isaiah-64:8

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Isaiah 64:8

(8) We are the clay, and thou our potter . . .—Commonly, partly, perhaps, from St. Paul’s application of the image in Romans 9:20-21, and Isaiah’s own use of it in Isaiah 29:16, we associate the idea of the potter with that of simple arbitrary sovereignty. Here, however (as in Jeremiah 18:6), another aspect is presented to us, and the power of the Great Potter is made the ground of prayer. The “clay” entreats Him to fashion it according to His will, and has faith in His readiness, as well as... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Isaiah 64:1-12

Isaiah 64:1 'A phantasmagoria of men and events floats before the historian,' says Mr. J. H. Shorthouse; 'men seem in history to have walked in a vain show; the more he inquires into men and creeds, the more he is perplexed he finds none which he can say is absolutely right, no one fully wrong; the course of Nature maintains its impartial calm, shutting out the sight of God from him, and his constant prayer is that ejaculation of Isaiah, "O that thou wouldest rend the heavens and come down! "'... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Isaiah 64:1-12

CHAPTER XXVA LAST INTERCESSION AND THE JUDGMENTIsaiah 63:7 through Isaiah 66:1-24WE might well have thought, that with the section we have been considering the prophecy of Israel’s Redemption had reached its summit and its end. The glory of Zion in sight, the full programme of prophecy owned, the arrival of the Divine Saviour hailed in the urgency of His feeling for His people, in the sufficiency of His might to save them, -what more, we ask, can the prophecy have to give us? Why does it not... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Isaiah 64:1-12

CHAPTER 63:7-19-64:12 The Great Intercessory Prayer 1. Jehovah’s loving kindness and power in the past remembered (Isaiah 63:7-14 ) 2. Their deepest need (Isaiah 63:15 ) 3. The cry of faith, Thou art our Father (Isaiah 63:16 ) 4. The increasing plea (Isaiah 63:17-19 ) 5. The prayer for Jehovah’s manifestation (Isaiah 64:1-4 ) 6. Confession and humiliation (Isaiah 64:5-7 ) 7. The cry for mercy and help (Isaiah 64:8-12 ) This is one of the greatest prayers in the Bible. The... read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Isaiah 64:8

64:8 But now, O LORD, thou [art] our father; we [are] the {i} clay, and thou our potter; and we all [are] the work of thy hand.(i) Even though O Lord by your just judgment you may utterly destroy us as the potter may his pot, yet we appeal to your mercies, by which it has pleased you to adopt us to be your children. read more

James Gray

James Gray's Concise Bible Commentary - Isaiah 64:1-12

MEETING OF THE AGES We are drawing to the end of the present, and the opening of the Millennial age. The prophet’s eye rests on the time when Israel is back in her land, the majority still unconverted to Christ and worshiping in a restored temple. There is a faithful remnant waiting for Him, though enduring the persecution of the false christ. This persecution may often be felt at the hands of their own brethren after the flesh. These facts must be assumed in the interpretation of these... read more

Joseph Parker

The People's Bible by Joseph Parker - Isaiah 64:1-12

The Heart's Cry Isa 64:1 The heart must have its time for speech as well as the cold and foolish intellect. The intellect is always a fool when it is not held in check by the heart, in the consideration of all pious, moral, and beneficent questions. There are many persons who are much afraid of changing the solar system. They tell us that when we pray to God to give us a fine day we ask God to change for the time being the whole construction of the solar system; and some persons can never... read more

Robert Hawker

Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary - Isaiah 64:8-12

How beautiful is the connection between the opening and close of this prayer, and indeed the whole, of the Chapter from beginning to end! Surely, every faithful follower of the Lord Jesus, who knows himself to be, in himself, what this prayer expresseth; and desires, in that conviction to lie as clay in the hand of the potter, will look up, in and through the Lord Jesus, and the fullness of his propitiation and advocacy, and rest in humble waitings oh the Lord, until the hour of deliverance... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 64:6-12

6-12 The people of God, in affliction, confess and bewail their sins, owning themselves unworthy of his mercy. Sin is that abominable thing which the Lord hates. Our deeds, whatever they may seem to be, if we think to merit by them at God's hand, are as rags, and will not cover us; filthy rags, and will but defile us. Even our few good works in which there is real excellence, as fruits of the Spirit, are so defective and defiled as done by us, that they need to be washed in the fountain open... read more

Frank Binford Hole

F. B. Hole's Old and New Testament Commentary - Isaiah 64:4-12

Isa_64:4 Isa_65:12 It is striking how verse Isa_64:4 follows what we have dwelt upon in the first three verses. Isaiah desired a mighty display of the power of God such as had been manifested at the outset of Israel's history: yet he was conscious that God had in reserve things beyond all human knowledge, and prepared for those who waited for Him to act. To this verse the Apostle Paul referred in 1Co_2:9 , showing that though in ordinary matters men arrive at knowledge by the hearing of the... read more