Read & explore together
A Prayer for Mercy
This prayer speaks to God with urgency and grief. It asks God to look, remember his people, and act with mercy when they feel distant, defeated, and unlike the people who bear his name.
Understanding the passage
Read these words in context
In these verses, the speaker addresses God directly in prayer. The words look upward to God’s holy dwelling, name him as Father and Redeemer, and describe the people’s troubled condition, including wandering, hardened hearts, and a sanctuary trodden down by adversaries. The passage stays in the form of prayer throughout.
Isaiah 63:15–19Main takeaway
This passage teaches that prayer can honestly bring grief, confusion, and hope to God while still naming him as Father and Redeemer.
Explore the prayer
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01A cry for God to look and seeThe prayer begins by asking God to “look down from heaven, and see”. God’s dwelling is called a habitation of holiness and glory, which shows reverence even in distress.
Explanation
The prayer begins by asking God to “look down from heaven, and see”. God’s dwelling is called a habitation of holiness and glory, which shows reverence even in distress. The speaker then asks where God’s zeal, mighty acts, heart, and compassion are, expressing deep pain and a sense that mercy feels far away.
02Naming God as Father and RedeemerThe next words explain why the prayer still turns to God. Even if Abraham and Israel do not acknowledge the people, God is called “our Father”.
Explanation
The next words explain why the prayer still turns to God. Even if Abraham and Israel do not acknowledge the people, God is called “our Father”. He is also called “our Redeemer from everlasting”, which presents his name as a lasting source of hope. The prayer rests on who God is.
03Asking God to return to his servantsThe prayer then brings a hard question to God about wandering from his ways and a heart hardened from fear of him.
Explanation
The prayer then brings a hard question to God about wandering from his ways and a heart hardened from fear of him. Rather than hiding this struggle, the speaker asks God to return for the sake of his servants and the tribes of his inheritance. This is both confession and plea.
04The people’s loss and shameThe final lines describe the people’s condition. Your holy people possessed it but a little while, and adversaries have trodden down your sanctuary.
Explanation
The final lines describe the people’s condition. Your holy people possessed it but a little while, and adversaries have trodden down your sanctuary. The prayer ends by saying they have become like people not ruled by God and not called by his name. It is a sorrowful ending that keeps both the people and the sanctuary belonging to God.
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01What words in this prayer show both respect for God and sadness before him?
Look for titles about God’s holiness and glory, and also the questions about zeal, mighty acts, and compassion.
02Why does the prayer still call God “our Father” even when human ancestors are said not to acknowledge the people?
Notice that the prayer bases its hope on God’s own name and character as Father and Redeemer.
03How does the passage describe the people’s troubled condition at the end of the prayer?
Gather the phrases about wandering, hardened hearts, your holy people possessing it but a little while, your sanctuary being trodden down, and being like those not called by God’s name.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Isaiah 63:15–19
15Look down from heaven, and see from the habitation of your holiness and of your glory. Where are your zeal and your mighty acts? The yearning of your heart and your compassion is restrained toward me.
16For you are our Father, though Abraham doesn’t know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, Yahweh, are our Father. Our Redeemer from everlasting is your name.
17O Yahweh, why do you make us wander from your ways, and harden our heart from your fear? Return for your servants’ sake, the tribes of your inheritance.
18Your holy people possessed it but a little while. Our adversaries have trodden down your sanctuary.
19We have become like those over whom you never ruled, like those who were not called by your name.