The petition of the godly remnant of Israel for God's delivering power to be exercised on their behalf becomes more earnest; "O that Thou wouldest rend the heavens, that Thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at Thy presence!" (verse 1).
Strikingly different is this from the language which befits the Christian (Rev 22:1717And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17)). If we are to groan here, it is that our bodies shall be redeemed (Rom. 8:2323And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:23)) at the Lord's secret coming to take His heavenly people away before the dawn of the eternal day. Our citizenship is not on earth, but has its existence in the heavens, from which also we await the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour (Phil 3:20-21), He went to prepare us a place in His Father's house, and is coming again to receive us to Himself that where He is, we also may (John 14:33And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:3)).
In days of (sad, God did terrible things for Israel had not looked; the judgments in Egypt; the deliverance of the people from Pharaoh's power in the death of the first born, the crossing of the Red Sea, and all the exhibitions of divine power from that time unto the day when God gave up Israel and Judah as His people, all testified for Him and to His interest in the nation He had chosen (verse 8).
Indeed, "never have Men heard, nor perceived by the ear, nor hath eve seen a God beside Thee, Who acteth for him that waiteth for Him" (verse 1, N.T. ) The substance of this verse is repeated in 1 Cor. 2:9,9But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. (1 Corinthians 2:9) with changes to suit the peculiarly blessed position of the Christian made known only after the cross of Christ. It is profitable to compare the two passages and note the differences. The "heart of man" met its judgment at the cross; and "the things which God path prepared for them that love Him" is an expression, the exact counterpart of which we would scarcely find in the Old Testament., since it was only at and since the cross that the love of God has been fully revealed. The contrast of the two passages is made yet stronger by 1 Cor. 2:10,10But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. (1 Corinthians 2:10) which many fail to note, though it is the key to the Christian position today. The Holy Spirit will, in the coming dispensation commonly called the millennium, he "poured out" upon all who are God's children, but only those who in the present dispensation of grace believe, are spoken of in the Scriptures as "sealed" and "indwelt" by the Holy Spirit.
Verse 5 in the "authorized" version of the Bible is a little difficult to understand. Another has translated it from the original tongue thus: "Thou meetest him that rejoiceth to do righteousness, those that remember Thee in Thy ways; (behold, Thou wast wroth, and we have sinned;) in those (ways) is perpetuity, and we shall be saved.”
But the confession is deep, from the heat,—-"We are all as an unclean thing-, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away: and there is none that calleth upon name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of Thee" (verses 6 and 7). It is only when we take our real place in humility and confession of failure, that God can freely bless us.
So this supplication of the godly, joining a petition which it is according to God to grant, with the acknowledgment from the heart that they have been rightly afflicted for their iniquities, seeks mercy as well as blessing. The following chapters bring the answer.