“Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him. For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; You shall weep no more. He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry; When He hears it, He will answer you” (Isaiah 30:18-19 NKJV)
Twice in this short text, the word “gracious” is used. When God calls Himself gracious, what He means is that He sees you as a treasure, He delights in you, regardless of your status or behavior. Graciousness is one of the characteristics of God. It’s derived from the Hebrew word, “khen.”
According to the commentary on The Character of God from the Bible Project, “One meaning of ‘khen’ is “delightful or favorable.” Things or people that naturally attract delight or favor (like jewelry or kindness) can be said to have khen, but something unattractive or someone undeserving can also receive khen. For example, when someone is in debt to another and they ask for khen, they are asking for favor in spite of what they deserve. Extraordinary acts of khen like these require a generous spirit. And no one does this better than God himself. He shows extreme khen over and over again. In fact, this characteristic of God is so reliable that over forty times in the book of Psalms, people cry out for God’s khen when they are sick, in danger, or in exile. And biblical prophets, like Isaiah, also talk about God’s khen as they declare that God will one day show His grace by delivering all creation from death and ruin.”
Let us take note of three important points from our text in Isaiah 30:18-19. First, God says, He will ‘wait’ to be gracious to us. Secondly, just as we ‘wait’ on God, so He also ‘waits’ on us to be gracious to us. Third, He will be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. This means that God is eagerly waiting to hear the sound of our cry, the sound of our petition. Then, we have this assurance from God, “When he hears it, He will answer you.” What a great assurance! This is the real “Blessed Assurance.”
God shows His graciousness in forgiving our sins. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 NKJV)
God shows His graciousness in sending His Son through whom we partake of His blessings. “From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another” (John 1:16 NLT).
God has demonstrated His graciousness by making us joint-heirs with Christ. “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” (Romans 8:16-17 NKJV).
Our hope of eternity is due to the graciousness of God. John 14:1-2 says, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:1-3 NKJV).
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