Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 64:7
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.
7. And there is none that calleth, &c. ] an easily intelligible hyperbole.
stirreth himself up ] “arouseth himself,” the same verb as in Isa 51:17.
consumed us, because of our iniquities ] lit. “melted us by the hand of our iniquities.” Cf. Eze 33:10, “Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we waste away in them, how should we then live?” A better reading, supported by LXX., Pesh. and Targ., is delivered us into the hand (i.e. the power) of our iniquities. Cf. Job 8:4.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And there is none that calleth upon thy name – The nation is corrupt and degenerate. None worship God in sincerity.
That stirreth up himself – The word used here ( miteorer) refers to the effort which is requisite to rouse oneself when oppressed by a spirit of heavy slumber; and the idea here is, that the nation was sunk in spiritual torpor, and that the same effort was needful to excite it which was requisite to rouse one who had sunk down to deep sleep. How aptly this describes the state of a sinful world! How much disposed is that world to give itself to spiritual slumber! How indisposed to rouse itself to call upon God! No man rises to God without effort; and unless men make an effort for this, they fall into the stupidity of sin, just as certainly as a drowsy man sinks back into deep sleep.
To take hold of thee – The Hebrew word ( chazaq) means properly to bind fast, to gird tight, and then to make firm or strong, to strengthen; and the idea of strengthening oneself is implied in the use of the word here. It means, that with the consciousness of feebleness we should seek strength in God. This the people referred to by the prophet were indisposed to do. This the world at large is indisposed to do.
For thou hast hid thy face – Thou bast withdrawn thy favor from us, as a people, on account of our sins. This is an acknowledgment that one effect of his withdrawing his favor, and one evidence of it was, that no one was disposed to call upon his name. All had sunk into the deep lethargy of sin.
And hast consumed us – Margin, Melted. The Hebrew word ( mug) means to melt, to flow down; and hence, in Piel, to cause to melt or flow down. It is used to denote the fact that an army or host of people seem to melt away, or become dissolved by fear and terror Exo 15:15; Josh. 2:9-24; Job 30:22. Thou dissolvest ( thmogegeniy) my substance; that is, thou causest me to dissolve before thy indignation. This is described as one of the effects of the wrath of God, that his enemies vanish away, or are dissolved before him.
Because of our iniquities – Margin, as Hebrew, By the hand; that is, our iniquities have been the hand, the agent or instrument by which this has been done.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 64:7
And there is none that calleth upon Thy name
Neglected religion
1.
There is a confession of neglected privilege and duty. There is none that calleth upon Thy name.
2. There is a definition of true and saving religion. That stirreth himself up to take hold of Thee. This latter is the most striking and important, for it shows what a man must do in order to approach God, the act requiring exertion and activity. Multitudes of so-called Christians live on without the semblance of devotion, while with many more this worship is a mere matter of form.
I. WHAT ARE THE CAUSES? There are many things which operate to make a man neglect God.
1. Devotion to the world. No man can serve two masters, and he who loves the world cannot consistently love God.
2. Selfish indulgence. There are many who do not, strictly speaking, love the world, who nevertheless so pamper their bodies with temporal comforts that they sink down into a dreamy sloth.
3. Want of desire. Deadness of soul makes a man sluggish. If we keep out of the sunshine, we cannot feel its warmth. If men hide from God, they can neither desire nor love Him.
II. WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES? A terrible roll-call of iniquity and sin. Evil rolls on like the waves of the troubled sea. Prayer-less souls are marching on to perdition; Satan triumphs over the ungodly world; God is dishonoured; angels weep.
III. WHAT IS THE REMEDY? Such reflections ought–
1. To arouse us to new efforts in prayer.
2. To excite us to greater personal efforts. We can all do something. Many can do much.
3. To awaken us to indirect work. We can send others to preach and to labour.
4. To see that we ourselves are not among those who fail to take hold, and that our personal example is not hindering the progress of the truth. (Homilist.)
Neglect of prayer
This chapter may be considered as an act of humiliation and confession by the prophet, in behalf of the Jews, similar to that in the ninth chapter of Daniel. In the text he aggravates their other crimes by that of hypocrisy, for he does not mean by the expression that none called upon or prayed to God at all, but that they did not do it spiritually, heartily, fervently. The last clause in the sentence explains (as is common in the prophetic writings) the former. None calleth upon Thy name; that is, None stirreth up himself to take hold of Thee.
I. PRAYER, PROPERLY SO CALLED, CONSISTS IN CERTAIN EXERCISES OF THE MIND.
1. Attention to our wants. Without this, prayer is vain babbling. Our wants arise from our sinful conduct–our unholy nature–powerful opposition–daily circumstances in our experience. Our state ought to be asdiligently attended to as the most assiduous tradesman attends to his business–as the humane physician attends to the symptoms of disease in his patient.
