Isaiah 43:22 says that God’s people had stopped calling on him and had grown tired of him, even though he had not grown tired of them. The verse is a complaint from God rather than a comfort, and it reveals how much their neglect of him mattered. God speaks through the prophet Isaiah to the nation of Israel, here called by both its ancestral name Jacob and its covenant name Israel, and he is pointing out a gap between who he is to them and how they have responded.
Yet you have not called on me, Jacob; but you have been weary of me, Israel.
Isaiah 43:22 (WEB)
What Isaiah 43:22 Means
The first phrase, “you have not called on me,” describes prayer as a relationship of asking and answering. Israel had been formed as God’s own people, yet they were no longer turning to him in need, in worship, or in simple dependence. Calling on God is how a child speaks to a father, and the verse says that conversation had gone quiet.
The second phrase, “you have been weary of me,” is more striking. The word describes a heaviness or fatigue, the feeling of having given something too much effort for too long. Israel’s religious life had become a burden they wanted to put down, so God was the one they had tired of. The verse does not promise anything directly; it names the problem and lets the reader see what is at stake.
What the verse does not say is that God has abandoned his people or that their failure ends the relationship. The verses that follow show God taking their sins away for his own sake. Isaiah 43:22 exposes the distance, but it does not describe the end of God’s commitment.
The Context of Isaiah 43:22
The book of Isaiah is traditionally attributed to the prophet Isaiah, who preached in Jerusalem in the eighth century B.C. Chapters 40 through 55 are often called Second Isaiah, and many scholars date them to the period of exile in Babylon, when Judah had lost its land and temple. Its audience is the covenant people, addressed here as Jacob and Israel, who needed to hear that God was still their God and still their redeemer.
The verses just before this one, 43:19 to 21, speak of God making a way through the wilderness and bringing water to the desert so that his chosen people can drink and praise him. Verse 22 turns sharply from that promise to the people’s failure, and verse 23 continues with their neglected offerings. Read in that setting, the complaint is part of a larger picture: God lavishes provision on a people who have not returned the attention.
Key Phrases in Isaiah 43:22
Psalm 46:10
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.”
(WEB)
This verse calls the reader to be still and recognize God, which is the opposite of the restless weariness Isaiah describes. Reading it alongside Isaiah 43:22 shows that the remedy for spiritual fatigue is a quiet return to God’s presence.
Lamentations 3:22-23
22 It is because of the LORD’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassion doesn’t fail. 23 They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.
(WEB)
These verses speak of God’s mercies being new every morning, which answers the discouragement of a people who feel weary. They show that God’s steadfast love continues even when his people have grown distant from him.
A Short Prayer From Isaiah 43:22
Lord, I confess that some days I have been weary of coming to you. Prayer feels like a task, and worship can feel like one more thing on the list. Forgive me for letting my heart grow tired when you have never grown tired of me. Stir my desire to call on you again, and give me a fresh sense of your nearness in ordinary moments. Remind me that you blot out my sins for your own sake, so that I can return without fear. Amen.
