Oh that you would rend the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might flow down at your presence,
oh that
Psalm 18:7-15 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth…
Psalm 144:5,6 Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke…
Mark 1:10 And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:
that thou wouldest come
Isaiah 63:15 Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me? are they restrained?
Exodus 3:8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
Exodus 19:11,18,19 And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai…
that the
Judges 5:4,5 LORD, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water…
Psalm 46:6 The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.
Psalm 68:8 The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
so that mountains would quake at Your presence
The quaking of mountains symbolizes the overwhelming power and majesty of God. In biblical literature, mountains often represent stability and permanence, yet they tremble before the Creator (Psalm 97:5). This imagery recalls instances where God's presence caused natural phenomena, such as the shaking of Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:18) and the splitting of the Mount of Olives prophesied in Zechariah 14:4. The quaking serves as a metaphor for the transformative impact of God's presence, which can alter the natural order and bring about significant change. It also foreshadows the eschatological shaking of the heavens and the earth, as described in Hebrews 12:26-27, pointing to the ultimate establishment of God's unshakeable kingdom.
• Isaiah voices a heartfelt cry for God to tear open the barrier between heaven and earth.
• He is not using empty poetry; he expects literal intervention, like when “He parted the heavens and came down” (Psalm 18:9) and when Elijah saw “the LORD passing by” (1 Kings 19:11).
• This longing reflects the pattern of Scripture—Psalm 144:5 pleads, “Part Your heavens, LORD, and come down; touch the mountains, that they may smoke.”
• The request reminds believers that when God acts, He does so openly and powerfully, never hidden behind mere symbolism.
• The prophet wants more than a glimpse; he wants God physically present among His people, just as “the LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there” (Exodus 34:5).
• Every Old Testament theophany (Genesis 18; Exodus 3; 19) shows God willingly stepping into space and time.
• The longing ultimately points to the Incarnation: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).
• At Jesus’ baptism “He saw the heavens splitting open and the Spirit descending on Him” (Mark 1:10), fulfilling the very picture Isaiah painted.
• Mountains symbolize the strongest parts of creation; if they tremble, everything else surely yields.
• Israel had witnessed this at Sinai: “Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire, and the whole mountain trembled violently” (Exodus 19:18).
• Other prophets echo the scene—“The mountains quake before Him and the hills melt away” (Nahum 1:5), while Revelation 16:18–20 describes the earthshaking Day of the Lord still to come.
• Such imagery assures the faithful that God’s appearance overturns every obstacle: political powers, personal bondage, spiritual darkness.
Isaiah 64:1 captures a plea for God to tear open heaven, step into human history, and display power so overwhelming that even mountains shudder. The verse is a literal expectation rooted in past events (Sinai), realized in Christ’s first coming, and pointing ahead to His climactic return. It invites believers to anticipate and trust the same decisive, earth-shaking intervention of the living God today.
LXIV.(1) Oh that thou wouldest rend . . .--The division of chapters hinders the English reader from seeing that this is really a continuation of the prayer of Isaiah 63:15-19. The prophet asks that Jehovan may not only "look down" from heaven, but may rend, as it were, the dark clouds that hide the light of His countenance from His people, and that the mountains might tremble at His presence. (Comp. Psalm 68:8; Exodus 19:18.)
Verses 1-12. - ISRAEL'S PRAYER CONTINUED AND CONCLUDED. Not content with praying God to look upon them once more with favour (Isaiah 63:15), Israel now asks for a theophany, or manifestation of the Divine Presence, such as they have experienced in the times of old, and such as shall suffice to strike terror into the hearts of their enemies (vers. 1-4). With profound humility confessing their manifold and grievous iniquities, they beseech God once more, as their Father and Maker, to have pity upon them, reminding him of the desolate condition of Judaea and Jerusalem, and urging him no longer to "refrain himself" (vers. 5-12). "The manner," as Mr. Cheyne observes, "is that of a liturgical psalm; the prophet, as it were, leads the devotions of the assembled Church," and utters in impassioned language the feelings which deeply move them. Verse 1. - Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens! God "dwells in the thick darkness" (2 Chronicles 6:1). "Thick clouds are a covering to him" as he "walketh in the circuit of heaven" (Job 22:14). The Church would have the covering "rent," and God show himself openly, both to his people and to their enemies. That thou wouldest come down! God" came down" ou Sinai in the sight of all the people (Exodus 19:11, 20). David saw him in vision "bow the heavens and come down; and there was darkness under his feet" (Psalm 18:9). It is such an "epiphany" which the Church now desires - a revelation of God in all his glory, in his might as against "the nations" (ver. 2), in his mercifulness as towards themselves. That the mountains might flow down; or, quake. When God descended on Sinai, "the whole mount quaked greatly" (Exodus 19:18). When he appeared to David, "the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken" (Psalm 18:7). When he was seen of Elijah, "a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; and after the wind was an earthquake" (1 Kings 19:11). Micah saw the Lord "coming forth out of his place," and "the mountains were molten under him, and the valleys cleft" (Micah 1:3, 4). The mountains represent that which is most firm and solid and strong upon the face of the earth. If even they "melt and flow and tremble" at the presence of God, what might must his be! And who may abide him?