Isaiah Chapter 64
Isaiah 64, The Remnant Prays
A. Requesting and Remembering God’s Great Works
1. Isaiah 64:1-4, God’s People Plead for Him to Come in Power and Glory
Isaiah 64:1-4, “Oh that thou wouldest rend heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that mountains might flow down at thy presence, As when melting fire burneth, fire causeth waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that nations may tremble at thy presence! When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, mountains flowed down at thy presence. For since beginning world men have not heard, nor perceived by ear, neither hath eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.”
Isaiah 64 continues the prayer that began in Isaiah 63. The remnant is praying from a place of national brokenness, covenant discipline, and desperate longing for divine intervention. The prayer begins with the cry, “Oh that thou wouldest rend heavens, that thou wouldest come down.” This is not a casual request for mild encouragement. This is a plea for God to tear open the heavens and intervene with unmistakable power.
The word “rend” carries the idea of tearing apart. The remnant is not asking God to merely send help quietly from a distance. They are asking Him to come down in manifest glory. They want the God who once revealed Himself at Sinai, the God who shook mountains, divided waters, and delivered Israel, to act again in history.
The imagery continues, “that mountains might flow down at thy presence.” Mountains represent strength, permanence, and what appears immovable. Yet before the presence of the LORD, even mountains melt, tremble, and flow down. The prayer confesses that Israel’s situation is impossible from a human standpoint, but not impossible before God. No earthly power, no enemy nation, no captivity, no ruin, and no entrenched wickedness can stand when the LORD comes down.
Exodus 19:17-18, “And Moses brought forth people out camp to meet with God, and they stood at nether part mount. And mount Sinai was altogether on smoke, because LORD descended upon it in fire: and smoke thereof ascended as smoke furnace, and whole mount quaked greatly.”
The remnant remembers Sinai because Sinai showed what happens when the LORD descends. The mountain shook. Fire and smoke marked His presence. The people trembled. The God of Israel is not a tribal idol, a distant philosophical concept, or a weak religious symbol. He is the living God whose presence shakes creation.
The prayer continues, “As when melting fire burneth, fire causeth waters to boil.” Fire transforms what it touches. Brushwood burns quickly. Water boils under heat. The remnant is asking God to come in such power that His enemies cannot remain unchanged. His presence would make His name known to His adversaries and cause the nations to tremble.
The purpose is stated clearly, “to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that nations may tremble at thy presence.” This is not merely about Israel’s comfort. It is about the LORD’s name being known. The remnant wants God to act in such a way that His enemies must recognize Him. This is the true aim of biblical prayer, not merely relief from trouble, but the glorification of God’s name.
The prayer then looks backward, “When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, mountains flowed down at thy presence.” The word “terrible” here has the sense of awesome, fearful, and mighty acts. God had done unexpected wonders before. Israel did not plan the Red Sea crossing. Israel did not create manna. Israel did not shake Sinai. Israel did not bring water from the rock by human ability. God acted beyond what they looked for.
Psalm 77:14-15, “Thou art God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among people. Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, sons Jacob and Joseph. Selah.”
This remembrance becomes the foundation for present hope. The God who acted before can act again. The God who came down before can come down again. The God who made His name known before can make His name known again.
The section closes with a statement of God’s uniqueness. “For since beginning world men have not heard, nor perceived by ear, neither hath eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.” There is no God like the LORD. No idol, no pagan deity, no human ruler, no angelic power, and no created force compares with Him. He acts for those who wait for Him.
This verse is later echoed by Paul.
1 Corinthians 2:9-10, “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into heart man, things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for Spirit searcheth all things, yea, deep things God.”
In Isaiah, the emphasis is on God acting for the one who waits for Him. Waiting on the LORD is not laziness. It is faithful dependence. It is refusing to run ahead in fleshly panic. It is believing that God’s timing, God’s power, and God’s promise are better than human manipulation. Many men would rather work than wait because work can feel like control. Waiting requires trust. But Scripture attaches special blessing to waiting on the LORD.
Isaiah 40:31, “But they that wait upon LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk, and not faint.”
2. Isaiah 64:5-7, The Obstacle to God’s Great Works, Our Great Sinfulness
Isaiah 64:5-7, “Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth, for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved? But we are all as unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and we all do fade as leaf, and our iniquities, like wind, have taken us away. And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because our iniquities.”
The prayer now faces the great obstacle. God acts for those who wait for Him, and He meets “him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways.” The remnant knows that the LORD responds to righteous faith, joyful obedience, and covenant remembrance. God meets the one who rejoices in Him and walks in His ways.
But that truth creates a painful problem. The people confess, “behold, thou art wroth, for we have sinned.” God is angry because they have sinned. His anger is not arbitrary. It is holy. The people are not innocent victims of random suffering. They are covenant breakers under divine discipline.
The phrase “in those is continuance, and we shall be saved?” is difficult, but the sense is that they have continued in their sins, and the question becomes, how then can they be saved? The remnant understands the problem. The righteous man is the one whose prayer God answers, but they are not righteous in themselves. They need salvation precisely because their sin has brought disaster upon them.
