Isaiah 63:7—64:12: A Cry for Forgiveness and for Revival

For more context before you begin studying, read this introduction to the book of Isaiah.

Have you ever been discouraged when you look at the people of God as they are today? Do you compare your church members to what they have been at various times in the past? Do you feel inadequate to the golden vision of what the church will be when Christ presents to God "a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless" (Eph 5:27)? It is a shattering experience for Isaiah too—to turn from the vision of radiant Zion in chapters 60—62 to Zion as she is.

Warming Up to God

When have you experienced spiritual revival in your life? Allow the joy of that time to well up within you.

Read Isaiah 63:7-64:12

Discovering the Word

• What do we learn from the way that Isaiah begins his long and passionate prayer in 63:7?
• Isaiah 63:9 recalls how God brought his people out of slavery in Egypt. How do verses 8-9 describe the warmth of God's relationship with his people?
• What do the chastened people remember about God's wonderful deeds (63:11-14)?
• What striking phrase, repeated three times in 63:16—64:12, gives the prayer its special intensity (63:16; 64:8)?
• How does Isaiah see God's hand in this sorry state of affairs, and how does Israel look to God to get them out of it (63:15, 17; 64:1, 4-5, 8)?

Applying the Word

• God's interventions are always surprising. How do you see God's intervening in the world today through revival or in other ways?
• How can following the model of this passage enrich and deepen your own prayer life?

Responding in Prayer

Pray that God will bring revival to you and to your nation.