1OH, THAT You would rend the heavens and that You would come down, that the mountains might quake and flow down at Your presence–
2As when fire kindles the brushwood and the fire causes the waters to boil–to make Your name known to Your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Your presence!
3When You did terrible things which we did not expect, You came down; the mountains quaked at Your presence.
4For from of old no one has heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who works and shows Himself active on behalf of him who [earnestly] waits for Him.
5You meet and spare him who joyfully works righteousness (uprightness and justice), [earnestly] remembering You in Your ways. Behold, You were angry, for we sinned; we have long continued in our sins [prolonging Your anger]. And shall we be saved?
6For we have all become like one who is unclean [ceremonially, like a leper], and all our righteousness (our best deeds of rightness and justice) is like filthy rags or a polluted garment; we all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away [far from God's favor, hurrying us toward destruction].(A)
7And no one calls on Your name and awakens and bestirs himself to take and keep hold of You; for You have hidden Your face from us and have delivered us into the [consuming] power of our iniquities.(B)
8Yet, O Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You our Potter, and we all are the work of Your hand.
9Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord, or [seriously] remember iniquity forever. Behold, consider, we beseech You, we are all Your people.
10Your holy cities have become a wilderness; Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
11Our holy and our beautiful house, [the temple] where our fathers praised You, is burned with fire, and all our pleasant and desirable places are in ruins.
12Considering these [calamities], will You restrain Yourself, O Lord [and not come to our aid]? Will You keep silent and not command our deliverance but humble and afflict us exceedingly?
On these verses the prophet is crying out to God. Bringing back to Israel the reality of the Mighty Presence they once had experienced.
Once God had come down and delivered them, and showed his love and righteousness, but now, Isaiah is confessing how far Israel is from Him, and recognizing its consequence.
The people God had called his were praising idols, living in promiscuity, ignoring everything God had given them.
And also Isaiah cries for the church (verses 11, 12) because there were a remainder, some from Israel did not went away from God’s presence, and I wonder how sad and worried they were.
On those days they were crying for the temple, the building. But now, in our times it even worse, because God’s people has been far away from him the same way, but the temple is not a building, but hearts.
Now, I urge you, by the Holy Spirit to pray, just like Isaiah, Jeremiah and many other men and women did. They were reference to Israel and touched God’s heart and reminded Him of his love and promises for his people.
Now it’s our time to do the same! There’s a promise of restauration, so there’s still hope! There’s an empty grave and cross! There’s a blood!
There’s me and You. Can you say – Here I am, Lord?