Then comes one of the strongest confessions of human sinfulness in Scripture. “But we are all as unclean thing.” Under the Mosaic Law, uncleanness excluded a person from temple worship and normal participation in holy things until cleansing took place. To be unclean was to be unfit to approach God ceremonially. The remnant confesses that this is their spiritual condition before the LORD.
They continue, “and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” This does not merely say that their wickedness is filthy. It says their righteousnesses are filthy. Even the best works of fallen man, when offered as grounds for acceptance before God, are polluted by sin. Human righteousness cannot justify a sinner before the Holy One.
This is devastating to all works based religion. A man may compare himself to other men and think himself respectable. But before God, even his righteous acts are corrupted by pride, unbelief, mixed motives, self interest, and spiritual uncleanness. If our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, then our unrighteousnesses are worse still.
Romans 3:10-12, “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out way, they are together become unprofitable, there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
Philippians 3:8-9, “Yea doubtless, and I count all things loss for excellency knowledge Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered loss all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is law, but that which is through faith Christ, righteousness which is God by faith.”
The doctrine is clear. A sinner cannot stand before God clothed in his own righteousness. He must be clothed in the righteousness God provides. This is why Isaiah 61 spoke of the garments of salvation and the robe of righteousness. Salvation requires divine clothing, not human self-covering.
The remnant continues, “and we all do fade as leaf.” Sin has made them weak, unstable, and perishing. A leaf separated from life withers and falls. So man in sin has no lasting strength before God. He may boast for a season, but he fades.
Psalm 103:15-16, “As for man, his days are as grass: as flower field, so he flourisheth. For wind passeth over it, and it is gone, and place thereof shall know it no more.”
Then they confess, “and our iniquities, like wind, have taken us away.” Sin is not merely a stain, it is a power. Iniquity carries men away like wind carries a leaf. The sinner likes to think he is in control, but sin enslaves, drives, and carries him where he does not want to go. Temptation becomes a storm when the heart is not anchored in God.
The confession deepens, “And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold thee.” Their sinfulness includes spiritual laziness and prayerlessness. Even in their desperate condition, they did not seek the LORD as they should. No one stirred himself up to take hold of God. This is one of the marks of spiritual decline, men stop wrestling with God in prayer. They become passive, cold, and resigned.
The phrase “stirreth up himself” is important. A man must often rouse himself spiritually. The flesh does not naturally want prayer, repentance, holiness, or waiting on God. Spiritual seriousness often requires deliberate effort.
Psalm 27:8, “When thou saidst, Seek ye my face, my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.”
The consequence is stated, “for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because our iniquities.” God’s hidden face means broken fellowship, withheld favor, and covenant discipline. The people do not blame God’s weakness. They confess their iniquities. Their sin has invited righteous judgment.
This confession is essential. A man is not ready for grace until he stops defending himself. The remnant does not say, “We made mistakes.” They say they are unclean, their righteousnesses are filthy rags, they fade as a leaf, their iniquities have carried them away, they have failed to call upon God, and God has hidden His face because of their sin.
B. A Plea for the Mercy of the LORD
1. Isaiah 64:8-9, Asking God to Remember Who His People Are
Isaiah 64:8-9, “But now, O LORD, thou art our father, we are clay, and thou our potter, and we all are work thy hand. Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.”
After confessing sin, the remnant appeals to mercy. “But now, O LORD, thou art our father.” This is not an appeal to innocence. They have already admitted guilt. It is an appeal to relationship. They ask the LORD to deal with them as a Father deals with His children.
God as Father to Israel is a covenant concept. He created, redeemed, disciplined, and cared for them as His people. Deuteronomy 32:6, “Do ye thus requite LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?”
A father may discipline, but he does not cease to be a father. The remnant pleads, in effect, “We have sinned, but You are still our Father. Have mercy on us.”
They add another image, “we are clay, and thou our potter, and we all are work thy hand.” The potter has sovereign authority over the clay. The clay does not form itself. It has no life or purpose apart from the potter’s hand. The remnant acknowledges God’s sovereignty over them and asks Him to shape them according to mercy.
Jeremiah 18:5-6, “Then word LORD came to me, saying, O house Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith LORD. Behold, as clay is in potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house Israel.”
The clay and potter image is humbling. It denies self-rule. It denies pride. It denies the illusion that man owns himself. Israel belongs to God because He made them, called them, redeemed them, and formed them for His glory.
The prayer continues, “Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever.” The remnant does not deny that God has a right to be angry. They ask that His anger not continue without relief. They do not deny their iniquity. They ask that He not remember it forever. This is a plea for forgiveness, restoration, and covenant mercy.
This anticipates the promise of the New Covenant, where God says He will remember sin no more.
Jeremiah 31:34, “And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know LORD: for they shall all know me, from least them unto greatest them, saith LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
The final appeal is simple and powerful, “behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.” They belong to Him. They are sinners, but they are His covenant people. They deserve judgment, but they appeal to His ownership, mercy, and faithfulness.
This is honest prayer. It does not minimize sin, and it does not minimize mercy. It confesses guilt while clinging to God’s covenant relationship.
