Isaiah 64:1-12

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 64:1-5

Here, I. The petition is that God would appear wonderfully for them now, Isa. 63:1, 2. Their case was represented in the close of the foregoing chapter as very sad and very hard, and in this case it was time to cry, ?Help, Lord; O that God would manifest his zeal and his strength!? They had prayed (Isa. 63:15) that God would look down from heaven; here they pray that he would come down to deliver them, as he had said, Exod. 3:8. 1. They desire that God would in his providence manifest himself... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 64:6-12

As we have the Lamentations of Jeremiah, so here we have the Lamentations of Isaiah; the subject of both is the same?the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans and the sin of Israel that brought that destruction?only with this difference, Isaiah sees it at a distance and laments it by the Spirit of prophecy, Jeremiah saw it accomplished. In these verses, I. The people of God in their affliction confess and bewail their sins, thereby justifying God in their afflictions, owning themselves... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 64:1

O that thou wouldst rend the heavens, that thou wouldst come down ,.... Before, the church prayed that the Lord would look down from heaven and behold, Isaiah 63:15 , now that he would open the heavens, and descend from thence; not by change of place, for he fills heaven and earth with his presence; but by some visible display of his power, in destroying her enemies, and delivering her from them. Some take this to be a prayer for the first coming of Christ from heaven to earth, by his... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 64:2

As when the melting fire burneth ,.... Or, "the fire of melting" F11 אש המסיס "ignis liquefactionum", Calvin, Vatablus; "igne liquationum", Cocceius. ; a strong vehement fire, as Kimchi, such as is used under a furnace for melting metals; though De Dieu thinks a slow gentle fire is intended, such as is sufficient to keep the liquor boiling; which he concludes from the use of the word in the Arabic language, which, according to an Arabic lexicographer F12 Eliduri in Lexico... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 64:3

When thou didst terrible things, which we looked not for, thou camest down ,.... Referring to the wonderful things God did in Egypt, at the Red sea, and in the wilderness, and particularly at Mount Sinai, things that were unexpected, and not looked for; then the Lord came down, and made visible displays of his power and presence, especially on Mount Sinai; see Exodus 19:18 , the mountains flowed down at thy presence ; not Sinai only, but others also; Kimchi says Seir and Paran; Judges... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 64:4

For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear ,.... Not only the things unexpected, undesired, and undeserved, had been done for the Lord's people of old; but there were other things, unheard of and unseen, which God, in his secret counsels, had prepared for them; and for which reason his appearance in his providential dispensations was the more to be desired and entreated. The Apostle Paul has cited this passage in 1 Corinthians 2:9 and applied it to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 64:5

Thou meetest him that rejoiceth ,.... Not in a carnal way, nor in a sinful manner, nor in a hypocritical one, or in vain boastings, all such rejoicing is evil: but in the Lord, in the person of Christ; in the greatness, glory, and fullness of his person; at the promise, and in the view, of his coming in the flesh, as Abraham did; in the grace of God displayed in him, and in hope of the glory of God by him; such a frame of spirit is agreeable to the Lord: and worketh righteousness ; a... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 64:6

But we are all as an unclean thing ,.... Or "we have been" F20 גהי "fuimus", V. L. Montanus. ; so all men are in a state of nature: man was made pure and holy, but by sinning became impure; and this impurity is propagated by natural generation, and belongs to all, none are free from it; and there is no cleansing from it but by the grace of God and blood of Christ: all are not sensible of it; some are, as the church here was, and owns it, and the universality of it, and compares... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 64:7

And there is none that calleth upon thy name ,.... Upon the Lord himself, who is gracious and merciful, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, and all sufficient, a God hearing and answering prayer, and the Father of his people; all which should engage to call upon him: or, "there is none that prays in thy name", as the Targum; none that prays to God in the name of his Son, the only Mediator between God and men; he is the way of access to the Father; his name is to be used and made mention... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 64:8

But now, O Lord, thou art our father ,.... Notwithstanding all that we have done against thee, and thou hast done to us, the relation of a father continues; thou art our Father by creation and adoption; as he was in a particular manner to the Jews, to whom belonged the adoption; and therefore this relation is pleaded, that mercy might be shown them; and so the Targum, "and thou, Lord, thy mercies towards us "are" many (or let them be many) as a father towards "his" children.' We are the... read more

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