Forgotten and forsaken. That’s exactly how the people of Judah felt. While Isaiah has spent the last 61 chapters pointing out their sins and warning them about the coming judgment of God, they couldn’t help but feel like they were the ones who had been ignored. They saw themselves as the forsaken ones. It wasn’t that Isaiah had failed to expose their guilt and corporate culpability. It was that they just couldn’t bring themselves to believe that their circumstances were of their own making. Yet, in spite of their refusal to take responsibility for their sins, God is going to offer them the promise of His future restoration. Isaiah 61:1-12 reveals that they were going to experience the unbelievable and totally undeserved joy of being redeemed by God. God had not forsaken or forgotten them. He had not turned His back on them. He had great things in store for them, and He wanted them to keep their eyes focused on the future, when they would become once again, the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, sought out, and a city not forsaken.