Lectio. Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you! For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you. Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways.

But when we continued to sin against your ways, you were angry. How then can we be saved? All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins.

Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Do not be angry beyond measure, O LORD; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look upon us, we pray, for we are all your people. (Isaiah 64:1-9)

Meditatio. The language is worthy of some study. The key word in the phrase "mountains to tremble" is zalal. This has a secondary meaning of gluttony, but its primary meaning is more to be "vile" or "insignificant." To "squander" or to "shake" are other possible meanings. The phrase used later in the passage, "cause the nations to quake" uses another verb, ragaz, "to tremble" or "to be afraid." JF&B references Judges 5:5, but the word used in that passage, nazal, means to gush or flow. Another reference is to Micah 1:4, but there the word is macac, meaning to dissolve or melt. Since there were clearly other words to express flowing and trembling, a better rendition for "mountains to tremble" might be, "for the mountains to be abased."

The phrase "make your name known to your enemies," shem yada tsa seems well-translated, but it could be "make your enemies acknowledge your renown" or even "teach your sorrows your character." The phrase, "awesome things we did not expect," yare' qavah could be rendered "terrible things, unparalleled in memory." JF&B references Psalm 65:5, where the same word (yare') is used. "You come to the help of," paga` is literally "You meet with." "Those that remember your ways" is zakar derek, and could be "Those who remember your road." So, this presents an image of a God as neighbor, a God who meets those who walk along His road. "Filthy rags" refers to a menstrual cloth. The word 'ed, is used only once in the Old Testament. The phrase "shrivel up like a leaf," nabel balal 'aleh might be better rendered, "be as inconsequential as a leaf" to segue into the image of the wind of sin sweeping us away.

The message is straightforward and familiar to Israel: God does great miracles for those who obey him, and visits great wrath on those who disobey. In this moment, we experience God as an angry destroyer, indifferent to our attempts to behave righteously. But as God's creations, as passive objects molded by His creative energy, we can only pray that He will forgive and return to being our defender.

Contemplatio. Adoration. God does great deeds in the lives of every person who believes in truth, mercy and justice. A condemned man is freed by the dogged research of students. People seemingly doomed to starvation are fed by the patient efforts of ordinary people. A drug company inexplicably donates medication to cure African River Blindness. Where does the hand of God not reach? Confession. And yet, we are slow to see God's hand in these miracles. We imagine that these extraordinary things are ordinary. We imagine that our own efforts were sufficient. Yet what, lacking God, is good? Thanksgiving. Without God, we do nothing of value. We are mere clay. What animates us to do good is the energy of God. Let us give thanks to God for his work in us. Supplication. When we are weary, enliven us, Lord. When we are complacent, open our eyes to your workings.