2. Regard to God as the Being who alone can relieve us.
3. Strong and fervent desire.
4. Affiance in God.
5. Humble and patient expectation.
II. HOWEVER FREQUENTLY OR FORCIBLY WE PRAY, IF OUR PRAYERS ARE SEPARATE AND DISTINCT FROM THESE EXERCISES, WE SHALL BE REGARDED BY GOD AS THOUGH WE NEVER PRAYED AT ALL–THAT IS, WE SHALL DERIVE NO BENEFIT FROM OUR SERVICES.
1. This will appear from the ancient Jews, who drew near to God with their lips, but their hearts were far from Him.
2. That prayer must be distinguished hi right dispositions of the mind, is evident from the very design of prayer Consider its parts–Adoration; thanksgiving; confession: Intercession. The whole of this duty is designed to promote piety, by working certain holy dispositions in our hearts, by the help and blessing of God. Will not these remarks account for the barrenness of mere professors? Christians, stir up the gift of God that is within you. (J. Walker, D. D.)
Universal forgetfulness of God
Universal forgetfulness of God was the consequence of self-incurred abandonment by God. (F. Delitzsch, D. D.)
The dully of taking hold of God
I. IT IMPLIES TO TAKE HOLD OF GOD IN THE EXERCISE OF SAVING FAITH. Expressions almost the same occur in this sense in two other parts of Isaiah Isa 27:5; Isa 56:6). To take hold of God, to take hold of His strength, to take hold of His covenant, to join ourselves to Him, all imply the one act of a sinner taking hold of Christ, or of God in Christ in the exercise of saving faith. But this first and essential exercise of saving faith is not what is principally referred to in our text. There is, then–
II. A further exercise implied in taking hold of God, one which true believers alone can engage in, and one in which they may be very deficient. This exercise is alluded to by the apostle Paul, in Php 3:12, where he Bays of himself, Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect; but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. The Greek word translated apprehend, corresponds, with the Hebrew word in our text translated take hold of. Therefore, we Infer, that the second exercise implied in taking hold of God, is TO APPREHEND HIS MORAL IMAGE. Those who are engaged in this exercise are blessings to the world and to the Church, and are objects of complacency to God.
III. The third great exercise implied in taking hold of God is WRESTLING, IMPORTUNATE, PLEADING PRAYER. It is not every kind even of acceptable prayer that deserves the name of taking hold of God. Five ways may be mentioned in which a soul, through pleading prayer, taketh hold of God.
1. By taking hold of or pleading His perfections. God call do nothing contrary to His perfections. All His actings are the immediate result of them. But it pleaseth Him that His saints should plead His perfections, and, as it were, take hold of them in holy, humble, fervent importunity.
2. By pleading His relations to His people as Father, Creator, Preserver and Redeemer.
3. By pleading His promises, declarations and engagements.
4. By pleading His past dealings. Thou hast begun a good work in my soul; carry it on. Thou hast delivered Thy Church and people of old; do it now. Thou hast shamed and confounded Thine enemies, when their pride and their might were at the highest; shame and confound them now. Thou hast planted a vine in our land; look down from heaven; revive and quicken this Thy vine.
5. By acquiescing in the sovereignty, and looking to the unsearchable mercies of God. Conclusion: How lofty an exercise of soul it is to take hold of God. How marvellous the thought, a worm of the dust to influence the thoughts and operations of the Almighty God! It is a work too mighty for the feeble powers of man. No creature ever did or could accomplish it, except so far as strengthened by the Spirit. (W. Mackenzie.)
Lethargy in prayer
I. WE HAVE A STRIKING DEFINITION OF TRUE PRAYER. It is a taking hold of God, in no material sense, but by a spiritual apprehension so real and vivid that we seem to touch the Angel of the Covenant and say, with realizing perception of His Presence: We will not let Thee go, except Thou bless us. This definition greatly helps us–
1. When, for instance, men insist that prayer is only acceptable as it arises from special fanes, we can reply that the hand of faith may feel after, find, and grasp the hand of God in the press of the busy street, the woodland glade, and the sequestered chamber. Since God is everywhere we may take hold of Him anywhere.
2. Again, when men tell us that prayers must be uttered in words of solemn grandeur and rhythm, we may remind them that prayer is a taking hold of God, and that it may exist in its intensest, truest form when not a word is uttered.
3. When, again, men suggest that priestly intervention is necessary to present our supplications, let us find refuge in this definition; for surely God will as much allow Himself to be grasped by the ungloved hand of the labourer, as by the dimpled hand of the little child. We need none to instruct us how to take hold; and each can best take hold for his own preservation. The intervention of a third person is indeed a source of weakness when it comes between us and the gracious Hand which reaches down to draw us out of many and deep waters.
