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Isaiah

About this book
Chapter 63

1 Who is this who comes from Edom, dressed in bright red, coming from Bozrah? Who is this one wearing royal attire, who marches confidently because of his great strength? “It is I, the one who announces vindication, and who is able to deliver!” 2 Why are your clothes red? Why do you look like someone who has stomped on grapes in a vat?⁠ 3 “I have stomped grapes in the wine press all by myself; no one from the nations joined me. I stomped on them in my anger; I trampled them down in my rage.⁠ Their juice splashed on my garments and stained all my clothes.⁠ 4 For I looked forward to the day of vengeance, and then payback time arrived. 5 I looked, but there was no one to help;⁠ I was shocked because there was no one offering support. So my right arm accomplished deliverance; my raging anger drove me on. 6 I trampled nations in my anger; I made them drunk in my rage; I splashed their blood on the ground.”⁠ 7 I will tell of the faithful acts of the Lord, of the Lord’s praiseworthy deeds. I will tell about all the Lord did for us, the many good things he did for the family of Israel, because of his compassion and great faithfulness. 8 He said, “Certainly they will be my people, children who are not disloyal.” He became their deliverer. 9 Through all that they suffered, he suffered too. The messenger sent from his very presence delivered them.⁠ In his love and mercy he protected them; he lifted them up and carried them throughout ancient times.⁠ 10 But they rebelled and offended his Holy Spirit, so he turned into an enemy and fought against them.⁠ 11 His people remembered the ancient times. Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea, along with the shepherd of his flock? Where is the one who placed his Holy Spirit among them,⁠ 12 the one who made his majestic power available to Moses, who divided the water before them, gaining for himself a lasting reputation,⁠ 13 who led them through the deep water? Like a horse running through the wilderness they did not stumble.⁠ 14 As an animal that goes down into a valley to graze, so the Spirit of the Lord granted them rest.⁠ In this way you guided your people, gaining for yourself an honored reputation.⁠ 15 Look down from heaven and take notice, from your holy, majestic palace!⁠ Where are your zeal and power? Do not hold back your tender compassion! 16 For you are our father,⁠ though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not recognize us. You, Lord, are our father; you have been called our Protector from ancient times.⁠ 17 Why, Lord, do you make us stray from your ways and make our minds stubborn so that we do not obey you? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your inheritance! 18 For a short time your special nation possessed a land, but then our adversaries knocked down your holy sanctuary. 19 We existed from ancient times, but you did not rule over them; they were not your subjects.

Texts in conversation

Compare Isaiah 63:15 and Psalm 80:14

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Isaiah 63 and Psalm 80 ask God to “look down from heaven” as a call for attention and mercy. The language reflects ancient Near Eastern prayers where worshipers asked the gods to look on them with favor, sometimes through statues left in temples.

Passages

Isaiah 63:15

Hebrew Bible
13 who led them through the deep water? Like a horse running through the wilderness they did not stumble. 14 As an animal that goes down into a valley to graze, so the Spirit of the Lord granted them rest. In this way you guided your people, gaining for yourself an honored reputation. 15 Look down from heaven and take notice, from your holy, majestic palace! Where are your zeal and power? Do not hold back your tender compassion! 16 For you are our father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not recognize us. You, Lord, are our father; you have been called our Protector from ancient times. 17 Why, Lord, do you make us stray from your ways and make our minds stubborn so that we do not obey you? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your inheritance!
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

Psalm 80:14

Hebrew Bible
12 Why did you break down its walls, so that all who pass by pluck its fruit? 13 The wild boars of the forest ruin it; the insects of the field feed on it. 14 O God of Heaven’s Armies, come back. Look down from heaven and take notice. Take care of this vine, 15 the root your right hand planted, the shoot you made to grow. 16 It is burned and cut down. May those who did this die because you are displeased with them.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

References

"... There is some archeological and textual evidence which suggests that at least some of these texts may refer to the practice of placing a statue or image of the person who desires the deity's favor in the temple before the image of the god. Thus even when the petitioner was not physically present in the temple, his image would remain constantly before the god. Probably related are those terms in which a god is called upon or asked to look at a person or persons ... Thus in a letter written to a god the following phrase is found, 'look at my family, young and old, show me mercy because of them.' In a personal lament to Ishtar the petitioner cries, 'look mercifully upon me, my lady, accept my prayer.' Both are found in contexts where divine adjudication is called for from Samas. 'Examine my heart!' or 'investigate my case and his!' Although the practice of worshiper-statues is not attested in the Old Testament, these texts are reminiscent of the laments in the Psalter and other books where the petitioner is in need of divine favor and cries out to Yahweh to 'look at' or see his plight and respond (compare 2 Kings 19:16; Isaiah 37:17; 63:15; Psalm 25:18-29; 59:5; 80:14; 84:10; 119:153; Lamentations 1:9, 11, 20; 2:20) ..."
Cecil P. Staton Jr., “‘And Yahweh Appeared …’: A Study of the Motifs of ‘Seeing God’ and of ‘God’s Appearing’ in Old Testament Narratives” (DPhil diss., University of Oxford, 1988), 80–81.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Isaiah 63:15 and Psalm 80:14

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