Day 28 — Isaiah 63:7-64:12 Remember Mercy, Rend The Heavens
Opening prayer
Heavenly Father, teach me to pray honestly when you seem far away. Help me to remember your mercy, confess my sin, and cry to you with confidence because you have come near to us in Jesus. Amen.
Headline
When God seems distant, his people remember his mercy, confess their sin, and plead for him to come down and save.
Isaiah 63:7-64:12
7 I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord,
the deeds for which he is to be praised,
according to all the Lord has done for us—
yes, the many good things
he has done for Israel,
according to his compassion and many kindnesses.
8 He said, “Surely they are my people,
children who will be true to me”;
and so he became their Savior.
9 In all their distress he too was distressed,
and the angel of his presence saved them.
In his love and mercy he redeemed them;
he lifted them up and carried them
all the days of old.
10 Yet they rebelled
and grieved his Holy Spirit.
So he turned and became their enemy
and he himself fought against them.
11 Then his people recalled the days of old,
the days of Moses and his people—
where is he who brought them through the sea,
with the shepherd of his flock?
Where is he who set
his Holy Spirit among them,
12 who sent his glorious arm of power
to be at Moses’ right hand,
who divided the waters before them,
to gain for himself everlasting renown,
13 who led them through the depths?
Like a horse in open country,
they did not stumble;
14 like cattle that go down to the plain,
they were given rest by the Spirit of the Lord.
This is how you guided your people
to make for yourself a glorious name.
15 Look down from heaven and see,
from your lofty throne, holy and glorious.
Where are your zeal and your might?
Your tenderness and compassion are withheld from us.
16 But you are our Father,
though Abraham does not know us
or Israel acknowledge us;
you, Lord, are our Father,
our Redeemer from of old is your name.
17 Why, Lord, do you make us wander from your ways
and harden our hearts so we do not revere you?
Return for the sake of your servants,
the tribes that are your inheritance.
18 For a little while your people possessed your holy place,
but now our enemies have trampled down your sanctuary.
19 We are yours from of old;
but you have not ruled over them,
they have not been called by your name.
64 Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down,
that the mountains would tremble before you!
2 As when fire sets twigs ablaze
and causes water to boil,
come down to make your name known to your enemies
and cause the nations to quake before you!
3 For when you did awesome things that we did not expect,
you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.
4 Since 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.
5 You come to the help of those who gladly do right,
who remember your ways.
But when we continued to sin against them,
you were angry.
How then can we be saved?
6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
7 No one calls on your name
or strives to lay hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us
and have given us over to our sins.
8 Yet you, Lord, are our Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
9 Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord;
do not remember our sins forever.
Oh, look on us, we pray,
for we are all your people.
10 Your sacred cities have become a wasteland;
even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and glorious temple, where our ancestors praised you,
has been burned with fire,
and all that we treasured lies in ruins.
12 After all this, Lord, will you hold yourself back?
Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure?
Comment
After the terrifying vision of the divine warrior in 63:1–6, Isaiah now gives us a prayer.
It is a lament: a prayer for times when God seems distant, sin feels overwhelming, and the ruins around us appear beyond repair. It is the sort of prayer we need when easy words will not do.
Isaiah begins not with complaint but with remembrance:
“I will tell of the kindnesses of the LORD, the deeds for which he is to be praised” (63:7).
He recalls God’s covenant love, compassion, and goodness. God had called Israel his people, carried them in their distress, and redeemed them in love and mercy (63:8–9). Isaiah especially remembers the exodus, when the LORD rescued his people from Egypt, gave them his Spirit, and led them through the sea (63:11–14).
This is important. Biblical lament is not faithless grumbling. It is sorrow speaking to God on the basis of what God has revealed about himself. Isaiah remembers the LORD’s past mercy so that he can plead for present mercy.
But the memory is painful, because Israel responded to grace with rebellion.
“Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit” (63:10).
God’s distance is not arbitrary. His people have pushed him away. So Isaiah does not simply ask God to change their circumstances. He asks God to deal with their hearts.
His first plea is: “Look down from heaven and see” (63:15). He appeals to God’s zeal, might, tenderness, and compassion. He calls him Father and Redeemer (63:16). Even when Abraham and Israel cannot help, the LORD remains the true Father of his people.
Yet Isaiah is honest about the dreadful state of the people: “Why, LORD, do you make us wander from your ways and harden our hearts so we do not revere you?” (63:17). This is not blaming God for their sin, but recognising that apart from God’s mercy they are trapped in it. If God gives us over to ourselves, we do not become free; we become hard.
The prayer intensifies:
“Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down” (64:1).
Isaiah longs for God to tear open the barrier, descend in power, shake the mountains, make his name known, and cause the nations to tremble. He is asking God to act again as he did at Sinai and the exodus—not merely to improve life, but to reveal his glory and save his people.
Yet again, confession interrupts the plea. Isaiah says, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (64:6). Even their best deeds cannot cleanse them. Sin has withered them like leaves, and their guilt carries them away like the wind.
This is one of the Bible’s clearest diagnoses of human helplessness. We do not merely need encouragement, instruction, or better conditions. We need mercy. We need God to come down.
And wonderfully, he has.
At Jesus’ baptism, the heavens were torn open and the Spirit descended on him. In Jesus, God came down—not first to crush his enemies, but to stand with sinners. At the cross, the temple curtain was torn from top to bottom, because by his death Jesus opened the way into God’s presence. The prayer of Isaiah is answered more deeply than Isaiah could have imagined.
The passage ends unresolved: “After all this, LORD, will you hold yourself back?” (64:12). Isaiah leaves us waiting for God’s answer, which comes in the final chapters. But Christians know even more. God has not held himself back. He has given his Son.
Why does God want me to hear this today? Because there are times when I feel the absence of God more than his presence, and the weight of sin more than the joy of salvation. Isaiah teaches me how to pray in such moments. I can remember God’s mercy, confess honestly, lament the ruins, and ask him to act. Above all, I can look to Jesus, in whom God has torn the heavens, come down, borne my uncleanness, and opened the way home.
Reflect
When God seems distant, do I tend to withdraw, complain, or pray honestly to him?
What sins or patterns do I need to confess without excuse or self-defence?
How does Jesus’ coming, death, and resurrection give me confidence to ask God to act again?
Closing prayer
Father and Redeemer, thank you for your kindness, compassion, and unfailing love. I confess that my sin is deeper than I like to admit and that even my best works cannot cleanse me. Thank you that in Jesus you have come down, borne my guilt, and opened the way into your presence. Revive my heart, restore what is ruined, and help me to pray with honest faith until you make all things new. Amen.
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