August 2026

Dear People of God,
Greengs to you in the matchless name of our Lord
and savior Jesus Christ.
‘Guarding Hands’ is the theme for August 2026. This
is such an encouraging theme and the scripture for us to
meditate on as we connue our faith walk with almighty
God: “Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of
hands; your walls are connually before me” (Isaiah
49:16).
This was an emphac (Behold) response of God to
the complaint of God’s people when they said: “The
LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgoen me”
(Isaiah 49:14). Nevertheless the response of the Lord as
in verse 16 is a clear rebual and the very powerful
image preceding this verse is one of the strongest
natural bonds – that of a mother to her child: “Can a
woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no
compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you” (Isaiah 49:15). The Lord’s
care, love and protecon for His people is far greater
than this human bond.
The intensity of the promise of God to His people that
He would guard them and protect them is so very
powerful in this verse.
The statement ‘Behold, I have engraved you on the
palms of hands’ refers to a permanent engraving /
inscribing done deliberately by a cut to make a lasng
and visible impression as opposed to a mere wring on a
piece of paper that can be erased at some point of me.
But the place of such an engraving / inscribing
assumes greater significance. For it is in the very palms
of the hands of our Lord which would convey the
unceasing remembrance and aenon of God, not
intermient. God is not saying merely that He thinks of
Zion from me to me, but that Zion is set before Him in
a way as constant as one’s own hands. The point of such
an imagery is not meant to reduce God to human form,
but to communicate divine aenveness in terms that
meet human anxiety at its deepest level.
But this image of ‘engraving in the palm of His hands’
point to a very wonderful meaning in the ancient near
east. Back then servants and slaves would be taooed or
carved with their owner’s name. That way you could
never forget that you were not your own but were
somebody else’s property. So how stunningly amazing
that in Isaiah 49 in the ‘Servant Songs’ God turns the
tables and says, ‘see, your name is taooed onto my hands! I cannot do anything without remembering you,
seeing your name, and so caring for your well-being.”
Interesngly Vance Havner brings us another perspecve when referring to verses in Isaiah 49:16 (Palm of
His hands), Psalm 31:15 (my mes are in His hands) and
John 10:28-29 (neither shall any man pluck us out of his
hands) as the Lord having our situaons well in His
hands. The palm of the hand is a well-protected place
and that hand can fold into a fist if threatened! What a
great consolaon to know that not only ourselves but
our mes, all our circumstances, the day in which we
live, the happenings of our lives—all these are under His
control. Somemes they are beyond our control, but
He’s got the whole world in His hands. He not only leads
us by His hand, He keeps us in His hand well-guarded and
protected.”
Yes, what an assurance to know that each of us is
graven on the palms of His hands and that we are secure
in and through Christ Jesus at all mes. May we commit
ourselves to connue remain in Christ in all our lives!
In Christ,
Pastor Sam Sudalaiyandi

Senior Pastor.