Isaiah 64

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 64:7

The averted face. "Thou hast bid thy face from us. " If so we cannot be happy. The universe itself will refuse to strike out its sweetest notes of joy for us. It is a Father's world, and must have a Father's love in it all to make us blessed! One of the oldest, sweetest prayers in the Bible is, "God be merciful to us, and bless us, and cause his face to shine upon us." The Christian must have this blessing. You say, "Ah! but men of the world can enjoy nature and society without God."... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 64:7

Taking hold of God. We do well to associate with the words of the text those of Isaiah 27:5 , "Let him take hold of my strength;" thus connected, we have before us— I. THAT WHICH CONSTITUTES GOD 'S STRENGTH TO US , or that in him of which we have the greatest need. The strength of the father is, to the family, his providing and directing power; the strength of the mother is her affection and her unfailing sympathy; the strength of the elder brother is his protection, of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 64:8

But now, O Lord, thou art our Father (see the comment on Isaiah 63:16 ). We are the clay, and thou our Potter (comp. Isaiah 29:16 ; Isaiah 45:9 ). Thy hands have made us and fashioned us, both as individuals and as a nation. Thou hast lavished thy labour and thy skill upon us. Surely thou wilt not "forsake the work of thine own hands" ( Psalms 138:8 ). read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 64:8

Our Father and our Potter. "But now, O Lord, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou cur Potter; and we all are the work of thy hand." The prophet here is making no such assertion of the absolute sovereignty of God as we associate with the figure of the potter because of St. Paul's use of it in Romans 9:20 , Romans 9:21 . Here the power of the great Potter is made the ground of prayer. "The clay intreats him to fashion it according to his will, and has faith in his readiness, as... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 64:8-12

Pleas for mercy. Israel had three main grounds on which they could rely in pleading to God for mercy. I. GOD WAS THEIR MAKER . The framer of a work cannot see without dissatisfaction the destruction of his work, or its deterioration, or its depravation to purposes lower. than those intended for it. This dissatisfaction is the greater, the more considerable the labour and the thought that has been expended upon the work, the greater the care that has been taken of it, the longer... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 64:8-12

A twofold plea. The prophet addresses himself to God in earnest prayer for Divine interposition, and he uses a twofold plea. I. THE INTIMACY AND FULNESS OF GOD 'S RELATIONSHIP . 1 . God was their Creator. He made them as truly as the potter fashions the clay; they were his workmanship ( Isaiah 64:8 ). 2 . God was their Father. He had cared for them and bestowed on them his parental love; would he abandon his own children? 3 . God was their Redeemer. He... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 64:9

Be not wroth very sore. At the time of the Captivity God was wroth very sore ( Lamentations 5:22 ). His auger was hot against the sheep of his pasture ( Psalms 74:1 ). But they had suffered, they had been afflicted many years. Might he not now relent, and remit somewhat from his fierce anger? Neither remember iniquity (comp. Psalms 79:8 ). God had already made a promise by the mouth of Isaiah, "I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy trangressions, and will not remember thy sins " ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 64:10

Thy holy cities are a wilderness. Commonly Jerusalem stands alone as "the holy city" ( Isaiah 48:2 ; Isaiah 56:1 ; Daniel 9:24 ; Nehemiah 11:1 , Nehemiah 11:18 ); but here the epithet is applied to the cities of Judah generally. They were all in a certain sense "holy," as being comprised within the limits of "the holy land" ( Zechariah 2:12 ) and "the holy border" ( Psalms 78:54 ). Zion … Jerusalem (see the comment on Isaiah 62:1 ). read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 64:11

Our holy and our beautiful house . This is the true meaning. The exiles have the tenderest and most vivid remembrance of the holiness and the beauty (or glory) of that edifice, which had formed the centre of the national life for above four centuries, and had been a marvel of richness and magnificence. Many of them had seen it with their own eyes ( Ezra 3:12 ), and could never forget its splendours. Where our fathers praised thee. Though in the later times of the Captivity there were... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 64:12

Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things? rather, at these things— seeing that these things are so. Will they not provoke thee to interfere? read more

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