Isaiah 64:1

Prayer for Mercy and Help

1 Oh, that You would rend the heavens and ¹come down, That the mountains might ²quake at Your presence -

Isaiah 64:1 Meaning and 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 incarnation, in order to redeem and save his people; and others that it is for his second coming to judgment, to take vengeance on his adversaries, when his wrath will burn like fire; but rather it is for his spiritual coming, to avenge his church and people on antichrist, and the antichristian states. She had seen him, as a triumphant conqueror, stained with the blood of his enemies; and now she prays for the accomplishment of what she had seen in vision and prophecy: that the mountains might flow down at thy presence;
kings and princes of the earth, and kingdoms and states governed by them, compared to mountains for their seeming firmness and stability; yet these will melt like wax, and flow like water, tremble and disappear at the presence of the King of kings, when he comes forth in his great wrath against them; as it is explained in the next verse, that the nations may tremble at thy presence;
see ( Revelation 16:20 ) . Here ends the sixty third chapter in the Targum.

Isaiah 64:1 In-Context

1 Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down, That the mountains might quake at Your presence -

2 As fire kindles the 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 which we did not expect, You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence.

4 For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, Nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him.

5 You meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness, Who remembers You in Your ways. Behold, You were angry, for we sinned, We continued in them a long time; And shall we be saved?

Cross References

• 1. Exodus 19:18; Psalms 18:9; Psalms 144:5; Micah 1:3, 4; Habakkuk 3:13
• 2. Judges 5:5; Psalms 68:8; Nahum 1:5

Footnotes

• [a]. Ch 63:19b in Heb