1.  O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, 
           so that the mountains would quake at your presence—
2   as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil—
           to make your name known to your adversaries, 
           so that the nations might tremble at your presence!
3  When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect, 
          you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. 

The longing of human beings for demonstrations of power.  For us, power is accompanied by violence (tear open the heavens), fear (mountains quaking), enemies trembling in fear.  We like our leaders to be known as people who are to be taken notice of and respected.  But, often respect is confused with fear.  So, the people of Israel wanted their God to be known as the one who is most powerful and held in awe, one who is to be feared. 

The  image of tearing open the heavens appears in the story of the baptism of Jesus when the heavens open and the Holy Spirit comes down like a dove and alights on Jesus.  God does tear open the heavens and come down, but here it's a gentle coming down, not one that makes the mountains quake.  The earthquakes come later along with the tearing open of the curtain of the temple, when Jesus died on the cross (according to Matthew 27:51.  Matthew is the only gospel writer who records earthquakes at this time.)  God's demonstrations of power seem to human thinking to be more like weakness.  And yet, God's 'coming down' in the person of Jesus Christ has been the most powerful event in human history.

When Isaiah wrote of mountains quaking at God's awesome deeds he was not really meaning the coming of Jesus Christ.  Perhaps he was thinking of the violent atmosphere on Mt Sinai when the Ten Commandments were given (Exodus19:16, 20:18; Deuteronomy 5:22), God's presence accompanied by physical disturbances on the earth. But Christians have always noticed the similarities between the writings of the Old Testament and many of the events of Jesus' life.

In Jesus' time, the people were looking for a Messiah who would come as a mighty king, defeat the Romans, throw them out of Israel and establish a kingdom like David's.  The Messiah who came was very different.

4  From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, 
          no eye has seen any God besides you, 
         who works for those who wait for him.
5  You meet those who gladly do right, 
         those who remember you in your ways. 
    But you were angry, and we sinned; 
         because you hid yourself we transgressed. 

The prophet recognises here the uniqueness of Israel's God.  There has never been a god like this one, who actually works on behalf of his people.  Most other gods had to be constantly appeased to keep them 'on-side', but Israel's God is different.

But.....this sounds as if Isaiah is blaming God for Israel's unfaithfulness.  They only sinned because God was angry and hid himself!  They were unfaithful because they could no longer find their God.  How could this be true?  Is that what God is like?  Is that really what the prophet understood?  Or, is he writing tongue-in-cheek?  Is that what people said to excuse their unfaithfulness: How can we worship a god who gets angry with us?  How can we worship a god who can't be found?  Our God has abandoned us, they said, so we have to find other gods to help us.

Isn't that human nature?  How many people refuse to worship God because they think of God as one who does not fit their image of what a god should be like? Jesus was not what people expected either. The leaders of the people saw him as dangerous, someone they needed to get rid of.  Most people who flocked to hear him saw him as like a modern pop-star, a 'nine-day wonder'!   They chased after him for the wrong reasons and abandoned him when he did not come up to their expectations.

6  We have all become like one who is unclean, 
         and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth. 
   We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. 
7  There is no one who calls on your name, or attempts to take hold of you; 
         for you have hidden your face from us, 
         and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity. 

Isaiah reminds the people of what came first; the fact that it was they who ignored their God first and became separated from him.  So, of course it seemed as if God had hidden himself from them and abandooned them.  God doesn't force himself upon us.  He is there, loving and caring for his people, but if we turn away from him, we are unable to accept his love and care.

Jesus came and many turned away from him, so they were not able to receive the benefit of his miracles and his teaching (Mark 6: 5,6).

8  Yet, O LORD, you are our Father; 
         we are the clay, and you are our potter; 
         we are all the work of your hand. 
9  Do not be exceedingly angry, O LORD, 
         and do not remember iniquity forever. 
   Now consider, we are all your people. 

Isaiah reminds the people through his prayer for them of who God is and what he has done for them.  He created the people of Israel to be his people.  In asking God not to remember their unfaithfulness and to remember they are God's own people, the prophet is reminding the people themselves of these truths.  He reminds them of where they have come from and who they belong to.  He reminds them that God will forgive and continue to care for them.  It is not God who has really turned away; it is the people.