A Cry for Revival

¹God , if only you would tear open

the heavenly realm and come down!

How the mountains would tremble

in your awesome presence!

²In the same way that fire sets kindling to blaze

and causes water to boil,

let the fire of your presence come down.

Reveal to your enemies your mighty name

and cause the nations to tremble before you!

³When you did amazing wonders we didn’t expect,

you came down,

and mountains shuddered in your presence!

⁴These amazing things had never been heard of before;

you did things never dreamed of!

No one perceived your greatness .

No eye has ever seen a God like you,

who intervenes for those

who wait and long for you!

⁵Those who delight in doing what is right—

you go out to meet them with kindness .

They remember you and cherish your ways.

You showed your anger

when we sinned again and again,

yet we can be saved.

Sin Is Our Problem

⁶We have all become contaminated with sin,

and you see our self-righteousness as nothing better

than a menstrual rag.

We are all like fallen leaves,

and our sins sweep us away like the wind.

⁷No one calls on your name

or presses in to lay hold of you,

for you have hidden your face from us.

You have let us be ruined by our own sins.

The Master Potter

⁸Yet still, Yahweh , you are our Father.

We are like clay and you are our Potter.

Each one of us is the creative, artistic work of your hands.

⁹Yahweh , don’t be angry with us!

Don’t remember our sins again forever!

Please look at us; we are your people.

¹⁰Your sacred cities are abandoned like a desert;

Zion is a wasteland; Jerusalem sits in ruins.

¹¹Our holy temple, our source of pride,

where our ancestors sang your praise,

has been consumed by fire.

All that we held dear has been destroyed.

¹²Now, Yahweh , after all this, are you still unmoved?

Will you continue to stand silently by

and afflict us so severely?