and determined on, approaches apace; let sinners seek to be reconciled to their righteous Judge,
ere he brings down their strength to the earth. Does Christ say, "I come quickly?" let our hearts
reply, "Even so, come; let the year of the redeemed come."
Is. 63:7-14 The latter part of this chapter, and the whole of the next, seem to express the prayers
of the Jews on their conversation. They acknowledge God's great mercies and favours to their
nation. They confess their wickedness and hardness of heart; they entreat his forgiveness, and
deplore the miserable condition under which they have so long suffered. The only-begotten Son of
the Father became the Angel or Messenger of his love; thus he redeemed and bare them with
tenderness. Yet they murmured, and resisted his Holy Spirit, despising and persecuting his prophets,
rejecting and crucifying the promised Messiah. All our comforts and hopes spring from the
loving-kindness of the Lord, and all our miseries and fears from our sins. But he is the Saviour,
and when sinners seek after him, who in other ages glorified himself by saving and feeding his
purchased flock, and leading them safely through dangers, and has given his Holy Spirit to prosper
the labours of his ministers, there is good ground to hope they are discovering the way of peace.
Is. 63:15-19 They beseech him to look down on the abject condition of their once-favoured
nation. Would it not be glorious to his name to remove the veil from their hearts, to return to the
tribes of his inheritance? The Babylonish captivity, and the after-deliverance of the Jews, were
shadows of the events here foretold. The Lord looks down upon us in tenderness and mercy. Spiritual
judgments are more to be dreaded than any other calamities; and we should most carefully avoid
those sins which justly provoke the Lord to leave men to themselves and to their deceiver. "Our
Redeemer from everlasting" is thy name; thy people have always looked upon thee as the God to
whom they might appeal. The Lord will hear the prayers of those who belong to him, and deliver
them from those not called by his name.
Chapter 64
The church prays that God's power may be manifested. (Is. 64:1-5) A confession of sin, and
afflictions bewailed. (Is. 64:6-12)
Is. 64:1-5 They desire that God would manifest himself to them and for them, so that all may
see it. This is applicable to the second coming of Christ, when the Lord himself shall descend from
heaven. They plead what God had used to do, and had declared his gracious purpose to do, for his
people. They need not fear being disappointed of it, for it is sure; or disappointed in it, for it is
sufficient. The happiness of his people is bound up in what God has designed for them, and is
preparing for them, and preparing them for; what he has done or will do. Can we believe this, and
then think any thing too great to expect from his truth, power, and love? It is spiritual and cannot
be comprehended by human understanding. It is ever ready. See what communion there is between
a gracious God and a gracious soul. We must make conscience of doing our duty in every thing
the Lord our God requires. Thou meetest him; this speaks his freeness and forwardness in doing