You are precious in my sight. (Isaiah 43,1-7)

It wasn’t too hard for me to choose which Lectio I should offer first in English. As time goes by, I find that my own faith life becomes less complex, more essential, yet — despite the many ups and downs — more deeply rooted. The Scriptural passage I propose here (Isaiah 43,1-7) speaks to me of a profound truth, not so much on the intellectual, but rather the experiential level: that sense of God who would like to look us in the eye and say, your are very dear in my eyes. The day when our eyes are really pure, we too we be able to look at the world, and at others, with this same sense which allows us to say radically: you are dear in God’s eyes.

Experiential truth … as some passages also have a personal story. In my case, it was spring 2005. I was then having in a spiritual conversation one evening with a high school student (I was then teaching at our college in Malta). Towards the end, I remember saying to him: you are very dear in God’s eyes. I know I said those words with great honesty, on an intellectual level. Yet, as I said those words something in me struck a deep chord, I heard it within me that those words were meant first and foremost for me, as deep down I struggle to believe them, and should I believe them deep down, they would change my life. Even just remembering them, I can almost feel the shiver down my spine. Back then, I had no Scriptural reference in mind, but this passage fits perfectly.

Lectio

Before moving on to the lectio itself, it is good — especially for first-time readers — to have a look at some practical suggestions how to pray. The start with a first reading of the passage: Isaiah 43,1-7 … you may want to look it up in your Bible, or online [here on biblegateway.com NRSV].

The passage in question has — besides the parallelisms typical of Hebrew poetry — an interesting concentric structure, with verse 4ab at its very centre:

[1ab] God creates and forms God’s people.
- [1c-3b] Do not be afraid. I will be with you. God saves and redeems God’s people.
  - [3cd] The price of ransom
    - [4ab] “You are precious in my sight …“
  - [4cd] The price of ransom
- [5-7a] Do not be afraid. I will be with you. God saves and redeems God’s people.
[7b] God creates and forms God’s people.

Having in mind the general structure, we can comment on the single verses:

[1ab] But now thus says the Lord, / he who created you, O Jacob, /he who formed you, O Israel. At the very foundations of God’s promise is creation itself. The God who creates us and forms us, loves us. Jacob/Israel here does not refer only to the patriarch himself, but the entire people represented by its founding father.

[1c] Do not fear, for I have redeemed you. God’s words start with the invitation do not fear / do not be afraid which we find so often in both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament. Fear is a stumbling block in our relationship with God. God speaks of salvation in terms of redemption, quite literally at this stage in the history of the people of God as they return physically from exile in Babylon.

[1d] I have called you by name, you are mine. Calling by name, a very personal, familiar act. But also a juridical act: giving a name to someone reflects a position of authority and belonging: a parent to a child, the sovereign to their subject.

[2] When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; / and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; / when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, / and the flame shall not consume you. The passage here speaks in strongly symbolic terms. It speaks of the extremes, water and fire, both essential to life, but both of which can bring destruction and death. Crossing the waters and river recall also the Exodus experience — crossing the sea and the Jordan river for freedom out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. Note also how the promise is not that of not passing through water or fire, but rather that God promises I will be with you, a God who walks with us, accompanies us, helps us through our difficult times.

[3ab] For I am the Lord your God, / the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour. God here identifies himself not only in terms of his own identity (the Lord / the Holy One of Israel), but also in terms of relationship (your God, your Saviour).

[3cd] I give Egypt as your ransom, / Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you. If speaking in very human economic terms, God defines salvation as ransom, the reference to Egypt, Ethiopia and Seba — the ancient sources of gold and incense — speaks of the huge wealth spent to ransom a people that is actually rather poor!

[4ab] Because you are precious in my sight, / and honoured, and I love you. The central verse of the passage expresses the same message in three ways (1) you are precious, as an item of rare value; (2) honoured or worthy of glory; the Hebrew root KBD means both weight and glory (we too speaks of giving the right weight to something of importance); and finally, (3) God says: I love you. God is not love in some vague sense, but a God who says personally: I love you.

[4cd] I give people in return for you, / nations in exchange for your life. Here the passage pick up and returns to the sense of verse 3cd, starting the concentric structure.

[5a] Do not fear, for I am with you. The promise is repeated: God tells us I am with you. If we do not fear it is not out of recklessness or folly, but out of trust rooted in God.

[5b-6] I will bring your offspring from the east, / and from the west I will gather you; / I will say to the north, “Give them up,” / and to the south, “Do not withhold; / bring my sons from far away / and my daughters from the end of the earth. The geographical reference are very clear: east/west, north/south, and speaks of a return from far away, from the end of the earth. Poetic licence allow for a personified geography, to whom God commands the return of the people. Note how God speaks of sons and daughters: the image of God as father is not proper only to the New Testament, but rooted in the Hebrew Scriptures.

[7a] everyone who is called by my name. Taking up again the theme of verse 1d, we see here that the name we are called is God’s name.

[7bc] whom I created for my glory, / whom I formed and made. The passage returns to verse 1ab, but here speaks of motive for my glory. Read superficially, it may seem self-centred on God’s part. However, Ireneus of Lions (130-202 AD) may well help us here, reminding us that “the glory of God is man fully alive; moreover man’s life is the vision of God” (Adv. haeres IV,20,7).

Meditatio

We can now re-read the passage, enriched by the different comments, and reflect on ourselves. It is good to add any questions that emerge from your own reflection and prayer.

God invites me: do not fear. What fears paralyse me in my life, especially in my relationship with God? Where do I need to hear God invite me not to be afraid?
God creates us, forms us, calls us by name, calls us his children. How do I see myself before God? What image of God do I have?
God promises: I will be with you. Can I recall moments in my life where — in hindsight — I can see the hand of God’s providence? Moments where I passed through fire and water, but found God at my side? Do I hold on to these moments as fixed points, as foundational, in my life?
The passage speaks of salvation, redemption. Where do I find myself still a slave? In exile? Where do I find a new freedom in me? Where do I still need liberation?
You are precious in my sight! Do I really believe that God wants to address these words to me too? Do I allow these words to speak to me at an existential level? What does it mean to me to be loved by God unconditionally?

Oratio

I now let my reflection turn into prayer, into a one-to-one conversation with the Lord, as a friend speaks to a friend. What do I want to say to the Lord? What word of thanksgiving or praise emerges in me? What grace do I want to ask? Or maybe a prayer of forgiveness? What do I feel, in my innermost self, that the Lord is trying to say to me? I speak with the Lord, without any hurry.

Contemplatio

I stay in the presence of the Lord. I may make my own the prayer of Father Anthony De Mello SJ: Behold God beholding you and smiling. I let my prayer of reflection and conversation become one of presence.

Finally, I conclude my prayer with the words of the Our Father.

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Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.