Isaiah 64:2-12

2 as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil--to make thy name known to thy adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at thy presence!

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

4 From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides thee, who works for those who wait for him.

5 Thou meetest him that joyfully works righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways. Behold, thou wast angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?

6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

7 There is no one that calls upon thy name, that bestirs himself to take hold of thee; for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast delivered us into the hand of our iniquities.

8 Yet, O LORD, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou art our potter; we are all the work of thy hand.

9 Be not exceedingly angry, O LORD, and remember not iniquity for ever. Behold, consider, we are all thy people.

10 Thy holy cities have become a wilderness, Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.

11 Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, has been burned by fire, and all our pleasant places have become ruins.

12 Wilt thou restrain thyself at these things, O LORD? Wilt thou keep silent, and afflict us sorely?

Isaiah 64:2-12 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.