II. THE GRIEVOUS COMPLAINT. There is none that stirreth up himself to take hold of Thee. Why this fatal lethargy?
1. In the case of some, it no doubt arises from the stupefying effect of worldliness and self-indulgence. If the unwary traveller sits down to rest in the forest or the cave, where gases lie heavily on the ground, they may so invade his sense and benumb his mind that he will be presently unable to arouse himself to further exertion. This is the state of the opium-eater and the drunkard, of all who, like Tennysons Lotus-eaters, come under the fatal spell of the narcotic. And is there not a mephitic poison issuing always from worldly amusements and society?
2. In the case of others, lethargy in prayer arises from a mistaken idea of the privilege of the child of God. They say that God is so wise and good, that it is a mistake and a sin to seek to impose our will on Him; that it is enough to take what He sends, and to bear what He imposes, without attempting to interfere by the urging of our desires. But there is nothing of this in the teachings of our Saviour. He perpetually says, Ask, seek, knock. He evidently would have us regard prayer as a means of obtaining blessings which otherwise we would altogether miss.
3. Others yield to this lethargy because they have intellectual difficulties in respect to prayer. They point to the majestic reign of law, the unbroken chain of cause and effect, the unalterable plan of the Divine procedure. How can God rule the realm (and prayer is one of these) may be used to cancel and overcome those of the lower. Besides, is it not enough that Jesus prayed, and so unmistakably taught His disciples to do the same?
4. Yet others, again, do not stir themselves up to pray, because they say that they have prayed so long in vain. Prayer, they say, is so irregular and uncertain. There is no counting on it. Why, then, they argue, should they waste time and energy on that which is as likely to disappoint as to help them This latter difficulty is possibly the most common of all, and does more than any other to relax mens energy in prayer. It in of the utmost importance, therefore, to insist that prayer has a law as constant and unchangeable as gravitation, and if we do not succeed, it is because we are ourselves to blame. Nay, more, if we seldom obtain answers to our prayers, we must examine carefully into the cause; because, almost certainly, there is some flaw or fault in our own character, by reason of which our prayers are as missives lost in the post, or ships that have gone down at sea.
III. THE LAMENT OVER THIS LETHARGY IN PRAYER.
1. It is very dangerous. The first step in spiritual declension is almost invariably in the closet. The whole stress of Satanic temptation is to induce us to relax our prayerfulness; and perhaps there is no time when we need to pray more than when this fatal disinclination begins to creep over us.
2. It is very sinful. Is it not wrong to reject the advances of our God, and refuse to comply with His commands to pray? This surely is a dishonour, a slight, a crime.
3. It is very strange. It must be the wonder of the angels, as they look on our tired and perplexed faces, amid our complicated cares, that we are so slack in our approaches to the strongest, wisest, gentlest Being in the universe, and are so reluctant to stir ourselves up to take hold of God. (Ills of Faith.)
Self-influence
I. CERTAIN TRUTHS WHICH THIS LAMENTATION IMPLIES.
1. That God was ready to receive them graciously.
2. That man is prone to be slow of heart to seek unto God.
3. That man may oppose that slowness of heart–may stir himself up to take hold on God. Such was the view of Joshua when he said, Incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel (Jos 24:23). This truth wasregarded by the Lord Himself when He proclaimed, Incline your ear, etc. Isa 55:8). With a view to this, man may stir up–
(1) The memory.
(2) The imagination.
(3) The reason.
(4) The will.
II. THE LAMENTATION ITSELF. Of it we may emphatically say (Eze 19:14), This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation. Why?
1. On account of present loss. They forsake their own mercies, wrong their own selves as to present good.
2. On account of the uncertainty of life on earth.
3. On account of the force of habit (Jer 13:23). Through the force of habit conscience may become so seared and the heart so hardened that the likelihood may rapidly lessen of the deteriorated mind ever stilting itself up to take hold on God. Let not the peculiarly encouraging character of the kind call be overlooked–Let him take hold of My strength. (J. Elliot.)
