We Are the Clay, and You Are Our Potter

This meditation is based on a passage for February 16, 2011 in the Daily Lectionary Year 1 from the Book of Common Worship for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (1993).

Text: Isaiah 63:15-64:9

Reflection and Question: This wonderful image of God’s people being clay in the potter’s (God’s) hands comes near the end of this earnest outpouring of uncertainty, yearning and hope. Isaiah attributes all happenings in the world to God, including the waywardness of God’s people. His question to God rings just as true today as it did thousands of years ago: “Why, O Lord, do you harden our heart, so that we do not fear you?” The question arises directly from faith that “we are all the work of your hand,” with the “you” here being God. How is God’s compassion and yearning of heart withheld from you?

Prayer: Blessed God, “do not be exceedingly angry, O God, and do not remember iniquity forever. Now consider, we are all your people.” “Where are your zeal and your might?” Hide not your face from us nor deliver us into the hand of our iniquity. Amen.