Isaiah Chapter 64
A desperate cry for God to rend the heavens and come down.
Isaiah 64 is a raw prayer begging God to 'rend the heavens' and come down as he once did before Israel's enemies. It admits that even the nation's righteous acts are 'as filthy rags,' a confession of total dependence on grace. See what precedes this plea in Isaiah 63.
If only You would rend the heavens and come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence,
as fire kindles the brushwood and causes the water to boil, to make Your name known to Your enemies, so that the nations will tremble at Your presence!
When You did awesome works that we did not expect, You came down, and the mountains trembled at Your presence.
From ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him.
You welcome those who gladly do right, who remember Your ways. Surely You were angry, for we sinned. How can we be saved if we remain in our sins?
Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.
No one calls on Your name or strives to take hold of You. For You have hidden Your face from us and delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.
But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.
Do not be angry, O LORD, beyond measure; do not remember our iniquity forever. Oh, look upon us, we pray; we are all Your people!
Your holy cities have become a wilderness. Zion has become a wasteland and Jerusalem a desolation.
Our holy and beautiful temple, where our fathers praised You, has been burned with fire, and all that was dear to us lies in ruins.
After all this, O LORD, will You restrain Yourself? Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?