No man to pray
(with Isa 62:1):–The general condition of the nation was deplorable enough (Isa 64:6). But there was one vein of sadness lying deeper than the sadness which filled the prophets heart because of the condition of the people generally; he knew not of any man who was ,wounded and oppressed and driven to prayer as his only refuge, and as the peoples only hope,, by this grievous state of things. One man may be a Churchs, a citys, a nations saviour. Indifference to all interests but our own is a powerful narcotic which may put a Church or a nation to sleep. Perfect is the picture of this luxurious, cynical indifference drawn by the prophet Amos (Amo 6:1-6). This very indifference to things not directly our own, to things not reckoned our own according to conventional standards, is again and again spoken of in Scripture as a cause of great astonishment to God; as if there was something too selfish, too cruel, too unbrotherly in it to be believed; as if men could not be so careless of what was good and right. The Lord saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no judgment, and He saw there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor. He says, And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold. He says again, The People of the land have used oppression,, etc. (Eze 22:29-30). And here it should be–distinctly observed that the taking an interest In things beyond the narrow limits of our own personal affairs is an interest full of tender concern, of self-abnegation, of brotherly love. Many a harsh man can look over his own boundary walls to grumble and find fault; but it was not the want of that of which Isaiah complained. Many can sit in judgment and condemn; but it was not judgment of that kind, that he wanted. He did not want any one bitterly to point out the Churchs faults, heartlessly to mock at her nakedness and poverty, self-righteously to cry shame upon her sir–he wanted a man to pray for her. When there was no man who could or would shake off his selfish indolence to pray for the Church, the prophet himself said, For Zions sake I will not hold my peace, etc. Then, as if he were confident of success, and saw the fruits of his prayers, and tears, and toils, he says, And the Gentiles shall see Thy righteousness, and all kings Thy glory, etc. (Isa 62:2-4). Howdifferent this attitude towards the Church to the cold selfishness which stands aloof altogether, or comes from its seclusion only to complain, and, by disturbance, to make bad worse! How different from the worldliness which is content for the Church also to be worldly; for her glory to be hidden by carnal pleasures and carnal things! How different from the mere denominational fervour–the fervour for church or chapel, which is satisfied with outside show and with prosperity that can be measured, and cares little or nothing for the growth of faith, hope and love, for the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and for the salvation of souls ] For Isaiah is bent upon seeing a Church whose righteousness should go forth as brightness, whose salvation should go forth as a burning lamp; on whose glory the Gentiles and kings should look; which should be named by a new name by the mouth of the Lord Himself, a name indicating the delightful change that has passed over her, and the new relation in which she stands to God and man. And surely it is worth any Christians while to take up any good cause, in this sympathetic way; to identify himself with it; to become responsible for it before God and man and his own conscience. To do so is to follow the example of all the noblest and holiest of our race, it is to follow the example of Him who, though He was rich, for our sakes became poor, that we, through His poverty, might be rich, identifying Himself in the most absolute manner with our nature and our condition, until He redeemed us from all our sins, and raised us to sit at His right hand in His kingdom. (J. P. Gladstone.)
Taking hold upon God
The prophet reveals the very essence and soul of prayer. It is a stirring up of ones self to take hold of God. The very soul of devotion lies in realizing the Divine presence, in dealing with God as a real person, in firm confidence in His faithfulness,–in a word, in taking hold of Him. Men do not take hold of a shadow, they cannot grasp the unsubstantial fabric of a dream. Taking hold implies something real which we grasp; and there is wanted to make prayer truthful and acceptable with God the grip and grasp of a tenacious faith, which believes the fact that God is, and that He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. Taking hold implies a reverent familiarity with the Lord, by which we use a holy force to win a blessing from His hand. Laying hold upon God is not the act of a dead man, neither is it the deed of one who is destitute of spiritual perception; it is the act of one who is quickened and kept alive by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. Men will do anything sooner than stir up themselves to take hold of God: they will build churches, and rear altars, and say masses and perform pilgrimages, and a thousand other things, but they do not want God, and will not have Him. It is great condescension on the Lords part that He should permit it to be so, but so it is, and when He bares His right arm to smite you your safety lies in grasping that very hand which apparently is lifted for your destruction.
I. The first form of taking hold, that which is intended in the text, is that in which THE AWAKENED SINNER TAKES HOLD UPON GOD.
II. We very greatly need to have among us many THOROUGH BELIEVERS WHO TAKE HOLD UPON GOD BY FIDELITY TO HIM. I have seen applied to Calvin the motto, He took fast hold. If ever a man did take fast hold on invisible things, it was that famous reformer. What he grasped he held with force of clear conviction, intelligent apprehension, and devout reverence. Such a man opens his Bible and resolves to find out what Gods will is, and be judges for himself, for he knows that he will have to render a personal account. Such a man sets himself to extend the kingdom of Christ, impelled by inward zeal. Having obtained a solid fulcrum of assured knowledge, he now begins to use his lever and work upon others. He knows that he cannot be placed where God is not, and therefore he feels that his best Friend is always near. He is a man that calleth upon God, not merely in prayer, but by confessing His name, and owning His cause; and he stirs up himself to take hold upon God in the doing of all these things.
