O that Thou wouldst the heavens rend

Verse 1
O that thou would’st the heavens rend! (Isa. 64:1)
O that thou would’st this hour come down! (Isa. 64:1)
Descend, Almighty God, descend, (Isa. 64:1, II Sam. 22:10, Ps. 18:9, Ps. 144:5, Mic. 1:3)
And strongly vindicate thine own! (Luke 18:7-8)

Verse 2
Now let the heathens fear thy name,
Now let the world thy nature know, (Isa. 64:2, Ps. 102:15)
Dart into all the melting flame
Of love, and make the mountains flow. (Isa. 64:1-3, Judges 5:5, Mic. 1:4)

Verse 3
O let thine indignation burn, (Isa. 30:27, Nah. 1:6)
The lightning of thy judgments glare, (Ps. 18:14, Ps. 144:6)
Th’ aspiring confidence o’erturn
Of all that still thine anger dare. (Ps. 2:1-4, Isa. 2:11-12)

Verse 4
From heaven reveal thy vengeful ire, (II Thess. 1:7-8)
Thy fury let the nations prove,
Confess thee a consuming fire, (Deut. 4:24, Heb. 12:29)
And tremble, till they feel thy love. (Isa. 64:2)

Verse 5
Thy power was to our fathers known,
A mighty God, and terrible; (Deut. 7:21, Deut. 10:17, Neh. 9:32)
In majesty thou camest down,
The mountains at thy presence fell. (Isa. 64:3, Judges 5:4-5, Ps. 68:7-8)

Verse 6
The wonders thou for them hast wrought
Thy boundless power and love proclaim,
Far above all they ask’d or thought: (Eph. 3:20)
And now we wait to know thy name. (Isa. 64:2)

Verse 7
We wait; for since the world began
To men it ne’er by men was shew’d:
Thou only canst thyself explain,
God only sounds the depths of God. (Isa. 64:4, I Cor. 2:9-11)

Verse 8
Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard,
By heart conceiv’d it cannot be,
The bliss thou hast for him prepar’d,
Who waits in humble faith for thee. (Isa. 64:4, I Cor. 2:9)

Verse 9
Thou meetest him that dares rejoice (Isa. 64:5)
In hope of thy salvation near; (Isa. 56:1, Rom. 13:11)
Who wants, while he obeys thy voice,
The perfect love that casts out fear. (I John 4:18)

Verse 10
In works of righteousness employ’d
Who thee remembers in thy ways, (Isa. 64:5)
The ORDINANCES of his God, (Isa. 58:2, Luke 1:6, I Cor. 11:2)
The sacred channels of thy grace.

Verse 11
But lo! Thy anger kindled is,
And justly might for ever burn; (Isa. 64:5, Num. 11:1, Ps. 106:40)
We have forsook the path of peace: (Isa. 59:8, Luke 1:79, Rom. 3:17)
How shall our wand’ring souls return? (Isa. 53:6, Jer. 3:22, I Pet. 2:25)

Verse 12
In thine appointed ways we wait,
The ways thy wisdom hath enjoin’d; (Isa. 64:5)
Thy saving grace we here shall meet, (Isa. 64:5)
If every one that seeks shall find. (Prov. 8:17, Jer. 29:13, Matt. 7:7-8, Luke 11:9-10)

Verse 13
Nor can we thus thy wrath appease;
We and our works are all unclean,
As filthy rags our righteousness, (Isa. 64:6)
Our good is ill, our virtue sin. (Isa. 64:6)

Verse 14
Like wither’d leaves we fade away, (Isa. 64:6, Isa. 1:30)
We all deserve thy wrath to feel,
Swift as the wind our sins convey,
And sweep our guilty souls to hell. (Isa. 64:6)

Verse 15
Not one will call upon thy name, (Isa. 64:7)
Stir himself up thy grace to see,
The Lord his righteousness to claim, (Jer. 23:6, Jer. 33:16)
And boldly to take hold on thee. (Isa. 64:7, Phil. 3:12)

Verse 16
For O! Thy face is turn’d aside, (Isa. 64:7, Isa. 59:2)
Since we refus’d t’ obey thy will;
Thou hast consum’d us for our pride,
Thy heavy hand consumes us still. (Isa. 64:7, Ps. 32:4)

Verse 17
But art thou not our Father now?
Our Father now thou surely art: (Isa. 64:8, Isa. 63:16, Matt. 6:9, Luke 11:2)
Humbly beneath thy frown we bow,
We seek thee with a trembling heart. (Ps. 2:11, Isa. 66:2)

Verse 18
The potter thou, and we the clay; (Isa. 64:8, Isa. 45:9, Jer. 18:6, Rom. 9:20-21)
Behold us at thy footstool laid, (Ps. 99:5)
In anger cast us not away, (Ps. 51:11)
The creatures whom thy hands have made. (Isa. 64:8, Job 10:8, Ps. 119:73, Ps. 138:8)

Verse 19
O let thine anger rage no more, (Isa. 64:9, Jer. 3:12)
Remember not iniquity; (Isa. 64:9, Ps. 79:8)
See, Lord, and all our sins pass o’er, (Isa. 64:9, Ex. 12:13)
Thy own peculiar people see. (Deut. 14:2, Deut. 26:18, Tit. 2:14, I Pet. 2:9)

Verse 20
Jerusalem in ruins lies,
A wilderness thy cities are; (Isa. 64:10)
A den of thieves thy temple is,
No longer now the house of prayer. (Isa. 56:7, Jer. 7:11, Matt. 21:13, Mark 11:17, Luke 19:46)

Verse 21
Where humbly low our fathers bow’d, (Ps. 95:6)
And thee with joyful lips ador’d, (Isa. 64:11, Ps. 100:1-2)
Idolaters profanely croud,
And take the altar for its Lord.

Verse 22
The sacred means thyself ordain’d,
Others reject with impious haste;
By these blasphem’d, by those profan’d, (Ezek. 22:26, Mal. 1:7, Mal. 1:12, Heb. 10:29)
Our pleasant things are all laid waste. (Isa. 64:11, Lam. 1:10)

Verse 23
And wilt thou not this havock see,
For which we ever, ever mourn? (Isa. 64:12)
Still shall we cry in vain to thee?
Return, our gracious Lord, return! (Ps. 80:14, Ps. 90:13, Isa. 63:17, Mal. 3:7)

Verse 24
Hold not thy peace at Sion’s woe, (Isa. 64:12, Ps. 83:1)
O cast not out thy people’s prayer,
Regard thy suffering church below, (Ps. 66:20, Ps. 102:17)
And spare, the weeping remnant spare. (Isa. 10:20-21, Joel 2:17)

Verse 25
Thy fallen tabernacle raise, (Amos 9:11, Acts 15:16)
Thy chastisement at last remove, (Ps. 85:4-5, Isa. 12:1)
That all mankind may sing thy praise, (Ps. 67:3-5, Ps. 86:9, Ps. 117:1)
Thou God of truth, thou God of love. (Deut. 32:4, Ps. 31:5, I John 4:8, I John 4:16)