Isaiah 64:1-6

1 Oh, that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, -- that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,

2 -- as fire kindleth brushwood, as the fire causeth water to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations might tremble at thy presence!

3 When thou didst terrible things [which] we looked not for, thou camest down, and the mountains flowed down at thy presence.

4 Never have [men] heard, nor perceived by the ear, nor hath eye seen a God beside thee, who acteth for him that waiteth for him.

5 Thou meetest him that rejoiceth to do righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: (behold, thou wast wroth, and we have sinned:) in those is perpetuity, and we shall be saved.

6 And we are all become as an unclean [thing], and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have carried us away;

Isaiah 64:1-6 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 64

The prayer of the church is continued in this chapter; in which she prays for some visible display of the power and presence of God, as in times past, Isa 64:1-3, and the rather, since unheard of and unseen things were prepared by the Lord for his people; and it was his usual way to meet those that were truly religious, Isa 64:4,5, and she acknowledges her sins and transgressions; the imperfections of her own righteousness, and remissness in duty, Isa 64:5-7, pleads relation to God, and implores his mercy, Isa 64:8,9, represents the desolate condition of Judea, Zion, Jerusalem, and the temple, and entreats divine commiseration, Isa 64:10-12.

Footnotes

• [a] Or 'quake.'
• [b] Or 'doest.'
• [c] Or 'comest down.'
• [d] Or 'Even from everlasting, they have not heard:' see 1Cor. 2.9.
• [e] Or 'seen except thee, O God, what he will do.'
• [f] i.e. 'in thy ways.'
• [g] Or 'like a menstruous garment.' Cf. ch. 30.22.