15 Look attentively from the heavens, And see from Thy holy and beauteous habitation, Where 'is' Thy zeal and Thy might? The multitude of Thy bowels and Thy mercies Towards me have refrained themselves. 16 For Thou 'art' our Father, For Abraham hath not known us, And Israel doth not acknowledge us, Thou, O Jehovah, 'art' our Father, Our redeemer from the age, 'is' Thy name. 17 Why causest Thou us to wander, O Jehovah, from Thy ways? Thou hardenest our heart from Thy fear, Turn back for Thy servants' sake, The tribes of Thine inheritance. 18 For a little while did Thy holy people possess, Our adversaries have trodden down Thy sanctuary. 19 We have been from of old, Thou hast not ruled over them, Not called is Thy name upon them!
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Isaiah 63:15-19
Commentary on Isaiah 63:15-19
(Read Isaiah 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.