“…[Y]ou have not called on me …you have become weary of me …but you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities. I am the one, I sweep away your transgressions for my own sake and remember your sins no more. Remind me. Let’s argue the case together. Recount the facts, so that you may be vindicated” (Isaiah 43.22-26).

Israel needed to worship God in sincerity and in truth. They were not doing so. They had left God for formalized religion. Instead of acceptable love and sacrifice, they brought a burden of sin and iniquity. They were weary of God; He was weary of them. 

Certainly, Israel deserved great punishment. Instead, God would forgive them. This is the very definition of grace. He forgave them not for their sake but for His own sake. He wouldn’t remember their sins. More grace. It’s not that God really forgets anything. He is omniscient. He simply chooses not to remember. Israel needed to remember God’s goodness and grace toward them. If I don’t see the need for God’s grace and mercy, everything I do for God will be motivated by the rot of self-righteousness.

There is the goodness of God and there is the wickedness of man. This is a repeated study in contrasts throughout the Bible. God’s character and conduct is contrasted with our character and conduct. It simply highlights how great He is and how sinful I am. God forgives and forgets even those who are wearisome and rebellious.