Isaiah 64:1-4

1 Oh, that you would burst from the heavens and come down! How the mountains would quake in your presence!

2 As fire causes wood to burn and water to boil, your coming would make the nations tremble. Then your enemies would learn the reason for your fame!

3 When you came down long ago, you did awesome deeds beyond our highest expectations. And oh, how the mountains quaked!

4 For since the world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him!

Isaiah 64:1-4 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] In the Hebrew text this verse is included in 63:19.
• [b] Verses 64:2-12 are numbered 64:1-11 in Hebrew text.