6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean , And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment ; And all of us wither like a leaf , And our iniquities , like the wind , take us away. 7 There is no one who calls on Your name , Who arouses himself to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us And have delivered us into the power of our iniquities . 8 But now , O Lord , You are our Father , We are the clay , and You our potter ; And all of us are the work of Your hand . 9 Do not be angry beyond measure , O Lord , Nor remember iniquity forever ; Behold , look now , all of us are Your people . 10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness , Zion has become a wilderness , Jerusalem a desolation . 11 Our holy and beautiful house , Where our fathers praised You, Has been burned by fire ; And all our precious things have become a ruin . 12 Will You restrain Yourself at these things , O Lord ? Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure ?
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Isaiah 64:6-12
Commentary on Isaiah 64:6-12
(Read Isaiah 64:6-12)
The people of God, in affliction, confess and bewail their sins, owning themselves unworthy of his mercy. Sin is that abominable thing which the Lord hates. Our deeds, whatever they may seem to be, if we think to merit by them at God's hand, are as rags, and will not cover us; filthy rags, and will but defile us. Even our few good works in which there is real excellence, as fruits of the Spirit, are so defective and defiled as done by us, that they need to be washed in the fountain open for sin and uncleanness. It bodes ill when prayer is kept back. To pray, is by faith to take hold of the promises the Lord has made of his good-will to us, and to plead them; to take hold of him, earnestly begging him not to leave us; or soliciting his return. They brought their troubles upon themselves by their own folly. Sinners are blasted, and then carried away, by the wind of their own iniquity; it withers and then ruins them. When they made themselves as an unclean thing, no wonder that God loathed them. Foolish and careless as we are, poor and despised, yet still Thou art our Father. It is the wrath of a Father we are under, who will be reconciled; and the relief our case requires is expected only from him. They refer themselves to God. They do not say, "Lord, rebuke us not," for that may be necessary; but, "Not in thy displeasure." They state their lamentable condition. See what ruin sin brings upon a people; and an outward profession of holiness will be no defence against it. God's people presume not to tell him what he shall say, but their prayer is, Speak for the comfort and relief of thy people. How few call upon the Lord with their whole hearts, or stir themselves to lay hold upon him! God may delay for a time to answer our prayers, but he will, in the end, answer those who call on his name and hope in his mercy.