1 Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down! That the mountains might shake at Your presence—
2 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!
3 When You did awesome things for which we did not look, You came down, The mountains shook at Your presence.
Isaiah 64:1-3
1. Desiring the Presence of God
2. Remembering the Presence of God
3. Standing in awe at the Power of God’s Presence
4. Praying that God’s Presence would be manifested again
THE PROBLEM OF SIN
4 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.
5 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.
6 But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like [b]filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.
7 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.
Isaiah 64:4-7
1. There is but One God
a) He reveals Himself to the righteous
b) He acts on behalf of all who wait on Him
2. The absence of God
a) The anger of God
b) Confession of sin and iniquity
c) God withdraws His presence
d) Sin ultimately leads to destruction
PLEADING WITH GOD
8 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.
9 Do not be furious, O LORD, Nor remember iniquity forever; Indeed, please look—we all are Your people!
10 Your holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and beautiful temple, Where our fathers praised You, Is burned up with fire; And all our pleasant things are laid waste.
12 Will You restrain Yourself because of these things, O LORD? Will You hold Your peace, and afflict us very severely?
Isaiah 64:8-12
1. The plight of Israel
a) The holy cities are a wilderness
b) Zion/ Jerusalem a wilderness and a desolation
c) The temple is destroyed
2. Pleading with the LORD
a) As Father
b) As the Potter
c) As the LORD
d) As Creator
3. Things prayed for
a) That iniquity be dealt with
b) That God would not remain silent
c) That God would end the estrangement with His people
CONCLUSION
1. The problem of sin cannot be taken lightly
2. Prayers to God
a) They must ascend
b) They must be urgently offered
3. Will God respond?
13 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, My servants shall eat, But you shall be hungry; Behold, My servants shall drink, But you shall be thirsty; Behold, My servants shall rejoice, But you shall be ashamed;
14 Behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart, But you shall cry for sorrow of heart, And wail for grief of spirit.
16 So that he who blesses himself in the earth Shall bless himself in the God of truth; And he who swears in the earth Shall swear by the God of truth; Because the former troubles are forgotten, And because they are hidden from My eyes.