III. We take a step further in advance when we mention a third form of this taking hold of God: We need a development in the form of THE WRESTLING PLEADER. The expression is borrowed from Jacob at the brook of Jabbok. A man who can take hold of God in prayer will be of the utmost value to the Church.
IV. The fourth point is THE TAKING HOLD OF GOD BY THE STRENGTHENED BELIEVER: the man who has got beyond doubts and fears, and grasped the eternal verities. No question now as to whether there is a God or no: he knows Him, speaks with Him, walks with Him, He is quite sure about Gods keeping His promises, he dares not doubt that, for he has had too many proofs already of the faithfulness of God for him to distrust Him. Now, see how steadily that man moves about: trial does not bow him down, he expected it, and he expects to be delivered out of it. If you rush in upon him with the most terrible information it does not distress him, for he is not afraid of evil tidings; his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. (C. H.Spurgeon.)
Delivered unto iniquity
For hast consumed, read hast delivered us into the hand of our iniquities. Their sin has been allowed by God to breed deeper sin. (A. B. Davidson, D. D.)
Melted into the hands of iniquity
We may suppose with Rosenmuller that the phrase strictly means, Thou dost melt us into the hand of our iniquities, i.e subject us to them, make us unable to resist them, and passively submissive to their power. (J. A. Alexander.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 7. There is none] Twelve MSS. have ein, without the conjunction vau prefixed; and so read the Chaldee and Vulgate.
And hast consumed us because of our iniquities – “And hast delivered us up into the hands of our iniquities.”] For vattemugenu, “hast dissolved us,” the Septuagint, Syriac, and Chaldee had in their copies temaggenenu, “hast delivered us up.” Houbigant. Secker.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And there is none; or, yet there is none, i.e. few, Psa 14:3; they are not to be discerned among the multitude.
That calleth; such as call upon thee as they ought, as Jacob, and Moses, and David, &c. did, which often prevents the ruin of a state or kingdom: it points out the universal apostacy of the last times of the Jewish state, for which they were cut off.
To take hold of thee; either to stay thee from departing from us; see Luk 24:28,29; or to fetch thee back, when departed, Jer 12:7; or it is an allegorical allusion to one struck down and still smitten, but never stirs to lay hold on the arm that smites him, Isa 27:5; it notes their great slothfulness and carelessness, and some refer it to their lukewarmness and dead-heartedness, relying upon their privileges before they went into captivity, and so a great presage of their approaching judgments.
For, or when; so the particle is used Job 5:21; Psa 75:2.
Consumed us; or, melted us; our sins have kindled such a fire of thy wrath, that we are melted with it.
Because of our iniquities, Heb. in the hands of our iniquities, i.e. either, in the place of our iniquities, the land wherein they were committed; or, into the hands of our iniquities, to be punished by them, and as it were consumed, or melted down, or our strength exhausted by them, as wax before the fire, Lev 26:39; Eze 33:10; or, as we translate it, our iniquities being the procuring cause of it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. stirrethrousethhimself from spiritual drowsiness.
take hold (Isa27:5).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And there is none that calleth upon thy name,…. Upon the Lord himself, who is gracious and merciful, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, and all sufficient, a God hearing and answering prayer, and the Father of his people; all which should engage to call upon him: or, “there is none that prays in thy name”, as the Targum; none that prays to God in the name of his Son, the only Mediator between God and men; he is the way of access to the Father; his name is to be used and made mention of in prayer; acceptance is only through him, and all favours are conveyed by him; see Joh 14:13, not that there were absolutely none at all that prayed to God, and called upon or in his name, but comparatively they were very few; for that there were some it is certain, since this very complaint is made in a prayer; but the number of such was small, especially that prayed in faith, in sincerity, with fervency and importunity; and, when this is the case, it is an argument and evidence of great declension:
that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee; to exercise faith on God, as their covenant God; to lay hold on the covenant itself, the blessings and promises of it, and plead them with God: or to pray unto him, which is a wrestling with him, when faith lays hold upon God, and will not let him go without the blessing; and is an entreaty of him not to depart when he seems to be about it; or a detaining of him, as the disciples detained Christ, when he seemed as if he would go from them; and is also an importunate desire that he would return when he is departed; and an earnest request not to strike when his hand is lifted up: faith in prayer does, as it were, take hold of the hands of God, and will not suffer him to strike his children; just as a friend lays hold on a father’s hand when he is about to give his child a blow with it for his correction; and such is the amazing condescension of God, that he suffers himself to be held after this manner; see Ge 32:26, now, to “stir up” a man’s self to this is to make diligent use of the means in seeking the Lord; particularly a frequent use of the gift of prayer, and a stirring of that up; a calling upon a man’s soul, and all within him, to engage therein; to which are opposed slothfulness, c. cold, lukewarm, negligent performance of duty, which is here complained of there were none, or at least but few, that stirred up or “aroused” b themselves. God’s professing people are sometimes asleep; and though it is high time to awake out of sleep, yet no one arouses himself or others.
