As someone who has listened to the blues since my teen years, I’m familiar with Blind Willie Johnson’s song, “Nobody’s Fault but Mine.” If you don’t recognize the title, you’ll probably remember some of the lyrics:
Nobody’s fault but mine,
Nobody’s fault but mine.
If I die and my soul be lost,
It’s nobody’s fault but mine.
If I have a Bible but I don’t read it, it’s nobody’s fault but mine. Family members, including my mother, father, and sister, have taught me how to read. “If I don’t read it, my soul be lost.”
Isaiah’s audience could have said that their brokenness was a product of sin and rebellion. They could have sung the blues and confessed, “It’s nobody’s fault but mine.” Instead, they blamed God for their troubles.
Look down from heaven and see,
from your holy and glorious habitation.
Where are your zeal and your might?
Your great pity and your compassion are withheld from me.
Why, O Lord, do you let us stray from your ways
and let our heart harden, so that we do not fear you? (Isaiah 63:15, 17a)
Verse 17 is particularly striking. A sinful and hard-hearted nation blamed God, as if He were the reason why they strayed from the path He had revealed to them on numerous occasions.
The wisdom of Proverbs is instructive at this point:
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7)
Refusing the fear of the Lord, humanity thinks lightly of God’s wisdom and instruction. Even though they should sing, “It’s nobody’s fault but mine,” they lament how God didn’t keep them from turning away from His will.
From Blaming to Humble Appeal
Isaiah 63 ends with the people blaming God for their sin and resultant troubles. The next chapter begins with an appeal for the help that only God can give.
O that you would tear open the heavens and come down,
so that the mountains would quake at your presence
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!
When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect,
you came down; the mountains quaked at your presence. (Isaiah 64:1-3)
There are times when I pray about God’s enemies and have to include myself among the guilty parties. When God enters the human fray, I need to join those who tremble at His presence.
The right kind of trembling is a good thing.
All these things my hand has made,
so all these things are mine,
says the Lord.
But this is the one to whom I will look,
to the humble and contrite in spirit
who trembles at my word. (Isaiah 66:2)
The humble and contrite person who trembles at God’s word is the opposite of the one who blames God for their hard heart and lack of awe. As we pray for God to enter our world, let’s be ready to tremble in His presence.
The best course is to leave behind a hard and rebellious heart. We should come to God broken, humble, and filled with the fear of the Lord. In that state, we tremble at His word, ready to follow His guidance. There is an assurance of God’s blessing for those who come to Him with this attitude:
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. (Isaiah 64:4)
To “wait for the Lord” is to trust Him completely. It is to assume the positive side of Isaiah’s message and embrace God’s word with fear and trembling. This kind of attitude and action opens the door for God to work on our behalf.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage from Isaiah on YouTube today.
Real Voices 