Isaiah 43:26

Here God offered His people the opportunity to correct Him if what He had said was false, or to remind Him of something that He may have forgotten (Isaiah 43:25; cf. Isaiah 1:18). This heavily ironic offer would have drawn a silent admission of guilt from honest Israelites. Their sin was the root of their troubles, and all their goodness could not get them out of their difficulties.

". . . until we recognize our need for grace, all our energies, energies designed for the praise of God [Isaiah 43:21], will be spent in fruitless self-justification." [Note: Oswalt, The Book . . . 40-66, p. 161.]