For thou hast hid thy face from us: or removed the face of thy Shechinah, or divine Majesty from us, as the Targum; being provoked by such a conduct towards him, as before expressed: for it may be rendered, “therefore thou hast hid”; c. or “though”, or “when” c, this was the case, yet no man sought his face and favour, or entreated he would return again:
and hast consumed us because of our iniquities; by the sword, famine, pestilence, and captivity.
b “seipsum exsuscitat”, Forerius; “excitans se”, Montanus, Junius Tremellius. So the Targum, “that awakes”. c “quamvis”, Gataker “cum”, Junius Tremellius “quando”, Forerius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(8-9)
This was the case when the measure of Israel’s sins had become full. They were carried into exile, where they sank deeper and deeper. The great mass of the people proved themselves to be really massa perdita , and perished among the heathen. But there were some, though a vanishingly small number, who humbled themselves under the mighty hand of God, and, when redemption could not be far off, wrestled in such prayers as these, that the nation might share it in its entirety, and if possible not one be left behind. With the existing state of sin and punishment is placed among the things of the past, and the petition presented that the present moment of prayer may have all the significance of a turning-point in their history. “And now, O Jehovah, Thou art our Father: we are the clay, and Thou our Maker; and we are all the work of Thy hand. Be not extremely angry, O Jehovah, and remember not the transgression for ever! Behold, consider, we beseech Thee, we are all Thy people.” The state of things must change at last; for Israel is an image made by Jehovah; yea, more than this, Jehovah is the begetter of Israel, and loves Israel not merely as a sculptor, but as a father (compare Isa 45:9-10, and the unquestionable passage of Isaiah in Isa 29:16). Let Him then not be angry , “to the utmost measure” (cf., Psa 119:8), or if we paraphrase it according to the radical meaning of , “till the weight becomes intolerable.” Let Him not keep in mind the guilt for ever, to punish it; but, in consideration of the fact that Israel is the nation of His choice, let mercy take the place of justice. strengthens the petition in its own way (see Gen 30:34), just as does; and signifies here, as elsewhere, to fix the eye upon anything. The object, in this instance, is the existing fact expressed in “we are all Thy people.” Hitzig is correct in regarding the repetition of “all of us” in this prayer as significant. The object throughout is to entreat that the whole nation may participate in the inheritance of the coming salvation, in order that the exodus from Babylonia may resemble the exodus from Egypt.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
7. There is none that calleth on thy name. He confirms what was formerly said; for he exhorts believers, even though God’s punishment of them appears to be severe, still to believe that they deserve such a punishment. Heinous sins are mentioned by him; and though it would be tedious to go over all of them in detail, he points out the fountain itself, and says that the worship of God is neglected. Under the word “calleth on,” he includes, as is customary in Scripture, the whole worship of God; for the most important part of God’s worship is to “call upon” him, and to testify our confidence in him. Prayers and supplications, undoubtedly, were always practiced among them; but, because the heart was far removed, he reckons all pretended ceremonies as of no value.
Or that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee. He now explains more clearly the former clause, by saying that no one earnestly applies his mind, or gives his endeavor to seek God, but that all are consumed and wasted away through their own slothfulness. And first, he shews that nothing is more desirable than to be perfectly joined to God; for, when we are alienated from him, everything must go ill with us. We are indolent and sluggish by nature; and therefore we need to have spurs applied to us. Seeing that by nature we indulge our slothfulness, we must listen to the advice of the Prophet so as not to become utterly stupid; for, otherwise he in his turn will reject us, or contemptuously drive us away. The Prophet describes the miserable condition of the people, in which there was no desire to seek God, and no means were used to stir up the heart to godliness.
Thou hast made us to languish. They again complain that they are overwhelmed by the severity of distress, and obtain from God no alleviation; for Isaiah asserts these things in the name of the whole people, and prays to God not to permit them any longer to languish amidst so great miseries.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE ABSENCE OF IMPORTUNATE PRAYER DEPLORED
Isa. 64:7. There is none that stirreth up himself to take hold of Thee.
