And yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand.

Our verse for today is part of a prayer that Isaiah made to God asking for mercy. The prayer was made on behalf of the people of Judah, but it applies to the people of God of any age. Our verse has three parts, which we will examine in three points.

First, we, the people of God, are God’s children, and He is our Father. Since He has made us into His family, we can expect that He will treat us as His children. Thus, although we may be disobedient at times, we can expect that God will treat us as a father would. We can expect that He will pity us as a father pities His children. Although what we have done may be sufficient grounds for casting us out of the family, we may remind God of His relationship to us and appeal to His fatherly love.

Second, we may also remind God that we are mere clay, while He is the potter. We are mere clay in the sense that we have been formed from the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7), and in the sense that we have been shaped into His people and His family. As such, we are really nothing in ourselves. We are totally dependent creatures of God. Although we may not question God or blame God for what He has made (Romans 9:19-21), we may remind Him of our frailty and weakness as mere lumps of clay in order to appeal to His mercy as our maker.

Finally, since God is our potter, we have been formed by His hand. Potters do not usually destroy the work of their hands. Consequently, we may appeal to God as our potter not to destroy us for the sins we have committed. Further, since we are mere clay, there is no hope that we can form ourselves into something pleasing to God. We may appeal to God as our potter to mold us into something that He finds pleasing and acceptable.

Today, come before your father in heaven, the sovereign potter who made you, and ask that by His mercy and grace, He will mold you and make you into something beautiful that pleases Him.

By John Huisman, Friend of Bible League International