The Lord reveals his dismay at the unresponsiveness of his people to his entreaties. He repeatedly came, willing and powerful to deliver and redeem with an outstretched hand. But his people did not experience that power. They responded to him in unbelief. There is a word of exhortation here as well. To be sure, we cannot fully comprehend the mind of God, and so there may be any number of reasons why he might not give deliverance (from a besetting sin or hard trial) when we ask of God. But those reasons never include weakness or reluctance. Rather, God is able and willing to deliver, but not when we are hanging back in sullen reluctance and haughty fault-finding
; he wants us to step forward in the eagerness of repentance and faith.
1 If he is able to direct all things in nature, whether in the sky, on the earth, and under the earth (Isaiah 50:2–3), he is able to deliver those who are his.
2 Je suis venu: pourquoi n'y avait-il personne? J'ai appelé: pourquoi personne n'a-t-il répondu? Ma main est-elle trop courte pour racheter? N'ai-je pas assez de force pour délivrer? Par ma menace, je dessèche la mer, Je réduis les fleuves en désert; Leurs poissons se corrompent, faute d'eau, Et ils périssent de soif.