THE SUBJECT OF COMPLAINT AND LAMENTATION. Not the neglect of ordinances, or the lack of profession, &c., but the lack of importunate prayer. How wonderful the permission and privilege here implied! The meaning is obvious. Similar expressions occur (Isa. 27:5; Isa. 56:6). These are representations of one actthe act of believing with the heart unto righteousness. But this is not mainly intended, but that of those who had taken hold of the covenant for salvation none was stirring up himself to take hold of God by importunate, wrestling, prevailing prayer. It is not every kind of prayer that can be thus designated. There is a holy violence about such supplication. In prayer we take hold of God
1. By pleading His perfections. These constitute the encouragement of prayer. Thus Jacob, &c. God does nothing contrary to His perfections, but He is pleased to permit His people to plead these, and wait for their illustration.
2. By pleading His relations to His Church. What parent can hear unmoved the cry of his own offspring, &c. (Isa. 63:15-19). Such pleadings affect our own mind, and put us into a right frame to receive answers.
3. By pleading the promises of His Word.
4. By remembering His former interpositions.
5. By absolute submission to His will.
II. THE FACTS IMPLIED IN THE EXISTENCE OF THE APATHY MOURNED.
1. That few if any were striving after eminent piety.
2. That in taking hold of God we are to use appropriate means.
3. That the work is individual and personal.
4. That extraordinary methods were to be adopted
(1) Obtain solemn impressions of Divine realities.
(2) Secure extraordinary times for prayer.
(3) Exercise holy watching, &c.
III. THE EVILS TO BE DEPRECATED IN CONNECTION WITH THE NEGLECT OF THIS DUTY.
1. In the dishonour done to God.
2. In the advantage withheld from the Church. 3. In the benefit we ourselves lose.
4. In our neglected obligation to benefit the world.George Smith, D.D.
I. The nature of prayer described. II. The neglect of prayer deplored. III. The encouragement of prayer suggested.S. Thodey. (See also G. Brooks Outlines, p. 229231.)
Isa. 64:8. Gods people are distinguishedI. By their childlike confidence. II. Their implicit submission to His will. III. Their grateful acknowledgment of their dependence.
Isa. 64:9. I. The evil deprecatedGods anger. Merited. Acknowledged. II. The terms in which it is deprecated. Imply the justice of Gods procedure. Beseech a limitation of its severity. III. The plea by which it is deprecated. Humble. Confident. Founded in Gods covenant relation to His people.
Isa. 64:10-11. SinI. Turns a scene of beauty into desolation. II. Profanes what is most sacred. III. Embitters what is most sacred in the associations of memory. IV. Destroys all that is most pleasant.J. Lyth, D.D.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(7) Hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.Better, hast delivered us into the hand (scil., the power) of our iniquities. The previous clause had pointed to the people s forgetfulness of Godwhat we should call their indifferenceas the root-evil. This states that that sin led, in the righteous judgment of God, to open iniquities. The thought is parallel to that of Rom. 1:21-24.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
DISCOURSE: 1019
THE CONSEQUENCES OF NEGLECTING PRAYER
Isa 64:7. There is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for [Note: It should be translated therefore. Bishop Lowth.] thou hast hid thy face from us.
MAN is encompassed with dangers from which no human foresight can deliver him. He is oppressed with wants which no creature can supply. It is to God that he must look for the blessings which he needs. But he is naturally so averse to prayer, that he will bear all his own burthens rather than apply to God for relief. On this account it is that so many faint under their afflictions; and this was the ground of Gods controversy with his people.
I.
The nature of prayer
Prayer is represented in the Scriptures by a variety of expressions. It is here set forth under the idea of calling upon God.
[Petitions, either with or without a form, are not worthy the name of prayer, if they be unattended with a devout spirit. Prayer is a work of the heart rather than of the lips: it supposes that we feel our wants, desire to have them supplied, and believe that God is able and willing to relieve them.]
It is also described as a taking hold of God.
[God has set himself, as it were, before us in the promises. There we may lay hold on him by faith: we may address him as the patriarch of old [Note: Gen 32:26.]. And this is the means prescribed by God for the attainment of his blessings [Note: Isa 27:5.].]
It is further called a stirring up of oneself to lay hold on God
[It is no easy thing to gain access to God in prayer. We engage in it for the most part with much reluctance. Our thoughts wander, ere we are aware, and in spite of our endeavours to fix them. We seem to lose the accustomed energy of our minds. We need again and again to stir up our sluggish hearts.]
When we consider the duty in this light, we shall see reason to lament,
II.
The general neglect of it
Many live entirely without prayer
[They are wholly occupied with worldly concerns. They are not sensible of any spiritual wants. They rely on their own industry for temporal advancement. They acknowledge not before God either their sins or their necessities.]
Others only occasionally lift up their hearts to heaven
[They will cry under the pressure of some heavy affliction [Note: Isa 26:16.]. But they resemble those spoken of by the prophet [Note: Hos 7:14.]: like metal from the fire they soon return to their former hardness [Note: Psa 78:34-37.]; after some signal deliverance too they will praise God; but, like the Israelites, they will soon forget his mercies [Note: Psa 106:11-13.].]
