OUR FATHER WHO RESTRAINS HIS ANGER FOR THE SAKE OF HIS PEOPLE

Isaiah chapter 64 verse 9 (19 X)  says this;

Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord; do not remember our sins forever.

Oh, look on us, we pray, for we are all your people.

The prophet Isaiah writes chapter 64 as a representative of God's people asking the Lord for mercy and consideration.

Isaiah, on behalf of God's people, confessed to the wrongdoing they had  participated in.

They had sinned against God and prolonged their sinful activities. They were ceremonially unclean and they got carried away in their wrongdoing and sin and did not restrain themselves.

They did not call upon the Lord nor did they stir in the night to seek fellowship with Him.

As a result, God widthdrew from them and hid His face from them and turned them over to the destructive power of their sin which caused them to wither and decay like a leaf.

After being in this miserable state for a protracted period of time, the people turned to God and ask Him not to be angry without limit and to remember that they were His people.

As they looked at the smouldering ruins of their kingom, they realised that they had neglected the One for whom all the splendor of their kingdom had been built to honor. 

Now, having squandered their favored position with the Almighty, they asked the Lord if He would be able to keep Himself from helping them and if  He would remain silent forever and continue humiliating and oppressing them.

The Lord is great and full of mercy and does not ruin all His people but He does make a distinction between those who serve Him and those who rebel against Him.

As Isaiah chapter 65 verse 14 says;

“Indeed, My servants will shout for joy from a happy heart,But you cry out with a heavy heart, And you shall wail and howl from a broken spirit.

Let us humble ourselves and pray.

Amen.