Isaiah 64:1-6

Prayer for Mercy and Help

1 Oh, that You would rend the heavens and ¹come down, That the mountains might ²quake at Your presence -

2 As fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil - To make Your name known to Your adversaries, That the ³nations may tremble at Your presence!

3 When You did ⁴awesome things which we did not expect, You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence.

4 For from days of old ⁵they have not heard or perceived by ear, Nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who acts in behalf of the one who ⁶waits for Him.

5 You ⁷meet him who rejoices in ⁸doing righteousness, Who ⁹remembers You in Your ways. Behold, ¹⁰You were angry, for we sinned, We continued in them a long time; And shall we be saved?

6 For all of us have become like one who is ¹¹unclean, And all our ¹²righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us ¹³wither like a leaf, And our ¹⁴iniquities, like the wind, take 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.

Cross References

• 1. Exodus 19:18; Psalms 18:9; Psalms 144:5; Micah 1:3, 4; Habakkuk 3:13
• 2. Judges 5:5; Psalms 68:8; Nahum 1:5
• 3. Psalms 99:1; Jeremiah 5:22; Jeremiah 33:9
• 4. Psalms 65:5; Psalms 66:3, 5; Psalms 106:22
• 5. 1 Corinthians 2:9
• 6. Isaiah 25:9; Isaiah 30:18; Isaiah 40:31
• 7. Exodus 20:24
• 8. Isaiah 56:1
• 9. Isaiah 26:13; Isaiah 63:7
• 10. Isaiah 12:1
• 11. Isaiah 6:5
• 12. Isaiah 46:12; Isaiah 48:1
• 13. Psalms 90:5, 6; Isaiah 1:30
• 14. Isaiah 50:1

Footnotes

• [a] Ch 63:19b in Heb
• [b] Ch 64:1 in Heb