May it please Almighty God to bless the reading of His holy words to the Prophet of our souls tonight. Let's turn to the prophecy of Isaiah and we'll read chapter 64. The prophecy of Isaiah and chapter 64.

This is a prayer which God has ordained should be recorded for our benefit. So Isaiah 64, O that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence. As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries. that the nations may tremble at thy presence.

When thou didst terrible things, which we look not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence. For since the beginning of the world, men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways, behold thou art wroth, for we have sinned, in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself, to take hold of thee, for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us because of our iniquities.

But now, O Lord, thou art our Father. We are the clay, and thou our potter, and we are all the work of thy hand. Be not wroth, very sore, O Lord, neither remember iniquity for ever. Behold, see, we beseech thee. We are all thy people.

Thy holy cities are a wilderness. Zion is a wilderness. Jerusalem, a desolation. Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee. is burned up with fire, and all our pleasant things are laid waste. Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O Lord? Wilt thou hold thy peace and afflict us very sore?

Well, we've referred to a few prayers in the Word of God recently, and this is Another one really by the church to the Lord God and it's a cry and we can trace it down and we can see how it affects our hearts as we can trace out some of our desires, which is good. if we can. And so the chapter starts off with these words which are great desire. Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down.

Well what a blessing it is if God does indeed come down. Come down where we are. We know that God is in every place. beholding the evil and the good. And yet, although we're aware of that, we just need that personal evidence of the presence of God in our hearts so that we can truly rejoice

and how true this prayer is and what a cry it is and how good if we understand what Isaiah really means when he says these words, O that thou wouldest rend the heavens that thou wouldest come down and then he says that the mountains might flow down at thy presence well that can of course refer to physical mountains but it can also refer to mountains that you and I have in our lives where individuals and God in his love and mercy does bring mountains into our path, into our life, and we perhaps don't know what to do, we can't see over them, we can't seem to get round them, and indeed they seem too high to get over.

So what do we need? We need to come to our God. We need to pray to our God that those mountains which are so great to us, might indeed flow down at His presence. And if these mountains flow down at His presence, it's like then there were no mountains. They become a plain. And those things perhaps which we greatly feared have not come to pass. And those things which we were afraid indeed might destroy us, the Lord has seen fit to take them away

because we have to always realise the mountains are God's mountains He's put them there He's allowed them to be there and He can remove them and so what a blessing it is to have a statement like this this prayer that the mountains might flow down at thy presence and he goes on

And when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thine name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence. Again, you see our God is on the throne, and our God can bring fire, our God can bring floods, and indeed when fire comes, In contact with water it makes it boil, like we have this statement here, to make thy name known. The purpose, to make God's name known. We live in a sad day when so few people know the name of the Lord, and yet if our God graciously comes down with that melting fire and causes the waters to boil to make his name known to thine adversaries. Yes, it would be a great blessing if God comes down in his power and does just that, that the nations may tremble at thy presence. We know the many accounts in the Word of God where the nations trembled when they knew that God was in the midst of his people, Israel, and they were truly afraid and trembled at what might occur.

Well, God hasn't changed. God hasn't got any less powerful. God is the same today. He says then, when thou didst terrible things, which we look not for, thou camest down. and the mountains flows down at thy presence. Sometimes in our lives we face difficult, sometimes terrible things which we didn't expect to occur. They wouldn't come into our lives. But God in his great mercy and love and sovereignty brings these things into our lives to prove his power and to prove His might and to show to us that He is able to take away these terrible things. Like He's repeated again, the mountains flows down. You know, in the first verse, we read that the mountains might flow down at Thy presence. And we can see here that the confidence of the Prophet increases because he says, the mountains flows down at thy presence. He didn't doubt the truth of God's word.

For since the beginning of the world, men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for thee. And so the prophet really jumps right ahead and directs us then to those things which will occur, those things which we haven't seen, we haven't heard, and yet those things which God has prepared for his church. I have not seen nor ear heard those things which God hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. Well, the Church and God do have to wait. They have to wait for his appearing. The Word of God tells us this, your time is always, but my time is not yet. God has a time, a perfect time, a right time to bless us and to favour us with his presence and also give us that gracious anticipation of the glory which awaits the living Church of God.

And so he says, Now meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways, behold thou art wroth, for we have sinned in those's continuance, and we shall be saved. Well, it's a mercy when God shows to us that we have sinned, we are sinners, We deserve God's wrath, but what a mercy to realise that as the Prophet says, in those is continuance and we shall be saved. Not because of our goodness, not because of what we've done, but because of God's mercy and because of his love and because of his favour.

And then again the description of the Church of God, but we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and we all do fail as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Well, we don't like to think that perhaps such words apply to us, but I'm sure such words do apply to each one of us, indeed to the whole Church of God, and to realise that those things which we may think are good, we're told, are as filthy rags. And those things which perhaps we hope are good, fade as a leaf and so our iniquities like the wind have taken us away and then he says that there is none that calleth upon thy name that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee. We remember don't we the case of Jacob He was blessed with that wrestling prayer, wasn't he? He was brought into a time of extremity, a time of great need. And at that time, God favoured him to draw near to himself, to Almighty God, and to bless him with that prevailing prayer. And so as the Prophet says, there is none that calleth upon thy name that stirreth up himself. Sometimes we just need to God to come and to stir us up so that we are concerned about our spiritual life. We are concerned about the health of our soul.

Well, what a mercy it is when God comes and then He says, but now, O Lord, thou art our Father. That's a very humbling thing to be able to claim, to come before our God as our Father. You think of that wonderful prayer, the Lord Jesus spoke to his disciples, our Father, who art in heaven. What a mercy to have that faith to believe that we do have our father who is in heaven and that father who sits on the throne and that father who knows all about us and deals with his children in love for their souls.

Well what a mercy then to have a father like that and as a prophet says, we are the clay and thou our potter and we are all the work of thy hand. The Lord deals with us, he moulds us in accordance with his will, in his way, to make us a useful vessel in his work.

And then he says, Be not wroth, very sore, O Lord, neither remember iniquity for ever. Behold, see we beseech thee, we are all thy people, called by the grace of God, quickened by his Holy Spirit, part of the blessed family of God

and then he turns to the situation and says thy holy cities are a wilderness Zion is a wilderness Jerusalem a desolation as I would have remembered what they were like before they were taken into captivity and then he says our holy and our beautiful house referring of course there to the temple that was in Jerusalem, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire, and all our pleasant things are laid waste.' It must have been a very sad and solitary time for Israel, especially when they recognised that it was their sin that had brought them into this condition, their disobedience.

And then finally he says, Wilt thou refrain thyself for those things, O Lord? Wilt thou hold thy peace and afflict us very sore? Well, it's a question posed and put to Almighty God, and we know that his mercy endureth forever. that's very wonderful for you and me as unworthy sinners on the earth at this time to be thankful to know that God is the same yesterday today and forever and his mercy knows no end

and so tonight may we rejoice in the goodness of our God And remember the opening verse, O that thou wouldst rend the heavens, that thou wouldst come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence. Well, may the Lord bless his word.