Isaiah 64
12 verses
The people pray for God to come down and rend the heavens, establishing that authentic prayer arises from a sense of separation and alienation from divine presence. The oracle describes God coming down to make His name known to His enemies and causing the nations to tremble before Him, establishing the expected manifestation of divine power. The passage includes the acknowledgment that God has hidden His face from Israel and that she has wasted away because of her iniquities, establishing that judgment is the result of Israel's abandonment of covenant faithfulness. The people confess that all of them have become like the unclean and that their righteous acts are like filthy rags, establishing radical acknowledgment of human sinfulness and inadequacy. The prayer includes the cry that God is the father and potter and Israel is the clay, establishing that restoration depends on God's gracious will rather than on human merit. Isaiah 64 demonstrates that repentance includes acknowledgment of alienation from God and confession of human sinfulness. The chapter establishes that the people must acknowledge their unworthiness and cast themselves on God's mercy and grace.
VERSES IN THIS CHAPTER
1
Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,
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2
As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence!
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3
When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence.
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4
For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.
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5
Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.
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6
But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
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7
And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.
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8
But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
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The contrast between human weakness and divine strength is so vivid in this passage. God meets us exactly where we are —...
9
Be not wroth very sore, O Lord, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.
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10
Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
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The imagery here is agricultural — the original audience would have immediately understood the metaphor of sowing, waiti...
11
Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste.
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12
Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O Lord? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore?
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