Beautiful Repentance

Isaiah 63-64 is a beautiful prayer for mercy from the prophet on behalf of the people. Sometimes we think a prophet's job is only to speak for God. But Isaiah and many other prophets oftentimes speak to God on behalf of men. 

Isaiah 63:15 (ESV) Look down from heaven and see, from your holy and beautiful habitation. Where are your zeal and your might? The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion are held back from me.

Isaiah's prayer for mercy is based not on their righteousness at all. He bases his pleas on God's compassion within. I think of the ministry of Jesus in Matthew 9 as He looked upon the people who came to Him. 

Matthew 9:36 (ESV) When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Isaiah 63:16 (ESV) 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.

Isaiah will acknowledge the fatherhood of God over the people three times in this section. They are estranged from Him but they still are children of His. The wayward follower of Christ has that same assurance. We wander, but we are not lost. 

Notice verse 17...

Isaiah 63:17 (ESV) 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.

Isaiah knows the Lord alone is responsible for the hearts of His people. If there is to be a change it will come from Him. Yes, the Lord even handed them over to their sinful inclinations. But the way back is through His merciful intervention. 

Isaiah 64:1–3 (ESV) Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence— 2 as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil— to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence! 3 When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.

Isaiah's prayer acknowledges the only reason Israel exists is because of the Lord's presence among them. That is the only reason we exist in the newness of life! God has come to live in us. 

Isaiah 64:4 (ESV) From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.

There's no life outside of the Lord God. 

Isaiah 64:6 (ESV) We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

Here is that famous line often quoted regarding our righteousness. It is as a filthy rag. Mind you, Isaiah speaks here of the nation's RIGHTEOUS deeds, not sins. And here we have a clear representation of the problem of sin, it permeates even the good we think we do. The utter impossibility of man to save himself is well illustrated so that the nation looks to the only one who can save!

Repentance begins when we come to the end of our own righteousness. We acknoweldge that only the Lord can bring us back, His compassion will save, and His fatherly care will be our embrace. When we rid ourselves of our righteousness resume and seek Him, He will be what we need - our savior.