Isaiah Prayer for his Nation

Isaiah 63:15 – 64:12

Isaiah laments over Israel’s sin and God’s silence to His people, a prayer of mercy to the only One who can change the heart and mind of a people who are called His special possession.  Listen to the heart of Isaiah in verses 16-19, “For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O LORD, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name. O LORD, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not? Return for the sake of your servants,  the tribes of your heritage. Your holy people held possession for a little while; our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.  We have become like those over whom you have never ruled, like those who are not called by your name.”  Isaiah is acknowledging that Abraham as well as his son Jacob are not who he is calling to, but only to God, for Isaiah confessing the fatherhood of God supersedes Abraham, and Jacob who God renamed Israel.  What can you and I learn from this lamentation?

How quick we as a nation, a people, and the Church have moved from the founding of all men are created equal under God’s rule, this is not to say all of its founding fathers were devout Christians, but that orthodox Christianity had a very significant influence on America’s Founders.   Even the most uneducated of us know something has changed, we are not the same people our grandparents were in the most important aspects of life; our moral fiber, our family values, our trust in government and our worship of God.  As a Christian it is my opinion that the problem lies at our door, and it could be said, “We have become like those over whom you have never ruled, like those who are not called by your name.” 

Are we asking God to show up on the world’s stages to save our culture so that we can continue living full of pride and self with little concern for a world whose only hope is in Jesus Christ?  God will not listen to such a prayer, but if we can find the heart of Isaiah and pray for the mercy of God on our foolish and self- serving hearts, maybe we would see the hand of God.  Listen to Isaiah’s prayer: “From ancient times no one has heard, no one has listened, no eye has seen any God except You, who acts on behalf of the one who waits for Him.  You welcome the one who joyfully does what is right; they remember You in Your ways.  But we have sinned, and You were angry.  How can we be saved if we remain in our sins?  All of us have become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a polluted garment; all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.  No one calls on Your name, striving to take hold of You.”  Can you hear the hunger and desire of this broken man before God, do you wonder what it will take to bring you and I to this point?

Could it be we need to bow down and acknowledge this part of Isaiah’s prayer; “Yet Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are our potter; we all are the work of Your hands.  Lord, do not be terribly angry or remember our iniquity forever.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice