Listen:  154.4

Isaiah 44:22 says “I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.” What a precious verse this is! It was written to God’s chosen people, Israel, but we can apply it to ourselves if we know that God has blotted out our transgressions and redeemed us!

Later, in Isaiah 59:2 we read these words, “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear.” Sins are like clouds, for just as clouds come between heaven and earth, so sins come between God and man. Yet the clouds are easily removed by God, as we see in Job 37:21, “And now men see not the bright light which is in the clouds: but the wind passeth, and cleanseth them.” Our sins too can be removed, yet it took nothing less than the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ to accomplish this. Isaiah 53:6 declares, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.” The nation of Israel will one day claim this precious promise and experience fully the truth of Israel 44:22, but even now the repentant sinner can lay hold of this truth by faith and have their sins BLOTTED OUT. They can also know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they have been REDEEMED. Praise God for everyone who can claim the promise of 1 Peter 1:18-19, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold…but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

Based on God BLOTTING OUT OUR SINS and REDEEMING us, God desires us to have fellowship with Him and thus if we have wandered away from Him, He pleads with us to “return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.” He loves us too much to see us forsake Him for the empty and vain things of this world, so He invites us to return to that sweet communion we once enjoyed with Him. Nothing can ever come in to rob us of the forgiveness and redemption we have through Christ, but an unkind word or a sinful act that goes unconfessed can sever our fellowship with a holy God. If these words are falling on the ears of a dear, yet backslidden believer, may the remembrance of God blotting out yours sins and redeeming you through the death of His beloved Son, cause you to RETURN UNTO HIM. Like David in Psalm 51:12 you can cry out, “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.” He is waiting to hear that cry!  (154.4)  (DO)