Our Filthiness, His Mercy

“But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is no one who calls on Your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of You; for You have hidden Your face from us, and have consumed us because of our iniquities.” – Isaiah 64:6-7

There is no such thing as a good man. We all know this. Each one of us can attest to our own wickedness. So it would be pointless to stand before God and claim some sort of righteousness before Him. Isaiah tells God the truth for us. We are all unclean. All our righteousnesses are merely filthiness before God. I love the imagery of the next line. Our sins have taken us away like a leaf in the wind. We are swept out of the presence of the Lord simply by our sins. In fact, apart from God moving in us, no one would call upon the name of the Lord.

Lately, there has been much controversy over sin, hell, and the destiny of every person that ever lived. People talk as if sin is not a serious issue. They talk as if the real problem is God not accepting us or loving us for who we are. Isaiah has news for them. God hates who we are. He absolutely despises our filthiness and can’t stand our sin.

Our sin is a serious issue. Our sin drives us from God’s presence and makes us completely unable to seek the Lord. But God in His mercy has withheld his immediate punishment for sin. He has provided salvation through the substitutionary atonement of Christ. He has also issued a call to all mankind to repent and seek Him.

Praise God for His salvation! Praise Him for his mercy to us. Praise Him for his longsuffering! Praise Him for His call to repentance, without which no one would seek the Lord!