything.
God, we pray that you would keep us from listening to the voice of the adversary who would pull us away from you amidst temptations and trials, who would lead us to forget you and who you are.
Prayer for the Eritrean Tigre People
And God, even as we pray that we would not forget, we pray for those who’ve never heard God. Specifically today, we pray for the Eritrean Tigre people, the largest Muslim people group in Eritrea. God, please cause the gospel to spread for the first time to the Eritrean Tigre people, to the million of them who don’t know who you are, who’ve never heard the good news of your love in Jesus.
Please cause salvation to come, refuge for all of eternity to come to the Eritrean Tigre people and use your church, raise up labors for that harvest field. We pray from Eritrea, from Ethiopia, other countries around the Horn of Africa. God, we pray for the spread of the gospel, your salvation to the Eritrean Tigre people, even as we pray in our own lives. Help us who have this gospel not to forget you, the God of our salvation. Help us to remember you, the rock of our refuge. In Jesus’ name we pray according to Isaiah 17:10. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
