Isaiah

Chapter 64

A Prayer for God’s Power

Isaiah 64 continues the cry for divine intervention with a plea that God would rend the heavens and come down in terrifying holiness, making His name known by acts as awesome as those He performed in the past. The chapter then turns into deep confession and supplication: the people admit that their sins have made them unclean and helpless, yet still appeal to the LORD as Father and Potter, begging Him not to remember their iniquity forever while His cities, sanctuary, and people lie devastated before Him.

This chapter matters because it shows prayer at full biblical depth: bold enough to ask for heaven-shaking intervention, honest enough to confess total uncleanness, and humble enough to plead on the basis of God's fatherly ownership rather than human merit. Isaiah 64 holds together awe, confession, covenant identity, and ruin in a way that prepares the reader to hope in mercy alone.

1 section·86 words·~1 min read

Begin reading Zoom into first section

Reader

Isaiah 64

A continuous BSB reading flow. Turn on the guide when you want authored orientation; leave it off when you simply want the text.

vv. 1-12

A Prayer for God’s Power

Open section

I¹f only You would rend the heavens and come down, ²as fire kindles the brushwood ³When You did awesome works that we did not expect, ⁴From ancient times no one has heard,

⁵You welcome those who gladly do right, ⁶Each of us has become like something unclean, ⁷No one calls on Your name

⁸But now, O LORD, You are our Father; ⁹Do not be angry, O LORD, beyond measure; ¹⁰Your holy cities have become a wilderness. ¹¹Our holy and beautiful temple, ¹²After all this, O LORD,

Section map

Open the closer view when you want it.

Each section keeps the passage focused, adds summaries and cross references, and gives verse-level links.

01vv. 1-12A Prayer for God’s PowerThe chapter's single movement begins with a plea for the LORD to tear open the heavens and descend in fire and trembling power as He once did in extraordinary acts no one could predict or imitate. It then acknowledges that while God meets those who gladly do right, the people have long persisted in sin and become universally unclean, with even their righteous deeds exposed as defiled and their strength withering under guilt; yet the prayer does not end in despair, because the people still appeal to the LORD as their Father and Potter, asking Him to look on their desolation and not remain silent forever.