The Book of the Prophet Isaiah
Isaiah 64
Chapter LXIV · Vol. III, pp. 1224–1225
1 The church prayeth for the illustration of God's power. 4 Celebrating God's mercy, it maketh confession of their natural corruptions. 9 It complaineth of their affliction.
1 Oh thata thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,
2 As when the melting fire1 burneth,2 the fire causeth the waters to boil, bto make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence!
3 When thou didst cterrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence.
4 For since the beginning of the world dmen have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him3 that waiteth for him.
5 Thoue meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness; those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, 4thou art wroth; for we have sinned: gin those is continuance, and we shall be saved.5
e Ac.10.35. Ge.32.1. La.3.25,26. Ps.25.10; 18.20-27; 37.4. De.16.11,14,15. ch.26.8.
4 Or, hast been wroth with them a long time after we had sinned, and yet, &c.
g Ps.103.17. Mal.3.6. Je.31.20. Ho.11.8. Mat.24.22.
5 This last clause is very obscure. The true meaning appears to be:—'In those sins we have continued long—can we be saved?' It is the language of deep penitence, almost of despair. Yet it expresses a hope of final salvation through divine mercy.—P.
6 But hwe are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do ifade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, jhave taken us away.
7 Andk there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for lthou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed6 us, because of our iniquities.
8 But now, O LORD, nthou art our father: weo are the clay, and thou our potter; and pwe all are the work of thy hand.
n De.32.6. ch.63.16.
o ch.45.9; 29.16. Je.18.6. Ro.9.20,21. Ge.2.7.
p ch.44.21. Job 10.8,9. Ps.119.73; 138.8.
9 Be not qwroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.
q Hab.3.2. Je.10.24. Ps.79.8; 119.94. Mi.7.18,19. Ps.9.13-17; 106.45. Le.26.42,44,45. Ge.17.7. De.7.6. Ps.76.1; 79.1.
10 Thyr holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
r Ps.74.2,3; 79.1,7. Mi.3.12. ch.1.7. 2 Ch.33.11; 36.16-21. Mat.22.7; 23.35,38. Lu.19.27,43,44; 21.21,24.
11 Ours holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste.7
s La.2.7. Ps.74.6-8. 2 Ki.25.9. Eze.7.20,21; 24.21,25. 2 Ch.36.19,21. Mat.24.2.
7 This prophecy is no less remarkable for the beauty of its language, and its deep, touching pathos, than for its precise and minute description of calamities which did not occur until more than a century after the words were uttered. The capture of Jerusalem by the army of Nebuchadnezzar, and the burning of the temple, are here referred to.—P.
Notes
Ver. 1-5. Oh that thou wouldest, in some awful manner, appear for the ruin of thine enemies and the relief of thy people, as in the destruction of the Egyptians and Canaanites, or as at Mount Sinai! For whatever great things thou hast done, we believe that thou wilt still do greater, in the incarnation of thy Son, the spread of thy gospel, and the erection, preservation, and perfection of the New Testament church.—Thou enrichest, with thine unsearchable blessings, them who with pleasure receive thy favours, obey thy laws, and hold fellowship with thee in thy ordinances. And though our sins have long provoked thee to anger, thy ways of mercy are perpetual, and therefore we hope for thy salvation. 6-12. We are indeed wholly corrupted, and our best works abominable in thy sight. Our sins have brought on these wasting and captivating judgments. And very few, with fervent importunity, labour to prevent thy departure, or plead for the removal of thy consuming judgments. But notwithstanding our unworthy carriage towards thee, do thou, our Father and Creator, graciously remember and spare us, moderate and shorten thy corrections, since we are thy faithful people. When Jerusalem and our other cities are laid desolate, and thy temple, in which our fathers long worshipped thee, is burned, and all our pleasant palaces and structures are destroyed, let thy bowels of compassion make thee hasten to our relief.
Ver. 1. Rend the heavens. Surely not the natural and visible heavens; for to rend them were to introduce universal ruin, and could not be a prayer of faith and love; but the political heavens, the moving and directing lights of the rebellious and idolatrous kingdoms. See ch. 13. 10, 13-22; comp. Joel 2. 10; 3. 15, 16-19; Mat. 24. 29.—Mountains. The exalted potentates of the world, whether adverse or friendly to the truth and holiness. They are friendly, ch. 2. 2; adverse, but subdued, ch. 41. 15.—Flow down at thy presence. 'Flow down' as mountains are wont to do when the sun melts the winter snows, see ch. 2. 2; Joel 3. 18, when springs and rivers issue from their bosom, or flocks and herds descend from them as streams, ch. 65. 9, 10. C.
Ver. 3. Thou camest down. This cannot refer to God's coming down on Sinai; for then the people looked for the 'terrible things' that were done, Ex. 19. 3-25. Moreover, upon that awful occasion, mention is never made of 'mountains,' but of 'the mount,' Ex. 19. 11-13, 16, &c. Does it not therefore rather refer to some of those unexpected deliverances which God at different times so signally wrought for his people, as by his judgments on Pharaoh, Sennacherib, and other enemies? C.
Ver. 4. Neither hath the eye seen, &c. 'Nor hath eye seen a God besides thee, who providest such things for them that trust him.' C.
Ver. 5. Thou meetest him, &c. This is Messiah, in whom the Father is well pleased, and in whose 'righteousness' sinners are made righteous by faith.—In those is continuance. 'In them (in thy ways) is continuance'—'a continuing city,' He. 13. 14; 'a better country,' He. 11.16. They all terminate in salvation, Ps. 84. 5, 7. C.
Reflections.—In trouble the almighty God must be implored for our relief: and he will make himself known to all; to his people in mercy, and to the wicked in judgment. There is infinite need of his gracious descents to awaken, enlighten, pardon, purify, protect, regulate, direct, and comfort his church. What mercy he keeps, and what stores of blessedness he has laid up, for such as cheerfully wait on him, and walk with him, in all his ordinances, laws, and dispensations of providence! He bears with unnumbered provocations, and graciously forgives them, in the best of the people. But shameful are our sinful pollutions, and greatly criminal our want of earnestness in dealing with God; nor is there a surer token of a graceless heart, than neglect of and even indulged carelessness in prayer. But while we are pining away in our iniquities, nothing is more fit than by faith to throw ourselves entirely upon the great mercy of God. And if the disorders and desolations of churches lie so heavy on the heart of saints, how near must they go to the heart of the Saviour!