2. Isaiah 64:10-11, Asking God to Remember the Condition of Zion
Isaiah 64:10-11, “Thy holy cities are wilderness, Zion is wilderness, Jerusalem desolation. Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste.”
The remnant now asks God to look upon the condition of Zion. “Thy holy cities are wilderness, Zion is wilderness, Jerusalem desolation.” The repetition emphasizes devastation. The cities once set apart in connection with God’s covenant people have become wilderness. Zion, the place associated with God’s kingly rule and worship, is desolate. Jerusalem, the city of David and the temple, lies ruined.
This prayer fits the perspective of the Babylonian exile, when Jerusalem and the temple had been destroyed. The people are not merely grieving personal loss. They are grieving the ruin of what belonged to God. These are “thy holy cities.” Zion and Jerusalem matter because they are connected to the LORD’s name, covenant, worship, and promise.
They continue, “Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire.” The temple was holy because it was set apart for the worship of the LORD. It was beautiful because it was built for His glory. It was the place where their fathers praised Him. Now it is burned with fire.
2 Chronicles 36:18-19, “And all vessels house God, great and small, and treasures house LORD, and treasures king, and his princes, all these he brought to Babylon. And they burnt house God, and brake down wall Jerusalem, and burnt all palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all goodly vessels thereof.”
This is not merely architectural grief. The burning of the temple represented covenant discipline, lost worship, national humiliation, and the apparent triumph of enemies. The remnant brings this before God as part of their plea. They ask Him to look at what has become of the place where His name was honored.
The final phrase says, “and all our pleasant things are laid waste.” Everything precious seems ruined. The land, city, temple, worship, homes, and national life have been laid waste. Sin has consequences. Judgment is not theoretical. It leaves ruins.
Yet the very act of praying this proves hope. The remnant does not merely mourn to itself. It brings the ruins before God. That is what faithful men do. They look honestly at the devastation, but they do not conclude that devastation is final. They plead with the God who restores ruins.
3. Isaiah 64:12, Asking God to Act
Isaiah 64:12, “Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O LORD? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore?”
The chapter ends with a question. “Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O LORD?” The remnant asks whether God will restrain Himself because of these things. The question reaches back to the confession of sin in Isaiah 64:5-7 and the ruin described in Isaiah 64:10-11. The people know their sinful condition deserves judgment. Yet they plead that God would not hold back mercy forever.
They ask, “wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore?” This is a cry for God to speak and act. Silence from God feels unbearable when His people are under discipline. The remnant is not demanding justice according to their merit. If God gave them only what they deserved, they would be consumed. They are pleading for mercy.
This prayer wrestles with what seems like an impossible problem. God meets the one who waits for Him, rejoices in righteousness, and remembers Him in His ways. But the people confess that they are sinful, unclean, weak, prayerless, and carried away by iniquity. They need salvation, yet they have no righteousness of their own by which to stand before God.
The final answer is found in the New Covenant and in the mediating work of Jesus Christ. A righteous Man stands in the place of sinners. He is the One whose righteousness is perfect, whose prayers are heard, and whose intercession never fails. This is why believers pray in His name.
John 14:13-14, “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that Father may be glorified in Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.”
To pray in Jesus’ name is not to add a formula at the end of a prayer. It is to come to the Father through the merit, authority, righteousness, and mediation of Christ. He is the righteous Man who represents His people before God.
Hebrews 7:25, “Wherefore he is able also to save them to uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”
Isaiah 64 leaves the remnant pleading for God to act. The full biblical answer is that God does act. He acts through the Redeemer, through the suffering Servant, through the New Covenant, through the Spirit, and ultimately through the return and reign of the Messiah.
Theological Summary of Isaiah 64
Isaiah 64 is the prayer of a broken remnant pleading for God to come down in power. They ask the LORD to rend the heavens, descend, shake the mountains, make His name known to His adversaries, and cause the nations to tremble at His presence. Their prayer is rooted in the memory of God’s past works, especially Sinai and the Exodus.
The chapter also gives one of Scripture’s clearest confessions of human sinfulness. The remnant admits that God meets the one who rejoices and works righteousness, but they have sinned and continued in sin. They confess that they are all as an unclean thing, and that all their righteousnesses are as filthy rags. They fade like a leaf, their iniquities carry them away like the wind, and no one stirs himself up to take hold of God.
Yet the remnant does not despair without prayer. They appeal to God as Father and Potter. They are the clay, the work of His hand. They ask Him not to remain angry forever and not to remember iniquity forever. They plead for Him to look upon them as His people.
They also bring before God the devastation of Zion and Jerusalem. The holy cities are wilderness, Jerusalem is desolate, and the temple where their fathers praised Him has been burned with fire. Their pleasant things are laid waste, and they ask whether God will continue to hold His peace and afflict them severely.
The chapter shows the need for a righteous Mediator. The people need salvation, but they have no righteousness of their own. The ultimate answer is Jesus Christ, the righteous Man who stands for sinners, provides perfect righteousness, and intercedes for His people. In Him, the cry for mercy finds its answer.
