Isaiah 64:8-9 But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand. Be not wroth very sore, O Lord, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.
Oh Friends, our world’s in such a sorry state, that we might do well to pray like Isaiah for the Lord to come down from His high heaven and intervene in man’s affairs. ‘O that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence. As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence.’ (Is.64:1-2) Yes Friends, that seems to be the surest solution to the ungodliness and wickedness permeating our world today. Isaiah continues to set the stage, declaring that when the Lord did awesome things we didn’t expect, He came down and the mountains quaked at His presence. (vs.3) Who knows if He’s not already doing that, cause recently many fires are burning, the earth is quaking something terrible, and water is certainly boiling in all the hurricanes, tsunamis, cyclones etc. But is anybody paying attention? And Isaiah goes on, that since the beginning of time, there’s been no other God like Him; one who acts on behalf of those who wait on Him, and meets those who rejoice in doing right and obeying Him. (vs.4-5) And having acknowledged God’s glory and mercy, halfway through verse 5, he gets to the point; ‘behold thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.’ He admits that the Lord is angry for the people have sinned a long time, and wants to know if they will still be saved? Then he pitches the reasons for our sinfulness. ‘But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags: and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away.’ (vs.6) That’s so true Friends: mankind has fallen to depths of sinful depravity as never seen before. If Isaiah thought his people were bad, he would hold his head and bawl at the extent of our ungodliness. ‘And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.’ (vs.7) What else do we expect if we don’t call on God with enthusiasm and zeal eh? Can we blame Him if He’s hidden His face from us, and left us to rot in our sinful state? Surely not. But it’s a well laid out prayer by Isaiah; for after giving God His glory, and explaining why we’re sinful, as if God doesn’t already know that, he comes to the crucial part. ‘But now O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter, and we all are the work of thy hand.’ Hn, hn! Isaiah is trying to sweet talk the Lord, butter Him up, a bit late though. Then, in climax, he pleads: ‘Be not wroth very sore, O Lord, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.’ Yes Friends, we’re all His people, but too many of us don’t act that way, so how can we in good conscience plead for mercy? It’s time for us to give God some reasons to be merciful to us. Don’t we ever get tired of begging and pleading? If we come to Him with a right heart, we’ll get it automatically. But Friends, it’s got to start with us renouncing our evil ways, and sincerely trying to develop a right heart, through calling on His Holy name and being obedient to His Word. That’s the only way to avoid His wrath and enjoy His mercy. Much LOVE!…no sincere repentance…no mercy..
Oh Friends, our world’s in such a sorry state, that we might do well to pray like Isaiah for the Lord to come down from His high heaven and intervene in man’s affairs. ‘O that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence. As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence.’ (Is.64:1-2) Yes Friends, that seems to be the surest solution to the ungodliness and wickedness permeating our world today. Isaiah continues to set the stage, declaring that when the Lord did awesome things we didn’t expect, He came down and the mountains quaked at His presence. (vs.3) Who knows if He’s not already doing that, cause recently many fires are burning, the earth is quaking something terrible, and water is certainly boiling in all the hurricanes, tsunamis, cyclones etc. But is anybody paying attention? And Isaiah goes on, that since the beginning of time, there’s been no other God like Him; one who acts on behalf of those who wait on Him, and meets those who rejoice in doing right and obeying Him. (vs.4-5) And having acknowledged God’s glory and mercy, halfway through verse 5, he gets to the point; ‘behold thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.’ He admits that the Lord is angry for the people have sinned a long time, and wants to know if they will still be saved? Then he pitches the reasons for our sinfulness. ‘But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags: and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away.’ (vs.6) That’s so true Friends: mankind has fallen to depths of sinful depravity as never seen before. If Isaiah thought his people were bad, he would hold his head and bawl at the extent of our ungodliness. ‘And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.’ (vs.7) What else do we expect if we don’t call on God with enthusiasm and zeal eh? Can we blame Him if He’s hidden His face from us, and left us to rot in our sinful state? Surely not. But it’s a well laid out prayer by Isaiah; for after giving God His glory, and explaining why we’re sinful, as if God doesn’t already know that, he comes to the crucial part. ‘But now O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter, and we all are the work of thy hand.’ Hn, hn! Isaiah is trying to sweet talk the Lord, butter Him up, a bit late though. Then, in climax, he pleads: ‘Be not wroth very sore, O Lord, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.’ Yes Friends, we’re all His people, but too many of us don’t act that way, so how can we in good conscience plead for mercy? It’s time for us to give God some reasons to be merciful to us. Don’t we ever get tired of begging and pleading? If we come to Him with a right heart, we’ll get it automatically. But Friends, it’s got to start with us renouncing our evil ways, and sincerely trying to develop a right heart, through calling on His Holy name and being obedient to His Word. That’s the only way to avoid His wrath and enjoy His mercy. Much LOVE!…no sincere repentance…no mercy..
SCRIP-BITS 