Some will maintain with constancy an external regard to this duty
[They will repeat their accustomed form at stated seasons, or they will offer a few general and cold petitions; and with this outward act they will rest satisfied. They feel no pleasure in the duty, but perform it as a task.]
But there are some few indeed who pray to God aright
[There is a remnant now, as there was in the prophets days [Note: Isa 8:18. The prophet certainly did not mean to include them in his censure.]. There are some who stir up their souls to lay hold on God. But these are few when compared with the bulk of mankind: they may be said comparatively to be none at all.]
To counteract this evil, we proceed to set forth
III.
The consequences of this neglect
The tokens of Gods displeasure, which those in the text experienced, will be experienced by all who neglect prayer. God will surely hide his face from them.
He will not reveal to them his glory
[He reveals himself to his people as he does not unto the world [Note: Joh 14:22.]; he shines into their hearts to discover to them his glory. But he will vouchsafe no such mercy to those who call not upon him. His perfections are to them rather an object of terror than of admiration.]
He will not manifest to them his love
[He often sheds abroad his love in the hearts of those who seek him, but the neglecters of prayer intermeddle not with their joy [Note: Pro 14:10.]: they are strangers to the spirit of adoption; they rather banish God from their thoughts, and wish like the fool [Note: Psa 14:1. The words in Italics are not in the original.], that there were no God.]
He will not communicate to them his blessings
[His faithful worshippers have all the blessings of grace and glory. But others have no part or lot with them. The blessings they do enjoy an turned into a curse unto them; and to eternity they must ascribe their misery to their own neglect [Note: If all the souls that an banished from the Divine presence were asked, Wherefore has God hid his face from you? they must assign the reason that is given in the text.].]
Application
They, who live without prayer, should consider these things
[This offence has been awfully marked by the indignation of God [Note: Psa 81:10-12. God gave them up: to what? to their enemies? to death? or to immediate and eternal condemnation? No; to what was worse than even that, their own hearts lust, that they might treasure up wrath against the day of wrath.]. How bitter must be the reflections of those who perish through this neglect! Surely all should seek the Lord while he may be found.]
They also, who are formal in prayer, should lay them to heart
[These, as being more liable to deceive themselves, are in greater danger. Our prayers must be fervent in order to be effectual [Note: Jam 5:16.]. If we would enter into heaven, we must press into it with violence [Note: Mat 11:12.].]
Nor should this subject ever be forgotten by those who profess godliness
[Unless we stir up ourselves continually, we shall soon lose the Divine presence. We cannot guard too much against formality in prayer. Let us be encouraged by Gods gracious declaration [Note: Pro 15:8. God is not more pleased with the songs of angels than with the sighs and groans of a contrite soul.]]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 64:7 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.
Ver. 7. And there is none that calleth upon thy name, ] i.e., Very few; a for that God had then a praying people, this very prayer declareth; but they were drowned in the multitude, being scarce discernible.
That stirreth up himself to take hold of thee.
For thou hast hid thy face from us.
a Apparent rari nantes in gurgite vasto.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
hast hid = hadst hidden. Compare Isa 45:15; Isa 53:3; Isa 54:8; Isa 57:17; Isa 59:2. Reference to Pentateuch (Deu 31:17, Deu 31:18, Deu 31:20). App-92.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
there is: Isa 50:2, Isa 59:16, Psa 14:4, Eze 22:30, Hos 7:7, Hos 7:14
to take: Isa 27:5, Isa 56:4
hast hid: Isa 57:17, Isa 59:2, Deu 31:17, Deu 32:19-25, Hos 5:15
consumed: Heb. melted, Jer 9:7, Eze 22:18-22, Eze 24:11
because: Heb. by the hand, as, Job 8:4, *marg.
Reciprocal: Gen 32:26 – Let me go Deu 32:20 – I will hide Ezr 9:15 – in our trespasses Neh 1:6 – confess Son 3:2 – will rise Isa 8:17 – hideth Isa 31:1 – neither Isa 43:22 – thou hast not Jer 2:6 – Where Jer 5:24 – Let us now Jer 10:25 – call Jer 33:5 – I have hid Eze 22:21 – and ye Eze 39:23 – hid I Dan 9:13 – that we Eph 2:3 – we Heb 6:18 – lay
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Furthermore, none of the Israelites felt concerned enough about their sinful condition to seek the Lord, and to try to lay hold of Him in prayer. This was understandable, since God had hidden Himself from His people; they saw no hope that He would respond, even if they should now pray (cf. Isa 59:16; Isa 63:5).