Forsake & Forget

[Isa. 43:18] Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.
Do not remember the former things - As Isaiah writes prophetically to Israel, they were mired in the desperate circumstances of captivity and exile. G-d wants to put their eyes on the new work He will do, so it begins with a reminder to not remember the former things. If they are stuck in the failure and sin and discouragement of the past, they will never go forward to the new thing G-d has for them.
It is a fascinating - and instructive - switch between 16-17 and 18. Israel is told to look to the past by remembering the great things G-d did for them at the Red Sea. But in 18, they are told, Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. This shows us that there is a sense in which we must remember the past, in terms of G-d's great work on our behalf. There is also a sense in which we must forsake and forget the past, with all its discouragement and defeat, and move on to what G-d has for us in the future.
[19] Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?
Behold, I will do a new thing - Staying stuck in the past can keep us from the new thing G-d wants to do. If Israel stayed stuck in the discouragement and seduction of Babylon, they would never look for the new thing of release from exile.
Are you stuck in the past discouragements?
We can be tossed about by every wind of doctrine. But we can also error on the other side of the balance, and work against the new thing G-d wants to do.
Shall you not know it? G-d asks the same question today. "Will you stay in step with My Spirit? When He leads into something new, shall you not know it?"
Often, when G-d makes a promise, we worry about the details or the obstacles for the fulfillment of the promise. G-d replies to us "Don't worry about it at all. I will even make a road in the wilderness. I have resources and plans you don't know about. Leave those problems to Me.”
They shall declare My praise - This is part of fulfilling the purpose G0-d created us for, as mentioned in Isaiah 43:7 (Whom I created for My glory). When we declare our praise for G-d, we are giving Him glory, and fulfilling one of the purposes we were created for.
What is the ground and reason G-d’s pardon? It is not for the sake of any thing in us, but for His own sake, for His mercies'-sake, His promise-sake, and especially for His Son's sake, and that He may Himself be glorified in it.
None can forgive sin but G-d only, and He will do it; it is His settled resolution. He will do it willingly and with delight; it is His pleasure; it is His honor; so He is pleased to reckon it.
Let go of past hurts and pains, leave it in His hands and move into His glorious plans for you!