Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you: Fear not, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen. (Isaiah 44:2 ESV)
Nicknames can be derogatory, or affectionate, depending on who is using it. Even the same nickname can be either insulting or complementary, hurtful or kind, dividing or unifying.
In this verse, God focuses on a couple of His nicknames for His people Israel. And He definitely uses the nicknames affectionately… as a comfort to the frightened nation of Judah. Everything is going wrong for them, and things are going to get worse. But God calls them sweet names… names of historical value… names of relationship… private, loving, personal, covenantal names.
He calls them, “Jacob,” referring to the man whose name was changed to Israel. Pretty clearly, the prophet Isaiah is attempting to comfort the southern Israelite kingdom, Judah, by reminding them that God formed their nation. And more than that, God formed their nation on the back of a less-than-reputable character. Jacob was a trickster, a liar, a sneak, and often unreliable. Israel was not formed as a reward for good behavior, but because of unconditional love.
But the second, more rarely used, nickname for Israel is, “Jeshurun.” God affectionately uses this name in Deuteronomy 32:15, 33:5, 33:5, 33:6, and 33:26. It means, literally, ‘little straight one.’ It might be an ironic nickname, it might be a hopeful nickname, it might be a theologically precise nickname, but God uses it while ruffling Israel’s hair… with a warm smile on His face.
There is also a connection in the New Testament between Jeshurun and the words translated, ‘beloved’ in passages like Matthew 3:17, Mark 1:11, Colossians 3:12, I Thessalonians 1:4, 2 Thessalonians 2:13 and Jude 1.
Isaiah offers this comfort to the troubled people of Judah. They can relax because God loves them. And He also likes them. We don’t use affectionate nicknames for people we don’t like, and neither does God.
Those nicknames apply to us, too.
No matter how difficult things get… be comforted in the fact that God likes us.
Fear not, because God likes you.