Lord, have mercy! Christ, have mercy!
Isaiah 63:15-64:12
Look down from heaven and see from Your habitation, holy and glorious. Where are Your zeal and Your strength, the yearning of Your heart and Your mercies toward me? Are they restrained?
Doubtless You are our Father, though Abraham was ignorant of us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O Lord, are our Father; our Redeemer from everlasting is Your name.
O Lord, why have You made us stray from Your ways, and hardened our heart from Your fear? Return for Your servants’ sake, the tribes of Your inheritance. Your holy people have possessed it but a little while; our adversaries have trodden down Your sanctuary. We have become like those of old, over whom You never ruled, those who were never called by Your name.
Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down! That the mountains might shake at Your presence—as fire burns brushwood, as fire causes water to boil—to make Your name known to Your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Your presence!
When You did awesome things for which we did not look, You came down, the mountains shook at Your presence. For since the beginning of the world, men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You, who acts for the one who waits for Him. You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, who remembers You in Your ways. You are indeed angry, for we have sinned—in these ways we continue; and we need to be saved.
But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is no one who calls on Your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of You; for You have hidden Your face from us, and have consumed us because of our iniquities.
But now, O Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You our potter; and all we are the work of Your hand. Do not be furious, O Lord, nor remember iniquity forever; indeed, please look—we all are Your people! Your holy cities are a wilderness,
Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and beautiful temple, where our fathers praised You, is burned up with fire; and all our pleasant things are laid waste.
Will You restrain Yourself because of these things, O Lord? Will You hold Your peace, and afflict us very severely?
J. I. Packer
Sin stands revealed as an energy of irrational, negative, and rebellious reaction to God’s call and command, a spirit of fighting God in order to play God. The root of sin is pride and enmity against God, the spirit seen in Adam’s first transgression; and sinful acts always have behind them thoughts, motives, and desires that one way or another express the willful opposition of the fallen heart to God’s claims on our lives.[1]
Penitent’s Cry
Based on Isaiah 63:15-64:12
Tune: Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Father God, from heaven above,
Look upon us with your love.
May your strength and holiness
Save and free us from all sinfulness.
From your ways, O Lord, we stray,
Turn from you and disobey.
All your true and living words
Fall on deaf ears; willful disregard.
Hear us, Lord, as we confess
Hardened hearts, rebelliousness.
Come from heaven, turn us ‘round,
Look upon us, bring forgiveness down.
We are full of uncleanness;
Filth instead of righteousness.
Faded, blown away like leaves,
Offer nothing for you to receive.
There’s no other God like You,
Who is to his people true.
Though, when angry at our sin,
You receive all true repentance.
Lord and Father, mold your clay,
Like a potter works and shapes.
Do not see our sin and wrong;
Let your mercy and your love be strong.
Here we call upon your Name!
Father, Lord, our King who reigns,
O’er this world; now reign in us
Fill us with your Presence glorious.
Warren Wiersbe
When Isaiah considered the goodness of God to Israel, in spite of their rebellion, he had to cry out in prayer for the cleansing of the nation. How he longed to see God work in mighty power as He had done in years past. The temple was trodden down, and the nation had possessed it but a few years. Isaiah points out their sins: uncleanness, unconcern, and unyieldedness. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem, He rode in peace upon a donkey. When He comes to earth the second time, He will ride in majesty on a white horse. And the nations will learn that the Prince of Peace is also a Man of War, judging sin and delivering His people.[2]
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us!
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us!
Come, Let Us Return to the Lord
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Corinthians 4.15).
[1] J. I. Packer, Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1993), 82.
[2] Warren W. Wiersbe, Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the Old Testament (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1993), Is 63–64.
